International News

  Tokyo / AFP Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to postpone a sales tax hike a second time, judging that boosting the tariff could hurt the world’s third-largest economy, a newspaper said on Saturday. Abe has already informed senior government officials he plans delay the consumption tax hike, scheduled for next April; that would raise levy from eight to …

  Jakarta / WAM Bank Indonesia reported the country’s current account deficit narrowed to US$4.7 billion or 2.1 percent of its gross domestic products (GDP) in the first quarter of this year from US$5.1 billion or 2.4 percent of the GDP in the previous three months period. The central bank attributed the improvement in current account performance to growing surplus …

  Washington / AFP The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that it is considering new financial support for the Afghanistan government as the country’s economy continues to stumble. The IMF lauded the country’s gains under a just-concluded IMF-monitored program to close vulnerabilities with reforms in the government budget process and in the financial sector. “Despite difficult circumstances, the authorities implemented …

  KUALA LUMPUR / WAM The 4.2 per cent annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth recorded for the first quarter (1Q16) as announced by Bank Negara Malaysia exceeded the forecast of economists. It came in higher than the consensus estimate of 4.0 per cent, said Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd Chief Economist Dr Mohammed Afzanizam Abdul Rashid. He commented that the …

  Kolkata / Bloomberg UCO Bank, an Indian state-owned lender with 629 deliberate defaulters, reported the highest bad loan ratio among banks in the South Asian nation. Shares fell the most in three months. Provisions for soured debt at the Kolkata-based company more than doubled to about 23 billion rupees ($344 million) in the three months through March from a …

  Bloomberg Britons eager to find out more about the pros and cons of European Union membership have a wealth of options this weekend, with campaigners for a “Leave” vote in next month’s referendum pledging a publicity “blitz” and their opponents promising “the biggest day of cross-party campaigning in U.K. political history.” Prime Minister David Cameron, opposition Labour Party leader …

  Bloomberg After a week of warnings about the perils of Britain exiting the European Union, economic data next week may offer traders little reason to be bullish on the pound, the developed world’s worst-performing currency of 2016. For the period covering the June 23 referendum on EU membership, options traders are the most bearish on sterling since at least …

  Bloomberg Ireland’s credit rating was raised by Moody’s Investors Service, as the economy continues to outpace the euro region and its debt level drops. Moody’s raised the rating to A3 from Baa1 with a positive outlook, the company said on Saturday in a statement “Ireland’s key credit fundamentals have continued to improve at a faster pace than expected even …

  Margate / AFP Poland avoided a second credit-rating reduction in its history as Moody’s Investors Service left its investment grade unchanged while cutting its outlook on the sovereign amid growing investor concern over government policies. Moody’s changed the outlook to negative after keeping it stable for a decade, meaning there’s now at least a one-in-three chance of a cut …

  Bloomberg As Greece attempts to clear another hurdle on the road to passing the next bailout review, the bond market is already delivering a positive verdict. The country’s 10-year sovereign bonds had their best week since August, pushing the yield on the securities to the lowest this year. More austerity is in the cards as the government drafts legislation …