Friday, April 26 2024 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
NAY PYI TAW - The Government of Myanmar on Wednesday announced the appointment of Citi and Standard Chartered Bank as its Sovereign Credit Ratings Advisors to act as a bridge between the Government and ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s. The two banks will also support Myanmar’s efforts to enhance data collection and improve investor outreach.
HANOI - The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has widened the trading band of the VND to 2% from 1%, citing China’s yuan devaluation. After the announcement, the VND weakened 0.96% with USD/VND at 22,040, 0.3% below the upper bound of the new band (21,240-22,106).
SINGAPORE - Standard & Poor's says China's surprise move to allow more exchange rate flexibility makes good economic sense and is not the start of a currency war - or an attempt to jump-start growth.
SINGAPORE – Today’s decision to devalue the Chinese currency can be seen as a measure to strengthen the case for the RMB’s inclusion in the SDR basket later in the year, according to ANZ Bank, which says there is also an intention to weaken the currency in order to support China’s export sector.
BEIJING – The abrupt decision today by the people’s Bank of China to effectively devalue the yuan by 1.9% in terms of the onshore USD-CNY fixing rate has injected considerable volatility into the RMB and other Asian currencies. But HSBC says it is important that the change in the fixing mechanism is not be read as a sign that China's authorities are purposely adopting a CNY devaluation strategy.
BEIJING - Rumours of a possible merger between China’s two largest shipping lines – China Ocean Shipping Co. (COSCO Group) and China Shipping Co., both State-owned – has led to the suspending of the companies’ listed subsidiaries as of August 10. A COSCO executive said the central Government had urged the two companies to draft a preliminary merger plan within three months starting from August, while a five-member working group will be set up to review the merger plan.
~~BEIJING – China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), has weakened the yuan’s daily reference rate by 1.9%, devaluing the currency at a record rate in order to stave off the effects of slumping exports. Bloomberg reported that the currency dropped an unprecedented 1.2% to 6.2848 per USD as of Tuesday morning.
KUALA LUMPUR - During the annual China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting in Kuala Lumpur, China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, hasurged countries in the South China Sea region to “speed up” consultations over the expected code of conduct in the area and to discuss preventive measures to control maritime risks. Additionally, he asked countries not within the region “not to take actions that may lead to tension and complicate the regional situation”.
SINGAPORE - Standard & Poor's has affirmed its 'B+' long-term and 'B' short-term sovereign credit ratings on Sri Lanka. The outlook remains stable, with the transfer and convertibility risk assessment unchanged at 'B+'.
BEIJING – Reports in China suggest that two policy banks, China Development Bank and Agricultural Development Bank of China, will issue as much as RMB1.5 trillion in bonds to finance major infrastructure investment. The focus will be on shanty
town renovation, urban transport, railway construction in mid-west China, public goods provision and manufacturing upgrading.
JAKARTA - Indonesia’s real GDP growth lingered near six-year low levels in Q2 2015 at 4.7% year-on-year, a pace similar to the previous quarter although slightly above market expectations. Growth was broad-based, but undermined by a low rate of budgetted expenditure disbursement, weak private demand, sluggish investments and a protracted contraction in exports.
HANOI - The European Union and Vietnam today reached an agreement in principle for a Free Trade Agreement, following two and a half years of negotiations. It is the first agreement of its kind signed by the EU with a developing country.
~~IPEI – Taiwan’s President, Ma Ying-jeou has declared that the Diaoyutai (Senkaku) Islands are an integral part of Taiwan, and any claim to the contrary flies in the face of the Constitution, history and national sovereignty.
LONDON - SNL Financial has released its annual ranking of the world’s largest banks by total assets, finding that China now has four of the five largest banks in the world after weakening currencies pushed French and Japanese companies out of the top five this year.
HONG KONG – An IMF staff report has recommended deferring inclusion of China’s renminbi in the IMF’s Strategic Drawing Rights basket. The report recommends that the current SDR basket, due to expire on December 31, be extended until September 2016, but says “an extension would not in any way prejudge the timing and outcome of the review, or whether the RMB should be included in the basket.”
NEW DELHI – A Government committee entrusted with drafting the new inflation-targeting monetary policy framework for India has proposed only a minor representation for the Reserve Bank of India (three of a total seven members, four 4 external) in a new Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), raising concerns of a possible dilution of central bank control and effective policy-making.