■JAPAN
More boosts may be needed
Tokyo is ready to take more stimulus measures if the deteriorating US economy continues to impact here, the finance minister said yesterday. Speaking on a program on the public broadcaster NHK, Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa cited US consumer spending at Christmas and the fates of troubled big US companies as among factors to watch. “These movements across the Pacific might affect Japan ... It is only natural that we carry out what is necessary, including fiscal, financial and tax measures, immediately after the second supplementary budget,” he said. The government is working on a second extra budget for the current fiscal year for submission to parliament possibly in January.
■SOUTH KOREA
Injection coming: report
Seoul’s central bank is likely to inject up to US$3.3 billion into a state fund aimed at easing a credit squeeze in the country’s debt market, a report said yesterday. The Financial Services Commission, the country’s financial watchdog, has promised to set up a 10 trillion won (US$6.7 billion) bond fund by pooling money from banks, pension funds and others. The Bank of Korea is highly likely to contribute up to 5 trillion won to the fund, which will be used to buy financial and corporate debts, Yonhap news agency said. It is scheduled to hold a policy meeting today to finalize the amount, Yonhap said.
■SWEDEN
Official goes salary-free
Lars Nordstrom isn’t the only official being criticized these days for earning too much money during the world financial crisis, but he may be one of the few who has reacted by deciding to work for free. Since becoming head of the Swedish postal service in July, Nordstrom has been paid 900,000 kronor (US$110,000) a month. And that is on top of the millions he receives in a retirement package from his previous job as chief executive officer of the banking group Nordea AB. The Swedish media have criticized Nordstrom for making more money as CEO of Posten Sverige AB than 45 letter carriers do, and seven times more than the prime minister. Nordstrom said on Saturday that he will give back all the money he has earned with the postal service and work for free from now on.
■BANKING
Dubai-based groups merge
Amlak Finance and Tamweel, two Dubai-based property finance groups with total assets of around US$7 billion, have begun a merger process, the WAM news agency reported on Saturday. The merger of the two banks under the supervision of UAE Real Estate Bank will create the largest real estate finance institution in the country, the UAE finance ministry said. “The merger of Amlak Finance and Tamweel is a milestone development for the UAE financial sector,” a ministry official said. The combined group will be compliant with Islamic Shariah rules, which ban the charging of interest, WAM said.
■SAUDI ARABIA
Interest rate slashed
The government announced yesterday that it is slashing its key interest rate by one percentage point to 3.0 percent on softening inflationary pressures, al-Arabiya news channel reported. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency said it was reducing the repurchase (repo) rate, the country’s lending benchmark, by 100 basis points, the Dubai-based satellite channel said. It is the third cut in six weeks and the rate has almost halved since early last month, when it stood at 5.5 percent.
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