GREECE
No need for ‘haircut’: IMF
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin that she sees no need for a “haircut” of Greek debt, but that Athens needs to make “significant progress” on reforms. Lagarde on Wednesday told Germany’s ARD television the IMF was “much more confident after the progress made by the Greek authorities,” but that reforms were urgently needed in the country’s pension and income tax systems, as well as in other areas. Lagarde said she did see the need for debt restructuring to be implemented at the end of the current bailout program as well as possible interest rate cuts. Athens on Monday agreed to implement further reforms beginning in 2019, after the country’s current third bailout has ended.
UNITED STATES
Fed might hike rates ‘soon’
Many US Federal Reserve policymakers said it might be appropriate to raise interest rates again “fairly soon,” according to the minutes of the Fed’s last policy meeting released on Wednesday. The minutes of the Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 discussion, at which the US central bank voted to keep rates unchanged, also showed the depth of uncertainty at the Fed over the lack of clarity on US President Donald Trump’s economic program. “Many participants expressed the view that it might be appropriate to raise the federal funds rate again fairly soon if incoming information on the labor market and inflation was in line with or stronger than their current expectations,” the Fed said in the minutes.
GERMANY
Consumer mood to sour: poll
Consumer mood looks set to darken next month as concerns about rising inflation and Trump’s protectionist policies start to bite, a key survey found yesterday. Market research firm GfK said its forward-looking index for next month dipped to 10 points from 10.2 this month, slightly below analyst expectations. Sub-indices measuring consumer sentiment about the economic situation, income expectations and readiness to spend money all fell back in the latest survey of about 2,000 people.
MEXICO
Pre-Trump growth satisfies
The nation enjoyed solid economic growth last year before uncertainty struck over the impact of US President Donald Trump’s trade policies, official data showed on Wednesday. The 2.3 percent growth last year was in line with expectations, but slightly less than the previous year’s 2.5 percent expansion, the National Statistics Institute said. The data showed that in the fourth quarter, growth in Latin America’s second-biggest economy slowed to 0.7 percent from 1 percent the previous quarter.
BRAZIL
Central bank cuts rates
The central bank on Wednesday slashed its key interest rate further to try to yank Latin America’s biggest economy out of its worst recession in a century. The central bank cut the benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage points to 12.25 percent — still one of the world’s highest. It was the fourth such cut in a row, as inflation falls, but the economy shows few signs of recovering any time soon from two years of decline. The economy shrank 3.5 percent in 2015 and an estimated 3.6 percent last year. The bank’s own official growth forecast for this year stands at 0.8 percent.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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