CANADA
Bank expands asset range
The Bank of Canada plans to buy for the first time government-backed mortgage bonds in a bid to broaden the range of high-quality assets in its operations to manage its balance sheet. The move — part of a decision of including government-guaranteed debt issued by federal Crown corporations — would allow the Ottawa-based central bank to offset continued growth in bank notes, the central bank said in an statement on Friday. It would also give it flexibility to further reduce its participation in primary Canadian government bond auctions to help boost the tradable float and support liquidity in the secondary market.
ESWATINI
PM tightens travel budget
The newly appointed prime minister on Friday banned first-class air travel for top government officials as part of a slew of measures to control spending. Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini, who took office a month ago, also announced that he would not buy a new car for himself, but inherit the old one used by his predecessor, as the economy battles slowing growth. All senior officials, including himself and ministers “will no longer travel first class, but in business class when flying on national duties... All other public servants will fly in economy class,” Dlamini said in a statement.
POULTRY
Tyson among BRF bidders
Tyson Foods Inc is among the five firms still in the running for Asian and European chicken plants owned by BRF SA, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be named because talks are private. Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson and Sao Paulo, Brazil-based BRF declined to comment. Binding offers for Thai poultry processor Golden Foods Siam Ltd, as well as assets in Europe are due mid-December. The sale is part of BRF’s 3 billion real (US$783.03 million) divestment plan to ease debt. It received non-binding offers from eight companies, five of which were chosen to remain in the process, BRF chief executive officer Pedro Parente said on Nov. 8.
SOUTH AFRICA
KPMG reports ex-partner
KPMG South Africa has reported a former partner to the police over his alleged role in a corruption scandal in which almost 2 billion rand (US$144.31 million) was stolen from VBS bank, two KPMG employees familiar with the matter said. The KPMG employees said the accounting firm had sent an internal e-mail to staff on Friday that said its board had “assessed information on VBS and support criminal action being taken” against the former partner, Sipho Malaba.
AUTOMAKERS
GM brake probe launched
US highway safety investigators are investigating an alleged defect in 2.7 million pickups and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) built by General Motors Co (GM) that are getting into collisions because drivers are having trouble braking. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation on Tuesday of trucks and SUVs, including GM’s best-selling Chevrolet Silverado after receiving 111 complaints from consumers. The power brake vacuum pump in the models can degrade and make it difficult to stop, the agency said. There have been nine crashes related to the problem and two injuries, the NHTSA said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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