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Local beneficiaries of Bangladeshi expatriates, who were cheated by the UK-based First Solution Money Exchange, will get their money as the remodelled company is set to resume its business with Southeast Bank by April.
   The company will have to deposit at least 50 per cent of the outstanding amount of 1.27 million pound sterling with the private bank to restart regular business in Bangladesh, said an official of the bank.
   The rest amount would be repaid within a year as the Bangladesh Bank has maintained its rigid position on recovery of all the dues, he said.
   The Bangladeshi-owned exchange house had collected the amount from Bangladeshis living in the United Kingdom, but did not make the money available to local beneficiaries. The company was liquidated after the transaction frauds were surfaced and put under a new management, though it retained the previous name.
   The central bank earlier told the First Solution’s new management that it would have to repay its all dues if it wanted to restart business with Bangladeshi banks.
   Chairman of the company MA Mannan and a couple of other directors recently met officials of the central bank and other banks to look for ways to resume operation in Bangladesh.
   The bank would report to the central bank about the status of repayment before getting in fresh business deals with the London-based exchange house, the Southeast Bank official said.
   ‘It can be a win-win situation if the local beneficiaries get their money back and the company continues its business,’ he added.
   The private bank has sent the central bank’s conditional approval and other documents to the company and expected to sign agreement with it by March, he said.
   The money exchange company is entirely a new entity and the bank has to sign a new agreement with the company according to the drawing arrangement guidelines formulated by the central bank, he added.
   ‘The company is likely to restart its regular business by April,’ he hoped.
   The central bank has also instructed the bank to inquire about the reputation of the directors. The company has 18 directors who are its former agents, he said.
   First Solution siphoned off 1.7 million pound sterling remitted by Bangladeshis living in London last year.
   It sent payment advice for Tk 78 lakh to BRAC Bank, Tk 28 lakh to Prime Bank, Tk 1.37 crore to National Credit and Commerce Bank and Tk 12 lakh to Uttara Bank, but did not deposit the equivalent amounts with the accounts of the banks. It also had remittance agreement with Eastern Bank and Mutual Trust Bank.
   All the banks could seek approval from the Bangladesh Bank if they were willing to do business with the company, said a central bank official.
   ‘Remitters may regain their confidence in the new management of the company if it repays the entire amount defaulted on earlier,’ he said.
   The First Solution Money Exchange scandal shook the confidence of UK-based Bangladeshis about sending money home through formal channel.
   The central bank also responded to the problem and came up with more stringent guidelines to streamline the money transfer business as exchange houses are mushrooming in global cities with sizeable concentrations of Bangladeshi expatriates.

