■ Trade
Poultry imports banned
The nation has temporarily banned imports of poultry from South Africa to prevent bird flu and other epidemics, the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture said. The council made the announcement in a statement issued over the weekend, citing the fact that a large number of ostriches in various areas of South Africa's eastern Cape Province, such as Bedford, Cradock and Somerset, have died from bird flu. The country's poultry raisers should heighten their alert against a spread of bird flu-related epidemics, as other countries in Asia, including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and mainland China have also been affected by avian flu, officials with the council's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection said.
■ Energy
Thai firms to gear down
Siam Cement Pcl, Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl and other large Thai companies agreed with a government request to reduce their consumption of electricity, fuel and other energy by as much as 20 percent to trim surging imports. Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak today called a special meeting with executives from Siam Cement, the country's biggest cement maker, Charoen Pokphand and other companies after crude oil prices rose to a record on last Friday. The Thai government has spent 22 billion baht (US$531 million) to subsidize retail gasoline prices since January to prevent rising fuel costs from hurting economic growth and stoking inflation. Thailand, Southeast Asia's second-largest crude oil buyer, had a current account deficit of 19 million baht in April, its first monthly shortfall in two years, on rising oil imports.
■ Fiscal Policy
Bank to act on inflation
India's central bank governor said the monetary authority will seek to ensure price stability amid the fastest inflation in 3 and half years. He didn't give details. India's inflation, as measured by the rise in wholesale prices from a year earlier, unexpectedly accelerated to 7.51 percent in the week ended last month 24 from 6.52 percent in the prior week, the government said in a report last Friday. Inflation was higher than the bank had expected in its May monetary policy, Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy told reporters in the western city of Pune. He said basically, it appears that global factors played a critical part in this increase though the domestic factors such as liquidity overhang and monsoon conditions also played a role.
■ Investing
Buffet's bet cuts profits
Billionaire Warren Buffett's bet against the US dollar and his preference for cash over other investments caused Berkshire Hathaway Inc to post its smallest quarterly earnings since 2002. Net income at Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire, run by Buffett since 1965, fell 42 percent in the second quarter to US$1.28 billion, or US$834 a share, from US$2.23 billion, or US$1,452, a year earlier, the company said yesterday. The drop was caused by US$172 million of realized investment and currency losses, compared with a US$905 million gain a year earlier, when Berkshire sold most of its US Treasuries. Buffett, 73, is accumulating cash to make acquisitions, a strategy that also cut interest and dividend income 16 percent in the quarter. "You've got an avalanche of cash," Donald Yacktman, who manages US$1 billion at Yacktman Asset Management, said in an interview last week.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
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