AUTOMAKERS
Japanese report sharp drops
Toyota Motor Corp and other Japanese automakers yesterday reported steep drops in output last month as the COVID-19 outbreak accelerated worldwide. Toyota reported that its global production fell 13.8 percent from a year earlier. Worldwide production for the Toyota Group, which includes Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd, declined 12.2 percent to 762,802 units, it said. Nissan Motor Co’s production fell 29 percent to 270,073 units. Honda Motor Co’s global production dropped 26 percent to 289,255 units, the seventh straight month of declining output.
AUTOMAKERS
Renault halting production
French carmaker Renault SA yesterday said production at all its plants across the world had been halted due to the impact of the pandemic, apart from those in China and South Korea. “The group plans to restart production activities in the countries concerned as soon as conditions permit and will implement appropriate measures to respond effectively to commercial demand,” it said.
GREECE
Aid measures announced
The government yesterday announced new tax breaks and economic assistance to thousands of businesses and workers to buffer its economy from a national lockdown. The economy is expected to contract by 3 percent this year due to the spread of coronavirus, government estimates showed. The support measures include a one-off benefit for 1.7 million, or 81 percent of private-sector workers whose jobs are temporarily suspended and payment of their social security contributions for 45 days.
AUSTRALIA
Deep recession forecast
The nation’s economy is poised for its deepest recession in 90 years as restrictions designed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus push firms and households to the brink, Bloomberg Economic said yesterday. GDP would decline by about 10 percent in the first quarter before a gradual recovery in the final three months, James McIntyre, Australia economist at Bloomberg Economics, wrote in a report yesterday. He does not expect a return to pre-coronavirus level of activity for three years.
NORWAY
More bond issuances set
The central bank yesterday said it has increased its planned issuance of government bonds this year to between 70 billion and 85 billion Norwegian kroner (US$6.68 billion to US$8.11 billion) from an original plan of 55 billion kroner. The unusual revision follows Oslo’s decision to offer loans worth tens of billions of kroner in emergency funding to firms hurt by the coronavirus outbreak. In total, Norges Bank now aims to conduct 19 bond auctions this year, up from its planned 15. The number of Treasury bill auctions would be raised to 20 to 23.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Finablr loses auditor
UK-based Finablr yesterday said that Ernst & Young LLP has resigned as its auditor after it could not accommodate some of the requested adjustments on time that included changes to the composition of its board. Finablr, which owns Travelex, had said earlier this month that it was preparing for potential insolvency, while operations of its unit in the United Arab Emirates were seized by that nation’s central bank. Its problems started when US shortseller Muddy Waters took aim at NMC Health, which shares the same founder as Finablr — BR Shetty.
‘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
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic gas stations are to fall NT$0.2 and NT$0.1 per liter respectively this week, even though international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices continued rising last week, as the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected drop in US commercial crude oil inventories, CPC said in a statement. Based on the company’s floating oil price formula, the cost of crude oil rose 2.38 percent last week from a week earlier, it said. News that US President Donald Trump plans a “secondary
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