The kitchen market goers in the city saw fresh and significant increases in the prices of flour and red lentils in the past week while prices of fishes also increased further.
   The increased prices of edible oil remained somewhat steady in the week and retailers were found selling soyabean oil at higher prices than that fixed by the government.
   The prices of rice and sugar, which experienced significant increases in the previous couple of weeks, still are at their peak.
   On Friday at Nakhalpara bazaar in the city, a one kilogram pack of atta (coarse flour), of different brands, was selling between Tk 43 and Tk 45 against Tk 42 and Tk 43 a week ago.
   The latest increase in the price of atta was again attributed by the traders to the increased import cost of wheat.
   ‘Suppliers told us that wheat prices on international market increased again. So millers were compelled to raise prices of flour again,’ said Abu Taher, a New Market grocery shop owner.
   Wazed Ali Babul, president of the Narayanganj Flour Mills Association, told New Age that at wholesale markets prices of imported wheat had increased by Tk 80 to Tk 100 per maund (37.3 kilogram) in the past one week.
   Arguing increased prices on international market, retail prices of flour was hiked several times just in a year.
   A commerce ministry report Thursday showed that price of coarse flour was between Tk 26 and Tk 27 per kilogram a year.
   Bangladesh consumes more than three million tones of wheat and importers supply around three-fourths of the local market demand.
   After remaining somewhat stable in the previous few weeks, prices of red lentils started increasing in the early past week, with traders putting forth the same argument for the import-dependent food item.
   Up by Tk 4 per kilogram, Turkish red lentil was selling between Tk 72 and Tk 74 on Friday in different retail shops in the city.
   The price of the inferior grade red lentil was up to Tk 68 a month ago and Tk 50 a year ago, showed a report of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.
   Fine grade local red lentil or that imported from Nepal and India was selling between Tk 82 and Tk 90 per kilogram up by Tk 10 over the month and Tk 20 over the year.
   ‘Sharp increases on red lentil prices are worrying as almost every one, including kids, consumes it every day,’ said Mofazzal Hossain, price monitoring official at the Consumer Association of Bangladesh.
   Price of edible oil did not see fresh increase in the week but most retailers in the city were selling non-packed soybean between Tk 108 and Tk 112 per kilogram while government in the past mid-week fixed retail price at Tk 106.5.
   Popular five-litre can of soyabean of different brand were selling each between Tk 510 and Tk 520.
   Market sources said prices set by the government forced soyabean oil a little down on wholesale market towards the end of the past week.
   In the previous two weeks, soyabean oil prices sharply increased on arguments of increased prices of crude soyabean on international market.
   Prices of fishes continued increasing. Increased demand of fishes following reduced consumption of broiler chicken due to bird flu scare pushed up prices by around 30 per cent in a moth.
   At Mahakhali bazaar, medium sized deshi rohita was selling for up to Tk 250 and per kilogram, imported Burmese rohita Tk 180, river-grown medium-sized shrimps Tk 500.
   Vegetables prices remained somewhat stable with supply of winter produces continued to be satisfactory.
   Prices of rice remained stable in the week with ordinary grade coarse verities selling between Tk 30 and Tk 32 per kilogram, finer coarse verities between Tk 35 and Tk 37 while fine verities between Tk 37 and Tk 44.
   Among other major essentials, sugar retailed between Tk 36 and Tk 38 per kilogram, onions Tk 15 and Tk 17 and ginger between Tk 56 and Tk 60.

The price of New York crude oil hit an all-time high point of 103.05 dollars per barrel on Friday owing to record weakness of the dollar but then fell back, traders said. And the price of gold reached an historic peak of 976.32 dollars per ounce.
   ‘This was part of a broad-based commodities run based on the continued weakness of the dollar,’ said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob.
   A weak US currency boosts demand for dollar-denominated raw materials such as crude oil because it makes them cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies. However the increased demand eventually leads to higher prices.
   After striking a record high, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, stood at 101.96 dollars per barrel, down 63 cents from Thursday’s close.
   Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was trading at 100.30 dollars per barrel, down 61 cents. It had struck a record peak of 101.27 dollars on Thursday.
   ‘There is good support to oil futures with the weak dollar, geopolitical tensions, fund interest and OPEC’s resilience to boost supplies,’ said Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.
   ‘Nevertheless, persistent economic fears and more risk aversion could trigger a correction in rallying crude prices, as investors still fear that a slower growth in the US could weigh on global growth estimates and dent demand for energy,’ he added.
   OPEC, which pumps 40 per cent of the world’s oil, was unlikely to change its production level at a meeting next week should crude prices remain around 100 dollars, acting Libyan Oil Minister Chukri Ghanem told AFP on Friday.
   Ghanem said of Wednesday’s OPEC meeting that ‘I think we won’t do anything’ if the price of oil remains around current levels.
   Ghanem, who is the head of the Libyan national oil company and is acting as oil minister, also told AFP by telephone that he expected the price to remain at about 100 dollars per barrel.

Businessman Abul Khair Litu has missed the February deadline for paying the first instalment of Tk 20 crore to the Oriental Bank and sought three more months for it.
   The Bengal Group chairman was to pay the amount by February, but failed to do it by Thursday, the last working day of the month. Instead, he sought another three months’ time to make the payment, said a high official of the bank.
   Earlier, Litu agreed to repay Tk 99.5 crore in settlement of the total loan amount of over Tk 120 crore.
   The bank collateralised the repaid amount but the best solution is that he pays the amount, said the official.
   The businessman was one of the sponsors of the bank and the Bangladesh Bank forfeited his 16 per cent stake in the troubled private sector bank sold out to a Swiss company on Thursday.
   According to regulations, no person or a family or a company can hold more than 10 per cent of the shares of any bank.

