■ UNITED KINGDOM
Consumer confidence drops
Consumer confidence plummeted to its lowest level last month since the economic slump of 1992, a survey showed yesterday, making grim reading for Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the eve of local elections. The GfK/NOP consumer confidence index fell to minus 24 from minus 19 in March as people turned gloomier on the state of the economy and personal finances. That was the lowest reading since November 1992, just months after sterling was thrown out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and the then-Conservative government lost its reputation for sound economic management.
■ INTERNET
Softbank to boost bid in firm
Japanese Internet services and telecommunications company Softbank said yesterday it hopes to boost its stake to 40 percent in a major Chinese Internet company for a total investment of ¥40 billion (US$385 million), eyeing booming demand in the country. Softbank already bought a 14 percent stake in Oak Pacific Interactive (千橡互動) for ¥10 billion earlier this month and has obtained the right to raise its stake to 40 percent, a company spokesman said. It has not made any formal offer to increase its stake. China’s Oak Pacific Interactive has 22 million users.
■ FINANCE
Interbank loans in euros rise
More new credit was made in euros than in dollars in interbank lending in the last quarter of last year, statistics from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) showed yesterday. New dollar denominated credits almost halved to US$247 billion in the quarter, while credit in EU currency more than doubled to 377 billion euros (US$586 billion), the bank said. Overall, banks increased cross-border lending by US$1.1 trillion in the last three months of last year to US$33.5 trillion. In terms of risk exposure of bank assets, BIS noted a rise of US$1 trillion in what it termed as “other exposures,” mainly because of increased derivatives and to guarantees.
■ IT
Indian sector set to double
India’s IT and IT-enabled services sector will more than double in size by 2012, led by a fast-expanding domestic market, a report released yesterday showed. The industry’s revenues, including those from export markets, will reach 5.3 trillion rupees (US$132 billion) in 2012, from 2.46 trillion rupees last year, the report by market-research firm IDC India said. Two trillion rupees of that will come from the domestic market, which is growing at an average annual rate of 18.4 percent, outpacing overall industry growth of 16.5 percent, it said. Last year, India’s overall IT and IT-enabled services industry logged 22.4 percent growth in revenue to 2.46 trillion rupees, it said.
■ GAMES
Microsoft lowers XBox price
Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it was cutting prices on the Xbox 360 in four Asian markets by as much as 20 percent in an effort to expand the audience for the video game console. The reductions will take effect this week in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore, Microsoft said. The price of the main Xbox 360 Premium model fit with a 20-gigabyte hard drive was cut 17 percent in Taiwan, nearly 20 percent in Singapore, nearly 11 percent in Hong Kong and 5 percent in South Korea. The Xbox 360 competes against Sony Corp’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co Ltd’s Wii consoles.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday vowed to investigate claims made in a YouTube video about China’s efforts to politically influence young Taiwanese and encourage them to apply for Chinese ID cards. The council’s comments follow Saturday’s release of a video by Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源) and YouTuber “Pa Chiung (八炯)” on China’s “united front” tactics. It is the second video on the subject the pair have released this month. In the video, Chen visits the Taiwan Youth Entrepreneurship Park in Quanzhou in China’s Fujian Province and the Strait Herald news platform in Xiamen, China. The Strait Herald — owned by newspaper
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
CORRUPTION: Twelve other people were convicted on charges related to giving illegal benefits, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one to five years The Yilan District Court yesterday found Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) guilty of corruption, sentencing her to 12 years and six months in prison. The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022 indicted 10 government officials and five private individuals, including Lin, her daughter and a landowner. Lin was accused of giving illegal favors estimated to be worth NT$2.4 million (US$73,213) in exchange for using a property to conduct activities linked to the 2020 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential and legislative election campaigns. Those favors included exempting some property and construction firms from land taxes and building code contraventions that would have required
RSS