INDIA
Growth tipped to rebound
The nation expects economic growth to rebound this year from a five-year low as political stability aids a pickup in demand and investments. Real GDP growth for the fiscal year started April 1 is projected at 7 percent, the Ministry of Finance said in its annual Economic Survey report. The upside and downside risks to growth are evenly balanced, with monsoon rainfall seen as tipping the scales, it said. The forecast marks an improvement from the 6.8 percent expansion last year and is the same as the reading of the Reserve Bank of India, which last month lowered its projection by 20 basis points from 7.2 percent.
FINANCE
Osborne linked to IMF bid
Former British chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne is lining up a bid to replace Christine Lagarde as head of the IMF, UK newspapers reported yesterday. Making his interest known to friends, Osborne said the job required a “skilled political communicator and operator ... not a technocrat,” the Financial Times reported. Lagarde, a former French minister of finance, is to lead the European Central Bank, replacing Mario Draghi. Draghi is seen as a strong candidate to become IMF chief, with the lender having always chosen a European to lead it.
LIGHTING
Osram bid launched
Bain Capital and Carlyle Group LP have made a 3.4 billion euro (US$3.8 billion) bid to acquire German lighting firm Osram Licht AG, concluding months of negotiations for the long-sought deal. Osram on Wednesday said that it had a received a binding offer at 35 euros a share and that it would decide “shortly” whether to accept it. Its supervisory board was to meet yesterday to vote on the agreement, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Osram shares surged as much as 13 percent, the most since February, after reports earlier on the bid. They rose 12 percent to 32.25 euros in Frankfurt.
BANKING
Deutsche raids expected
German prosecutors are escalating a money laundering inquiry involving Deutsche Bank AG, including planned raids on wealthy former clients, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told reporters. Frankfurt’s state prosecutors in the coming months are to search the homes of people it suspects of using a company formerly owned by Germany’s biggest bank for tax evasion and money laundering, the person said. The intensified scrutiny of Deutsche Bank comes at a delicate time as the Frankfurt-based bank seeks to revamp its struggling business and repair a reputation ravaged by a series of scandals.
DISTILLERIES
Whiskey lost in blaze
A fire blamed on a lightning strike at a warehouse in Kentucky destroyed 45,000 barrels of Jim Beam whiskey, its parent company said on Wednesday. No one was injured in the blaze, which initial reports indicate “resulted from a lightning strike,” Beam Suntory said in a statement posted on Twitter. Whiskey drinkers can rest easy, as the loss of the 45,000 barrels — a small fraction of the roughly 3.3 million at the company’s warehouses in Kentucky — should not affect supply. The distiller hired a cleanup crew and state environmental officials were coordinating efforts to control bourbon runoff into a nearby creek.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
‘NO DISRUPTION’: A US trade association said that it was ready to work with the US administration to streamline the program’s requirements and achieve shared goals The White House is seeking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told reporters. The people, along with a third source, said that the new US administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost US domestic semiconductor output with US$39 billion in subsidies. Washington plans to renegotiate some of the deals after assessing and changing current requirements, the sources said. The extent of the possible changes and how they would affect agreements already finalized was not immediately clear. It was not known