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Bank of Korea Slashes Policy Rate, Cuts Growth Outlook
South
Korea's central bank cut its key interest rate on Thursday for the
second time this year and slashed growth forecasts as Asia's
fourth-largest economy faces mounting threats from the protracted
debt crisis in Europe and a worsening global slowdown.
The
Bank of Korea's seven-member policy board lowered the benchmark
seven-day repurchase rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.75
percent. The bank cut its growth forecast for this year to 2.4
percent from 3 percent. It lowered its forecast for next year to 3.2
percent from 3.8 percent.
``We
expect this rate cut to help South Korea's economy recover growth,''
Bank of Korea Governor Kim Choong-soo said at a briefing.
``External
conditions worsened more than we expected. Because slumping growth in
South Korea's economy stems from the worsening external conditions
rather than internal problems, we need to respond to that.''
Bailout
terms force water utility sale in Greece, Portugal
EU
leaders are under fire for pressuring troubled eurozone governments
to sell public water utilities as part of their bailout deals, with
environmentalists and rights activists saying that privatisation will
only feed public anger.
Criticism
of the bailout conditions set for Greece and Portugal by the European
Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund
troika call for shedding state-owned companies, including public
utilities, as a condition for billions of euros in funds to stave off
insolvency.
Greece
came under renewed pressure this week from eurozone finance ministers
to approve a fiscal overhaul in order to receive €31.2 billion in
an aid instalment that is already two months overdue. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel made a one-day visit to Athens on Tuesday to
give cautious support to the austerity plan backed by her Greek
counterpart, Antonis Samaras.
Greece
unemployment hits a record 25% in July
Unemployment
in Greece hit a record 25.1% in July, with the level among young
people reaching 54.2%, according to the latest official figures.
Greece's
statistical authority said 1.26 million Greeks were jobless in July,
with more than 1,000 jobs lost every day over the past year.
With
austerity cuts continuing and Greece likely to enter another year of
recession, the level may rise further.
India's
Sept trade deficit $18.1 bln, widest in 11 mths
Oct
11 (Reuters) - India's annual exports fell for the fifth consecutive
month and imports rose in September, pushing the trade deficit to its
widest in 11 months in the latest bleak data from Asia's third
largest economy as it struggles to balance its finances.
Exports
contracted to $23.7 billion, 11 percent lower than last year, the
government said in a statement, without giving details of which
sectors were worst hit. Imports rose for the first time since April,
driven by an almost 31 percent jump in crude oil purchases for the
energy-hungry economy.
September's
$18.1 billion trade deficit was the biggest since October 2011, a
worrying development for the government while it seeks to stave of
the threat of a downgrade to India's sovereign debt rating.
India
industrial growth to be less than 2% in FY 2013: Assocham
Growth
prospects for India's industrial production look quite weak and the
output may show less than two per cent expansion in the current
financial year, an ASSOCHAM (The Associated Chambers of Commerce and
Industry of India ) study has indicated.
The
not-so-bright outlook for the industrial growth has been projected
despite the fact that there are visible signs of improvement in the
business confidence in the last two months due to several bold policy
initiatives by the government.
IMF,
World Bank urge China, Japan to overcome differences
China's
foreign minister on Thursday defended the withdrawal of its senior
delegates from the International Monetary Fund meeting in Tokyo as
"completely appropriate" although the head of the
multilateral organization said they would "lose out".
China's
delegation is being led by the Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao and
the vice head of the central bank, Yi Gang, instead of their bosses,
in what appears to be a snub to Japan as host of the IMF and World
Bank meetings this week.
Japan
is hosting the gathering for the first time in nearly half a century
and about 20,000 people are expected to attend the events, which end
on Sunday, making it one of the world's largest international
conferences.
The
head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, said she hoped the world's
second- and third-largest economies could resolve their differences
"harmoniously and expeditiously".
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/bre89a0ta-us-china-japan/
Philippines
August Exports Fall 9%
The
Philippines' August exports fell 9% from a year earlier, making the
country the latest in Asia to take a hit from sluggish demand from
Europe and the U.S.
The
decline, to $3.798 billion, was the largest percentage drop since
December. The National Statistics Office said August was the first
month since December that export value dropped below $4 billion.
Electronics
shipments, the country's biggest export category, fell 14.9% from a
year earlier to $1.765 billion, though they rose 5.4% from July.
Shipments
of clothing, coconut oil and bananas also saw double-digit declines.
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