CHINA
Consumer inflation eases
Consumer inflation eased last month on the back of falling pork prices, official data showed yesterday, although factory gate costs remained elevated after a recent surge in commodity prices. The world’s second-largest economy has largely bounced back from the COVID-19 hit and factory gate inflation began to ease last month after surging at the highest rate in more than a decade earlier in the year as commodity prices spiked. Factories so far appear to be absorbing the costs rather than passing them on to consumers, and analysts expect Beijing to protect shoppers from rising costs. The consumer price index (CPI), a key gauge of retail inflation, rose 1.1 percent on-year last month — lower than analysts expected, and down from the month before. The low CPI inflation was “to a large extent driven by slumping pork prices,” Nomura lead China economist Lu Ting (陸挺) said. The nation’s CPI has been driven up in the past few years by pork prices after an African swine fever outbreak ravaged stocks.
INDIA
Lenders limiting recovery
Risk-averse lenders are emerging as one of the biggest hurdles to the speed of a recovery from a downturn amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as they hold back credit when the economy needs it the most. Loans to companies and individuals has been growing at a subdued 5.5 to 6 percent in the past few months, which is half the pace seen before the pandemic, Reserve Bank of India data showed. The nation’s biggest lender, State Bank of India, wants to nearly double its credit growth rate to 10 percent in the year started April 1, but is willing to miss the goal. “It is a very fragile situation,” State Bank of India chairman Dinesh Khara said.
BREXIT
EU seeks 47.5bn euros
The EU said that the UK is liable to pay 47.5 billion euros (US$56.2 billion) to the EU as part of its post-Brexit financial settlement. The EU’s consolidated budget report for last year said that the money is owed under a series of articles that both sides agreed to as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. However, the UK Treasury said that the Brexit divorce settlement remained within its previous central range of 40.74 billion euros to 45.40 billion euros, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The 47.5 billion euros amount is significantly higher than expected. The British Office for Budget Responsibility predicted in its March 2018 economic and fiscal outlook report that the bill would amount to 41.4 billion euros. An initial amount of 6.8 billion euros is due for payment this year, the EU’s consolidated budget report said.
E-COMMERCE
Bukalapak sets IPO goals
Online marketplace Bukalapak aims to raise as much as 21.9 trillion rupiah (US$1.5 billion) in an initial public offering (IPO), the first of Indonesia’s tech unicorns to tap the country’s stock market. Bukalapak plans to offer about 19.3 billion shares at 750 to 850 rupiah apiece, raising about US$1.1 billion, terms of the deal showed. The e-commerce giant would be valued at about US$5.6 billion. It also set an over-allotment or greenshoe option that could take the total shares issued to a maximum of 25.77 billion. The company aims to debut on Aug. 6, the company said in an IPO prospectus, taking advantage of plans to relax requirements around listings.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
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