FIJI
World Bank issues warning
The country must take urgent action to reduce a debt burden that exceeds 90 percent of GDP or put at risk its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and plans for sustainable economic development, the World Bank said yesterday. “Levels of [debt at] around 90% [of GDP] leave the country with limited buffers to address future shocks and highlight the scale and urgency of the fiscal consolidation required,” the bank said in a report. “This situation, combined with emerging global economic risks, threatens Fiji’s macro-fiscal stability, an essential foundation for sustainable economic and social development,” the report said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
GSK to buy Bellus Health
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) agreed to buy Canadian biotech Bellus Health Inc for a total equity value of about US$2 billion to bolster its pipeline of experimental medicines. The UK drugmaker is to pay US$14.75 per share in cash for Bellus, a 103 percent premium to the stock’s Monday close, it said in a statement yesterday. The takeover would bring GSK a treatment for chronic cough that has shown promising results in clinical trials and has advanced through much of the research process. Bellus’ experimental medicine camlipixant would probably launch in 2026 and the transaction would likely start boosting earnings per share in 2027, GSK said.
TECHNOLOGY
Apple offers savings account
Apple Inc introduced a long-promised high-yield savings account with Goldman Sachs Group Inc, looking to attract US financial clients with an attractive rate and the ease of its Wallet app. The new offering would let Apple Card users earn a 4.15 percent annual yield, more than 10 times the national average, the tech company said in a statement on Monday. The account has no fees, minimum deposit or balance requirements and can be set up from within the Wallet app. The move thrusts the tech company’s clout into a broader fight for depositors, potentially adding to the pressure on other financial firms that are trying to protect their funding.
SINGAPORE
MAS head to step down
Ravi Menon, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) longest-serving managing director, is poised to leave the central bank this year, people familiar with the matter have said. Menon has been at the helm of the MAS since 2011 and his term ends on May 31. Chia Der Jiun (謝?真), one of his former deputies, is tipped to be his successor, the people said. Chia is the Ministry of Manpower’s permanent secretary for development.
TECHNOLOGY
Ericsson beats estimates
Ericsson AB reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, but said that a pull back in 5G spending in some of the company’s more mature markets was set to continue. The Swedish maker of mobile networks yesterday reported an adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of 4 billion kronor (US$387 million) in the quarter, more than the analysts’ estimate of 3.28 billion kronor. Revenue rose to 62.6 billion kronor, more than the expected 60.78 billion kronor. The company also gave guidance that the second-quarter earnings before interest, taxes and amortization margin would “reach mid-single-digit level” on the group level and gradually recover in the second half amid “a choppy environment during 2023 with poor visibility.”
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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