India’s Congress-led government announced on Friday a 15 billion dollars loan bailout for small farmers in a populist pre-election budget targeting the party’s traditional poor rural supporters.
   Finance minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, releasing the budget for the year starting April 1 as India’s blistering economic growth has begun to slow, announced a 600 billion rupees ($15.05b) relief plan.
   Some 30 million indebted farmers’ loans would be fully waived and another 10 million would receive aid, said Chidambaram, who presented the budget ahead of nine state elections slated this year followed by national polls in early 2009.
   He pledged to wrestle down the fiscal deficit and tame inflation. But the lack of any big corporate incentives along with the debt giveaway dismayed the stock market which tumbled nearly 1.4 per cent.
   ‘The country is discharging a deep debt and sense of gratitude to farmers’ through the loan scheme, the Harvard lawyer said, adding the government wants ‘to make growth more inclusive’ for those bypassed by the economic boom.
   As many as 150,000 debt-hit farmers have killed themselves in a decade, according to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The farm sector is key as it provides a living for nearly two-thirds of India’s 1.1 billion population.
   TN Ninan, publisher of the daily Business Standard, called the relief plan ‘the single biggest giveaway in India’s fiscal and banking history’ but questioned how it would be applied, noting many debts were to money-lenders.
   Congress is keen to maintain the support of poor voters, mainly in rural areas, who were seen as mainly responsible for its upset 2004 election victory.
   Farm growth is forecast to slow to 2.6 per cent this fiscal year from 3.8 per cent the previous year, raising alarm among experts about India’s ability to feed itself.
   India’s benchmark 30-share Sensex index closed down 1.38 per cent or 245.76 points at 17,578.72 after the minister spoke, struggling to be heard over opposition MPs denouncing what they called a ‘poll-centric budget.’
   Chidambaram presented ‘a typical election-year budget dominated by spending increases on agriculture and social sectors ... and increasing income-tax exemption limits,’ said Goldman Sachs economist Tushar Poddar.
   The budget is seen by analysts as the government’s last chance to reverse a string of state poll defeats.
   The share slide was greased by a rise in the short-term capital gains tax to 15 per cent from 10 per cent by the communist-backed coalition, analysts said.
   But in a bid to woo middle class voters and spur spending in an economy slowed by aggressive monetary tightening, Chidambaram hiked personal income tax exemptions by 36 per cent to 150,000 rupees.
   Data on Friday showed growth slowed to 8.4 per cent for the third quarter ended December 2007 compared with 9.1 per cent in the same year-ago period, as interest rate
   hikes hit consumer and infrastructure spending and industrial output.
   Chidambaram said he was confident ‘we will maintain the average of 8.8 per cent (average annual) growth’ in the current financial year, the same seen since the coalition took power in 2004.
   His growth forecast, however, was down from 9.6 per cent the previous year. India’s economy is still the second fastest-growing major economy in the world after China.
   ‘We need an ambitious scheme ... to revive agriculture,’ the minister said, announcing moves to boost yields and improve irrigation and raise spending on a national rural job creation scheme.

The price of gold rose to a record high point of 976.32 dollars per ounce in morning trading here on Friday as the dollar struck fresh historic lows against the euro, traders said.
   The previous record high price for an ounce of gold was 964.99 dollars, reached on Wednesday.
   A weak US currency boosts demand for dollar-denominated raw materials such as gold because it makes them cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies.
   However the increased demand eventually leads to higher prices.

