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.
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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