Category: Other

BANGKOK, Sept 22 (AFP) – Thailand may seize the assets of ousted billionaire prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the new military junta said on Friday. “It’s under consideration on how we will proceed” with Thaksin’s vast assets, said Air Chief Marshall Chalit Pukbhasuk, the head of the air force and one of the military commanders who […]

JAKARTA, Sept 22, 2006 (AFP) – Asia must dramatically boost investment in infrastructure in the next decade or risk losing its global competitive edge, the president of the Asian Development Bank warned Friday. According to a copy of a draft speech, Haruhiko Kuroda told an emerging markets forum in Jakarta that Asia would need to […]

SINGAPORE, Sept 21, (LBO) – The Singapore government is trying to come up with a single brand identity for the city state, but authorities may find the task a bit challenging to put a myriad of perceptions into one bag. Some of Singapore’s familiar icons now include Singapore Airlines, Changi Airport, Raffles Hotel and Minister […]

SHANGHAI, Sept 21, 2006 (AFP) – Financial regulators in China are mulling loosening regulations for foreign banks after criticism that proposed lending rules were far too strict, a state newspaper said Thursday. China, which is gearing up to open its financial services in line with commitments made to the World Trade Organization when Beijing joined […]

SINGAPORE, Sept 20, 2006 (AFP) – The overthrow of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra marked the culmination of a crisis partly triggered by the controversial Singaporean takeover of a major conglomerate from his family.Singapore’s state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings bought 49 percent of the Thaksin family-controlled telecom giant Shin Corp. in January for nearly 1.9 […]

SYDNEY, Sept 15 (AFP) – Migrants to Australia would have to pass an English language test to prove they were “fair dinkum” (genuine) about fitting into society Down Under, Prime Minister John Howard said Friday. Howard also said the length of time migrants had to live in Australia before they could become citizens would be […]

HARARE, Sept 15, 2006 (AFP) – The annual rate of inflation in Zimbabwe reached a new record high of 1,204.6 percent in August, the central statistics office announced on Friday.The announcement of the new rise came after slight falls in the rate for June and July, which had raised hopes by central bank chief Gideon […]

SINGAPORE, Sept 14, 2006 (AFP) – The strong US and Chinese economies as well as an array of supply issues look set to keep oil prices high next year, with markets pointing to a price of 70-75 dollars a barrel, the IMF said Thursday. The International Monetary Fund warned that a further escalation in oil […]

SINGAPORE, Sept 13, 2006 (AFP) – Asia deserves a bigger role in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reflect its growing contribution to the global economy, Singapore’s former prime minister said in remarks published Wednesday.“Asia contributes to about a quarter of the world’s GDP (gross domestic product), but Asia only has about 10 percent of […]

SINGAPORE, Sept 12(AFP) – Global financial markets could face major corrections as investors appear to have made scant provision for risks that could hamper economic growth, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.“With less accommodative external financing conditions, EM (emerging market) countries that still rely heavily on external financing need to reduce vulnerabilities and pursue reforms […]

NEW DELHI, Sept 11, 2006 (AFP) – British supermarket giant Tesco and Bharti Enterprises are to wrap up talks by October 10 that could bring the first overseas grocery chain to Indian consumers, a report said Monday.“Planning is underway and a team is carrying out extensive research and is testing various models,” Bharti chairman and […]