Thailand said Friday it will lift currency controls imposed by the previous military regime, sharply shifting economic policy just a day after ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra returned from exile.
   Bank of Thailand governor Tarisa Watanagase told reporters that the rules, imposed in December 2006, would stop being effective from Monday.
   ‘The central bank decided to lift the capital controls because of the improving economic situation and the balance in capital inflows and outflows,’ she said.
   The capital controls were imposed by the military regime that toppled Thaksin and were intended to curb the Thai baht’s rise against the dollar.
   The policy reversal was announced just one day after Thaksin staged a dramatic homecoming, ending nearly one and a half years of self-imposed exile.
   Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee said Thursday that he might consult with Thaksin on the capital controls, but it was not known if the two had actually discussed the issue.
   Tarisa denied that she was acting under pressure from the new elected government led by Thaksin’s allies, and said she was adapting policy to an improved economic outlook.
   ‘I am not making decision under pressure from government,’ she said.
   She said the economy, which grew by a stronger-than-expected 5.7 per cent in the fourth quarter, had clearly improved while export growth remained strong despite the steady strengthening of the baht.
   The bank’s latest economic report on Friday showed that despite concerns about a weakening US economy, exports to Thailand’s top trading partner rose 15.9 per cent year-on-year to 1.6 billion dollars in January.
   Shipments to Japan grew 11.02 per cent to 1.5 billion dollars, while EU-bound exports also expanded 23.8 per cent to 1.9 billion dollars, the bank said.
   Tarisa said the bank would take new measures to rein in the baht, mainly by making it easier for Thai companies to invest overseas while tightening rules aimed at limiting currency speculation.
   The announcement was made moments after the stock market closed. The Stock Exchange of Thailand closed 0.43 per cent higher, mainly on gains in energy stocks as buying was limited in anticipation of the bank’s decision.
   Tarisa predicted the end of the capital controls would improve the mood in the market, even though equities were exempted from the reserve rules.
   ‘Lifting of the 30 per cent rule will be a favourable psychological factor for the stock market, but will not directly benefit the exchange because this measure does not affect money to be invested in the stock market,’ Tarisa said.
   The capital controls required 30 per cent of all incoming investments to be held by financial institutions for up to one year.
   But the controls spooked foreign investors, who saw the regulations as a steep tax on equity investments, and caused the biggest one-day drop in the Thai stock market in late 2006, involving losses worth 23 billion dollars.
   Many exemptions were later made to the currency rules, but the general 30-per cent requirement had remained in place until now.
   Speculation that the controls would be scrapped have already pushed the baht higher this week. The unit closed Friday at 31.96-98 baht to the dollar.
   The baht traded at about 35.33 to the dollar when the controls were imposed.
   Chai Chirasevenupraphand, a market strategist at Capital Nomura Securities, predicted the baht could now rise as high as 30 to the dollar.
   ‘If the baht keeps rising, it will be a big headache for exporters,’ he said.
   A rising baht hurts exporters as its raises the foreign currency price of their products and lowers repatriated profits. It can also draw speculative foreign cash — so-called ‘hot money’— betting the currency will rise more.

Despite political rivalry, bilateral trade between Taiwan and China rose 16.1 per cent in 2007 to a record 102.3 billion US dollars on the back of expanding cross-strait exchanges, the island’s authorities said Friday.
   China remained Taiwan’s largest trading partner last year accounting for 21.9 per cent of the island’s total external trade last year, compared to 20.6 per cent for 2006, according to the Board of Foreign Trade.
   China and Taiwan split in 1949 at the end of a civil war and direct links in commerce, post and transportation have been banned since, amid political tensions.
   However, trade and other economic ties have been booming since Taipei relaxed travel restrictions in late 1987 and started liberalizing mainland-bound investments in the early 1990s.
   China remained Taiwan’s largest market in 2007 with shipments there accounting for 30.1 per cent of the island’s total exports, up from 28.3 per cent a year earlier.
   Imports from China accounted for 12.8 per cent of the island’s total imports, up from 12.2 per cent a year earlier.
   Taiwan enjoyed a trade surplus of 46.26 billion dollars in 2007, up 20 per cent from a year earlier. This followed exports of 74.28 billion dollars, up 17.3 per cent, and imports worth 28.02 billion dollars, up 13.1 per cent, the Board said.
   Exports were backed by strong economic growth in China, global demand for notebook personal computers, contracts from major international firms, demand for consumer electronics, and a recovery in the liquid crystal display panel industry.
   China still regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, but has become a favourite investment site for Taiwanese enterprises.
   Local investors have channeled an estimated 150 billion dollars to China and an some one million Taiwanese, or 4.3 per cent of the island’s population, are either working or living in China.
   Cross-strait policy dominates the current presidential campaign with both Democratic Progressive Party candidate Frank Hsieh and the Kuomintang’s Ma Ying-jeou emphasising the need to work with, not antagonise, Beijing.
   The presidential election is scheduled for March 22.

