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Baht/$ 33.47/52
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GOLD |
15,200
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ASIA at a GLANCE
JAKARTA The Indonesian government and lawmakers are working on accumulating an extra two trillion rupiah (US$218.98 million) in a budget cushion against high crude oil prices. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government would use the cushion if the Indonesian Crude Price (ICP), the country's benchmark, averaged $150 per barrel over the rest of 2008. The figure would be on top of the 8.25 trillion rupiah already provided for a similar purpose, all of which was spent in the first half.
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Electronics sales good
JAKARTA Electronics sales in Indonesia grew by a healthy 24.1% in the first half, despite a rise in prices after the government cut fuel subsidies, the Electronics Marketers Club (EMC) says. Total sales from January to June reached 8.81 trillion rupiah, up from 7.1 trillion in the same period last year.
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Korean SMEs gloomy
SEOUL Small Korean businesses have become more pessimistic in their outlook compared to regional peers due to increasing economic uncertainties and political unrest, an HSBC survey shows. It said that 37% of Korean respondents planned to reduce capital spending sharply in the second quarter, up from 5% in the fourth quarter.
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Posco expanding
SEOUL The Korean steelmaker Posco has began work on a new plant within the Pohang Steelworks in Pohang. The 1.4-trillion-won plant, scheduled for completion in 2010, will have an annual production capacity of three million tons.
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Consumer index sinks
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian consumer sentiment has sunk to an all-time low on domestic and global uncertainties. The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research said its consumer sentiment index (CSI) slumped to 70.5 _ 8.6 points lower than the previous low seen in the second quarter of 1998 when the Asian financial crisis was in full swing.
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Manila lifts key rate
MANILA Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has raised its policy interest rate by a half percentage point, after a quarter-point increase six weeks ago, to contain inflationary pressures. The BSP raised its inflation forecast for 2008 to a range of 9.0% to 11.0% and said double-digit inflation was expected to persist until the first quarter of 2009. The overnight borrowing rate is now 5.75%.
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Employment steady
HONG KONG The seasonally adjusted jobless rate in Hong Kong stood at 3.3% in the April-June period, unchanged from March-May, officials said. Chief Executive Donald Tsang has also announced a series of short-term relief measures to alleviate inflation, which involve the spending of HK$11 billion from the government coffers.
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China inflation eases
BEIJING China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, rose 7.9% in the first half over the same period last year, 0.2 percentage points lower than the rate in the first five months, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Food rose 20.4%, contributing 6.64 percentage points to the overall CPI rise.
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Reserves up 35.7%
BEIJING China's cumulative foreign reserves stood at US$1.809 trillion at the end of June, up 35.73% year on year, the People's Bank of China said.
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New furniture leader
HO CHI MINH CITY Vietnam has become the biggest furniture exporter in Asean, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Exports of locally made wood products reached US$2.5 billion in 2007 and may reach $3 billion in 2008. Exports in the first half reached $1.36 billion, up 20.4% year-on-year.
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India studies 3G auction
NEW DELHI The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is examining a proposal to auction up to nine licences for 3G or third-generation services among incumbents and new players in place of an earlier proposal to allow five players. Wireless experts have identified bands for over 20 MHz of additional spectrum that would accommodate at least four more operators.
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Compiled from Times of India, Business Standard, China Daily, Peoples Daily, The Jakarta Post, The Korean Herald, The Star (Malaysia), The Philippines Inquirer, Vietnam News Service.
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