■BANKING
Freddie Mac struggling
Freddie Mac, the US mortgage finance giant seized by the government last year, said on Tuesday it lost US$9.9 billion in the first quarter as it requested an increase in a government bailout. The loss narrowed from US$23.9 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. With the latest loss, Freddie Mac’s conservator submitted a request to the US Treasury for an additional US$6.1 billion under a preferred stock purchase agreement included in the bailout announced last year.
■JAPAN
Trade surplus halves
Japan’s current account surplus halved in the year to March, the steepest fall on record, as demand for cars, TVs and other goods slumped amid the worst recession in decades, data showed yesterday. The surplus in the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, fell 50.2 percent in the last fiscal year to ¥12.23 trillion (US$127 billion), the fastest drop since comparable records began in 1985.
■RETAIL
Chinese sales up 14.8%
Resilient demand from Chinese shoppers helped push retail sales up 14.8 percent last month, but a paltry rise in industrial output sapped hopes for a fast recovery. Retail sales, at 934.3 billion yuan (US$136.8 billion) last month, have remained relatively firm, growing 15 percent in the first four months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. It said growth in demand was strongest for food, clothing, autos and home decoration materials. But the data released yesterday also showed industrial output climbing only 7.3 percent, lower than expected and well below the 8.3 percent growth seen in March.
■ELECTRONICS
Pioneer still in the red
Japan’s Pioneer Corp said yesterday it would spend a sixth straight year in the red as it pulls the plug on its loss-making TV business and slashes thousands of jobs. The troubled electronics maker said its net losses ballooned to ¥130.53 billion yen in the year to March, up from ¥19.04 billion the previous year. It expects to lose ¥Y83 billion this year. The company blamed the poor performance on slumping sales of car audio products, plasma displays and DVD drives.
■AUTOMOBILES
Toyota cuts production
Toyota Motor Corp said yesterday it would cut vehicle production 28 percent this year to its lowest level in seven years. The world’s largest automaker, struggling as sales fall across the globe, said it aims to produce 6.68 million vehicles this year, down from 9.24 million last year. “We expect the severe conditions to continue this year,” said Toyota spokeswoman Ryoko Nishinohara. Toyota has already said it expects the current fiscal year through March 2010 to be its worst ever financially, forecasting a net loss of ¥550 billion.
■BANKING
‘Bad banks’ plan unveiled
The German government agreed on a legal framework for so-called bad banks yesterday, government sources said. The approved scheme aims to help rid the private banks of troubled assets and rebuild confidence in the financial sector. German banks are estimated to hold more than 200 billion euros (US$272 billion) in troubled assets. The laws drafted by German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck enable banks to remove toxic assets from their balance sheets and assign them to specifically created entities.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station