The Doha round of world trade talks faces ‘a high risk of failure,’ EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson warned on Friday.
   Speaking in Lesotho, Mandelson said the talks were set to fail unless ‘negotiators can restore balance to the different strands of the negotiation and close a deal before a change of US president,’ makes negotiating a deal ‘difficult.’
   Addressing trade ministers from least-developed countries, in comments released in Brussels, the EU commissioner said that the poorest had the most to lose if the concessions already on table in the Doha Round — including a ‘paradigm shift’ in global farm subsidies — were lost.
   ‘It is time to get this deal done,’ Mandelson told his audience in the southern African state.
   ‘There is no external force that can end this negotiation for us. We’re like a boat with oars. Unless we row, we go nowhere. Unless we all row together, we go in circles. Unless we row now, the tide will push us past the last remaining harbour.’
   ‘I now fear that Doha is facing a high risk of failure, the first failure ever for a multilateral trade round. That would not be a good signal for the global economy which needs the confidence boost and the insurance against protectionism,’ he said.
   ‘It would signal that the international community is simply not capable of pulling together when it comes to global economic governance.’
   He warned against backtracking on past commitments ‘to real new trade opportunities in industrial goods and services as well as agriculture.’
   However he added that in the political horsetrading to reach a deal there was a risk of introducing too much flexibility that would ‘effectively neuter new market access, whether in developed or emerging economies.’
   The Doha round of multilateral trade liberalisation talks was launched in the Qatari capital Doha in November 2001 but has foundered ever since in disputes between developing and industrialised nations.
   Developing countries have been pressing for greater access to agricultural markets in the industrialised world. Developed nations are in return seeking a better deal for their manufactured products on developing country markets.
   Mandelson spoke of a ‘final window’ for the deal.
   ‘Global agricultural prices are currently high, and price guarantees for farmers are unspent. This offers the US a unique window to reform its trade-distorting farm supports without significant political pain.’
   Agricultural commodity demand is high and supply is tighter than ever, which makes the logic of freer farm trade compelling.
   The US political calendar, with the US presidential election in November, ‘requires a decision in the coming period,’ he urged.
   ‘The climate for trade deals is not going to improve with a new US president.’

Current volatility on foreign exchange markets, which has driven the euro to new heights, is unjustified, the head of the eurozone finance ministers group Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday.
   ‘We don’t like the excessive volatility of exchange rates,’ Juncker told reporters in Luxembourg, where he is also prime and finance minister.
   ‘We think that financial markets are reacting too hastily to short-term indicators,’ he added, on the sidelines of a meeting with Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico.
   The euro soared to a record against the dollar on Thursday as Washington confirmed that the US economy expanded at a sluggish 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter.
   In mid-afternoon deals, the European single currency raced as high as 1.5149 dollars, beating the previous high of 1.5144 that was set Wednesday.
   ‘We think that markets should rather reflect fundamental data,’ Juncker said, noting that US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told his Group of Seven colleagues earlier this month that he was confident in the long-term health of the US economy.
   ‘I would like the financial markets to take better account of mid-term indications and not other, very short-term ones,’ Juncker said.

General Motors Corp will begin shutting down assembly plants on Thursday due to strike at a key supplier, the US automaker said.
   The first plant affected is a truck plant in Pontiac, Michigan, which makes two of GM’s best-selling vehicles: the full-size Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks.
   ‘Production will end after the first shift,’ GM spokesman Tom Wickham told AFP.
   GM hopes to keep other pickup truck plants in Flint, Michigan, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, running into next week despite the strike at American Axle and Manufacturing Inc. which is one of GM’s principal suppliers, sources said.
   GM purchases more than 70 per cent of the parts made by its former subsidiary AAM, which turns out heavy axles, drivetrain and chassis systems and related components for light trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossover vehicles.
   The strike not only threatens GM’s production but also could force Chrysler LLC to curtail production of pickup trucks.
   The United Auto Worker strike against American Axle began Tuesday after the company and the union reached an impasse over management’s demands for deep cuts in wages and benefits.
   ‘It looks like it could go on for a while,’ warned Harley Shaiken a professor at the University of California, Berkeley who specializes in labor issues.
   Some analysts have suggested that GM would not be badly damaged by an extended strike since the Detroit-based automaker has a large inventory of unsold trucks sitting on dealer lots.
   GM has tried to keep a tight control of inventories but the company may be sitting on a 150-day supply of pickup trucks, analysts estimate.
   Sales of pick-up trucks in the United States have dropped on the heels of a sharp decline in housing starts and an overall weakening of the economy.
   Edmunds.com, which tracks auto sales data, predicted GM will sell 280,000 units in February 2008, down 9.5 per cent compared to February 2007 and up 11.3 per cent from January 2008.

