The Korea Herald

Domestic investors can curb capital flow volatility: IMF

Oct 1, 2013

Emerging markets can better resist capital flow volatility by taking measures to encourage their residents to invest abroad in good times and repatriate the funds when needed, according to a study by the International Monetary Fund. Countries where a surge of capital inflows was offset by domestic residents’ purchase of foreign assets fared better during the global financial crisis as international investors pulled out, the IMF said in a chapter of its World Economic Outlook released Monday. Tha
U.K. unveils work for benefits plan

Oct 1, 2013

Osborne says work for your benefits or attend job center daily
Japan P.M. to hike sales tax to curb debt

Oct 1, 2013

Japan's prime minister vowed Tuesday to press ahead with a sales tax hike seen as crucial to shrinking a huge national debt, although critics fear it would derail a budding economic recovery.The move marks a big political gamble for Shinzo Abe -- previous hikes have proved career-ending for his predecessors -- with the 59-year-old leader later Tuesday expected to spell out details of a stimulus package aimed at softening the blow.The tax increase ends months of uncertainty about whether Abe woul
Nigeria signs $1.3 bn power plant deal with China

Oct 1, 2013

Nigeria has announced two major initiatives aimed at improving its woeful electricity supply, entering a $1.3 billion power plant deal with China and on Monday handing over state power assets to private investors.The privatization of most of state electricity firm PHCN has long been in the works in Africa's most populous nation, where blackouts occur multiple times daily despite the country's status as the continent's largest oil producer.Those taking over assets include Seoul-based Korea Electr
China mobile brands boost Wistron, FIH as Sony falters

Sept 30, 2013

As Nokia Oyj and Sony Corp. stumble, the companies that supply their factories have suffered. Now, those suppliers are finding relief from a new quarter: Chinese brands with growing appeal to domestic buyers. Five of the top six mobile-phone brands in China ― the world’s largest handset market ― are domestic. Only Samsung Electronics Co. still outsells them, while Apple Inc. dropped to seventh place in the second quarter and neither Nokia nor Sony was in the top 10, according to researcher Canal
Siemens CEO cuts 15,000 jobs to catch up with General Electric

Sept 30, 2013

Siemens AG’s new Chief Executive Officer Joe Kaeser will cut more jobs than initially planned to boost earnings after the failure to catch up with rivals General Electric Co. and ABB Ltd. cost his predecessor the job. The company will eliminate 15,000 jobs, representing 4 percent of its 370,000 workers worldwide, and a third of the cuts will come in the German home market, Siemens spokesman Oliver Santen said by phone Sunday. He declined to give more regional details. Siemens, Europe’s largest e
Abe bets it’s different this time with first tax rise since 1997 recession

Sept 30, 2013

It’s different this time. The four most dangerous words in markets, according to former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. With Japan set to raise its sales tax for the first time since 1997, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s political future rides on a different outcome than last time ― when the nation slid into a recession and the premier lost his job. To avoid a spending slump, Abe, 59, is poised to unveil a stimulus plan to counter the 3 percentage point bump in the sales levy. “Abe must know
Japan industrial production falls

Sept 30, 2013

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s industrial production fell by a sharper-than-expected 0.7 percent on-month in August, official data showed Monday.The latest reading came after a revised rise of 3.4 percent registered in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.It was also lower than a drop of 0.4 percent economists had expected on average.“Industrial production shows signs of picking up at a moderate pace,” the ministry said in its monthly survey, leaving its verdict un
Vietnam opens door to foreign investors

Sept 30, 2013

Vietnam’s premier pledged to subject state-owned companies to competition and allow greater foreign ownership of banks as the government seeks to revive growth and join a key trade agreement. Over the next five years, Vietnam’s state companies will focus on areas such as infrastructure that “the private sector cannot or does not want to invest in,” Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said in an interview in New York. The government plans to devalue the dong as much as 2 percent by the end of the year
China inaugurates Shanghai trade zone in finance reform push

Sept 29, 2013

Citigroup Inc. and Bank of China Ltd. announced they will participate in Shanghai’s free trade zone, the 11-square-mile experiment in more relaxed financial and investment controls that was inaugurated today. The two banks were among the first to announce their participation in the zone, which opens Oct. 1 with the aim of creating a more efficient and open economic system, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said at an opening ceremony. The area is a testing ground for free-market policies that Premie
France threatens Google over data protection breaches

Sept 29, 2013

PARIS (AFP) ― France’s data protection watchdog said Friday it would take action against U.S. giant Google for failing to comply with national privacy guidelines.The issue of data protection has gathered steam worldwide following revelations by Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the National Security Agency, that the U.S. had a vast, secret program called PRISM to monitor Internet users.France’s CNIL said Google had failed to comply with data protection guidelines within a three-month dead
Smartphone cameras put pressure on Canon, Nikon

Sept 29, 2013

The global camera business, centered in Japan, is headed for a shakeout. With industry revenue falling to the lowest level in a decade amid surging smartphone sales, Nikon Corp., the world’s No. 2 camera maker, has cut prices to lure consumers. Market leader Canon Inc. may follow suit to keep pace, according to UBS AG, putting pressure on smaller producers and possibly leading them to retreat from the business. “There are too many players,” said Ryosuke Katsura, an analyst at UBS in Tokyo. “It’s
Cameron plans married couples tax break

Sept 29, 2013

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron plans to give married couples a tax break, he said before the start of his Conservative Party’s annual conference Monday. Cameron’s relationship with Conservative lawmakers this year has been characterized by a series of unprecedented defeats, with record numbers refusing to back his legislative program and then a smaller number voting against his call for action in Syria. The policy made public Saturday by the prime minister has been regularly called for by som
Japan leader gambles on sales tax hike

Sept 29, 2013

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japanese premier Shinzo Abe’s long-awaited decision this week on whether to hike sales taxes is a major political gamble that proved career-ending for his predecessors, analysts say.Since sweeping December elections on a ticket to kickstart the world’s third-largest economy, the prime minister launched an unprecedented policy blitz ― dubbed Abenomics ― which appears to be taking hold as the economy expands while the stock market roars.Abe underscored that early success with an upbe
Microsoft CEO Ballmer bids tearful goodbye

Sept 29, 2013

Steve Ballmer ended up in tears in his last company meeting held on Friday after a rock-concert-style sendoff topped with a dance performance, marking the end of his 33-year career at Microsoft.　Ballmer referred to Microsoft as “the best company in the world,” spotlighting the company‘s focus on “doing more” in comparison to rivals such as Apple, Amazon and Google. Despite expressing his regret for Microsoft’s late entry into the smartphone business, Ballmer said he believes in the company’s pot