Euro zone economic sentiment deteriorated much more than expected in February but inflation expectations were stable, even though data confirmed that food and energy costs fuelled a record surge in inflation in January.
   The European Commission’s monthly economic sentiment survey showed sentiment declined to 100.1 in February from 101.7 in January — a
   much steeper fall than the decline to 101.2 expected by economists.
   It was driven by declining optimism in the euro zone’s services sector, which generates more than two thirds of the 15-member area’s gross domestic product.
   Industry and construction sentiment also deteriorated, while consumer optimism remained stable. The only sector to record an improvement in sentiment was retail.
   The commission survey showed that inflation expectations among consumers — an indicator closely watched by the European Central Bank — were unchanged for the fourth
   month in a row at 28 points, above the long-term average of 23 points.
   Selling-price expectations among businesses were also stable at 14 points, the survey showed.
   The ECB, which wants inflation to be just below 2 per cent, has said that anchoring inflation expectations was key to tame price growth after it took off in the last months of 2007.
   The European Union’s statistics office said on Friday prices in the euro zone fell 0.4 per cent in January against December for a year-on-year rise of 3.2 per cent — confirming its earlier annual estimate and market expectations.
   The annual gain was mainly a result of soaring energy prices, which rose 10.6 per cent and more expensive food, which rose 4.8 per cent year-on-year, as expected by economists.
   Without the volatile unprocessed food and energy costs, or what the ECB calls core inflation, prices fell 0.8 per cent month-on-month for a 2.3 per cent year-on-year gain.

Japan’s government on Friday shelved a proposal to restrict foreign ownership of airports amid concern that the move would undermine wider efforts to attract investment.
   Japan’s transport ministry drew up the bill to limit foreign ownership after it emerged that an Australian company had acquired nearly 20 per cent of the operator of buildings at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
   But officials said Friday that the government had decided to come up with a new strategy that would guarantee security at airports while also allowing foreign investment.
   ‘We need a little more time to discuss the security guarantees while allowing foreign investment,’ Transport Minister Tetsuzo Fuyushiba told a news conference.
   Japan is trying to make foreign investment one of the main drivers of economic growth as its population shrinks in a rapidly greying society.
   The plan to restrict foreign airport ownership to less than a third of voting shares exposed a rare division between government ministers.
   The split came as the operator of Tokyo’s other airport, Narita International Airport,
   prepares to go public next year.
   Opponents of the bill, who include Financial Services minister Yoshimi Watanabe and Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Hiroko Ota, argued that it would set back Japan’s efforts to attract foreign investment.
   Watanabe welcomed the decision to put off the plan to cap foreign investment.
   ‘We were able to reconfirm that our country’s capital market is a safe place to invest.
   The issue had been discussed without full consultations, but it’s good to have avoided the irresponsible move,’ he said.
   Experts also warned that a cap on foreign ownership would tarnish Japan’s image as being open to investment.
   ‘It would be better to keep the current government control on international airports rather than creating regulation that discriminates against foreign firms,’ said Takatoshi Ito, professor of economics at the University of Tokyo.
   ‘Quick and inept regula- tions on foreign investment will destroy Japan’s image as an open financial market,’ he said.
   Some countries including the United States, France, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Singapore maintain control of their airports by retaining stakes of more than 50 per cent in the operators.
   But some other airports, including London’s Heathrow and Brussels Airport, are controlled by foreign firms.

Economic ties between Singapore and Brazil are increasing, with bilateral trade having expanded by an average of 29 per cent since 2004 to reach 2.3 billion US dollars last year, said Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang Friday.
   Speaking at a seminar themed ‘Brazil: The next leap’ organized by the Singapore Business Federation, Lim pointed out ‘There is thus tremendous potential for further expansion.’
   Total trade with Brazil, Singapore’s second largest trading partner in Latin America, nevertheless constituted only 0.4 per cent of the city-state’s total trade, he added.
   Investments have also been growing with Singapore now the second largest Asian investor in Brazil after Japan. Foreign direct investment from Singapore totaled 171.1 million US dollars between 2001 to 2005. To expand trade and investment links between the two countries, the Singapore Business Federation and the Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Singapore Friday.

The gas-rich Gulf state of Qatar on Thursday launched a public transport project that will use electric buses and taxis in a bid to cut air pollution.
   The battery-powered vehicles are being built by a China-based developer for Mowasalat, Qatar’s public transport operator, and will enter service soon, the organisation’s business development manager Ahmad al-Ansari said.
   ‘The developer is working now on technical issues such as increasing the speed of the vehicle, extending the battery range and reducing the mass of the vehicle,’ he told AFP.
   The vehicles will have their batteries recharged in the company’s depot during the first phase of the scheme until charging stations are set up around the capital Doha, he said.

Canada’s prime minister defended NAFTA against US presidential candidates’ criticisms Thursday, while saying Canada would seek a better deal for itself if Washington insists on renegotiating the trade pact.
   ‘I think the NAFTA is a solid agreement for both of our countries,’ Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in the House of Commons. ‘Of course, if any American government ever chose to make the mistake of opening that deal ... then Canada would obviously have some things we would want to discuss as well.’
   In recent days the US Democratic front-runner, Barack Obama, and rival Hillary Clinton have criticized NAFTA in the run-up to next Tuesday’s crucial primary in Ohio, where many voters blame the pact for the loss of thousands of jobs. In a one-on-one televised debate Tuesday in Ohio, both candidates said that if the next president is a Democrat, Mexico and Canada would be pressured to renegotiate NAFTA.

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has opened its 11th ATM booth at 230 Senpara Parabata, Mirpur 10 in the Dhaka city recently.
   S Renganathan, country manager of the bank, inaugurated the booth with senior officials, staff and customers of CBC present on the occasion, said a press release.
   The CBC operates with 300 ATMs and 162 branches in Sri Lanka. In Bangladesh it has six branches, two booths and two off-shore banking units offering a wide range of products and services.
   All the ATMs of CBC are equipped with Bangla screens for the convenience of the customers.

The IFIC Bank Limited opened its 70th branch at Glowing Stone, Banani in the Dhaka city on Tuesday.
   Mohammad Lutfar Rahman, chairman of the bank, opened the branch, said a press release.
   Directors Abu Tahir Mohammad Golam Maruf, Didarul Alam and Syed Monjurul Islam, managing director Mashiur Rahman, deputy managing director Mohammad Abdullah and senior executives of the bank were present at the opening ceremony.
   Equipped with online banking system, the branch will provide a complete range of banking facilities.

The dollar fell to the lowest level in almost three years against the yen Friday after US central bank chief Ben Bernanke warned the economy faced more complex problems than before the last recession, dealers said.
   The dollar was bidding as low as 104.66 yen in early Tokyo trade, its lowest level since May 2005 when it touched 104.37. It later recovered slightly to 104.78 yen, compared with 105.39 yen in New York late Thursday.
   The euro hovered at 1.5180 dollars, near its all-time high of 1.5229 dollars at one point Thursday. The single European unit eased to 159.05 yen from 160.04.
   The US currency remained under pressure after Bernanke testified in Congress for a second day on the central bank’s semiannual economic report.
   Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke, who gave strong hints of more rate cuts, said the US economy faces a different and more complex set of issues than before the recession of 2001.
   ‘We are facing a situation where we have simultaneously a slowdown in the economy, stress in the financial markets and inflation pressure coming from these commodity prices abroad,’ Bernanke said.
   ‘Each of those things represents a challenge. We have to make our policy in trying to balance these different risks in a way that will get the best possible outcome for the American economy.’
   Financial markets have been turbulent since last year over rising mortgage defaults by Americans with poor credit histories, raising concerns over a credit crunch as financial institutions cover their losses.
   But Bernanke’s remarks surprised some dealers after a month dominated by positive signs. The market had been digesting hefty rate cuts by the Fed and news that credit ratings for major bond insurers would remain steady.
   ‘The market’s insecurity over the US economy strengthened’ after Bernanke’s comments, said Masaki Fukui, senior
   market economist at the forex division of Mizuho Corporate Bank.
   The greenback was also on the back foot on renewed fears of a credit crunch after Bernanke said that smaller firms could fail from the credit crisis although large US banks were likely to recover, dealers said.
   Market participants were closely examining the US central banker’s remarks that a weaker dollar could narrow the trade deficit.

International Nickel Indonesia (Inco) said Friday its 2007 net profit doubled to 1.17 billion dollars from 513.4 million dollars a year before, aided by higher nickel prices.
   Sales for the nickel miner rose 74 per cent to 2.33 billion dollars.
   ‘Despite an 11-day strike in November 2007, the company recorded production of nickel-in-matte in 2007 of 76,748 metric tons compared to 71,622 metric tons in the previous year,’ it said.
   The average selling price of nickel-in-matte last year was 29,881 dollars per ton compared to 18,356 dollars the year before, said Inco.
   ‘Our annual production of 76,748 metric tonnes of nickel-in-matte was the highest in PT Inco’s production history and above our 2007 target of 74,843 metric tons,’ said company president Arif Siregar.
   Inco’s net profit in the fourth quarter fell 24.5 per cent to 200.5 million dollars from a year before, while sales dropped 22.2 per cent to 458.5 million dollars, due to lower realised prices and lower deliveries, it said.
   The nickel price it realised for the quarter was 23,816 dollars per metric ton, down four per cent from a year earlier.
   Fourth quarter production was 18,597 metric tons compared to 21,228 metric tons due to the strike, the company said.
   Inco plans capital spending of 212 million dollars in 2008, said Siregar, with it aiming to optimise production and minimise costs to benefit from the current strong nickel price, he said.
   The company is targeting output of 77,000-79,000 metric tons of nickel-in-matte in 2008, subject to adequate rainfall to fill the company’s reservoirs during the remainder of the year, said Siregar.
   Inco’s major shareholders are CVRD Inco Ltd, with a 60.8 per cent stake, and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd, with a 20.1 per cent stake.

Bourse Dubai said Thursday it had completed a multi-billion dollar deal with the US exchange Nasdaq in which the Emirates-based firm sold its recently-acquired subsidiary, the Nordic and Baltic stock exchange operator OMX, to Nasdaq.
   ‘Bourse Dubai has sold 117.228 million shares in OMX, representing approximately 97.2 per cent of the total number of shares and votes in OMX, to Nasdaq,’ the company said in a statement.
   In return, Bourse Dubai has received 42.9 million newly issued shares in Nasdaq and around 1.8 billion dollars in cash, the statement said.
   In addition, 17.66 million newly issued Nasdaq shares have been deposited in an independently managed US-based trust for the benefit of Bourse Dubai.
   The shares held by the trust are eventually expected to be sold out.
   ‘We are pleased to have successfully concluded this landmark deal,’ chairman of Bourse Dubai Essa Kazim said.
   ‘The completed transactions constitute a key milestone in establishing Dubai as one of the world’s leading financial centres,’ he said.
   Under the deal, Nasdaq has invested 50 million dollars by subscribing to newly issued shares in the Dubai International Financial Exchange to become a holder of 33.3 per cent of DIFX outstanding shares, the statement said.
   ‘Nasdaq and Bourse Dubai will together develop DIFX as a global exchange which will bridge the US, Europe and the Middle East and further develop and link mature and emerging markets,’ said Kazim.
   Kazim said in comments published Thursday by Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas that Bourse Dubai will own 28 per cent of Nasdaq OMX Group.
   But the official announced that Bourse Dubai’s holding in the new group would be 19.9 per cent to ensure that its stake does not exceed 20 per cent, in accordance with the US laws.
   The remaining 8.1 per cent is the stake placed in the independent trust, the official added.
   He said that Bourse Dubai saw the agreement as a ‘strategic deal’ that will eventually yield lucrative investment results.
   As part of the transactions, Nasdaq, OMX and Bourse Dubai have entered into a technology licence and marketing agreement that gives Bourse Dubai access to the technology platforms and proprietary systems of Nasdaq OMX group.
   Also, Nasdaq and DIFX have entered into a trademark licence agreement that will grant DIFX a licence to use Nasdaq marks in relation to its business in certain territories. Bourse Dubai earlier this month acquired more than 97 per cent of OMX shares for a total value of around 4.9 billion dollars.
   Bourse Dubai, the holding company for Dubai International Financial Exchange and Dubai Financial Market, is 60 per cent owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai and 20 per cent each by Dubai Group and Dubai International Financial Centre.

Sri Lanka’s annual inflation rate accelerated to more than 18 per cent in February, official data showed on Friday, adding to the woes of an economy already weakened by a deadly ethnic conflict.
   The inflation rate, measured on a 12-month moving average basis, was 18.1 per cent in February, up from 17.6 per cent a month earlier, the Census and Statistics Department said in a statement.
   Inflation, according to the Colombo Consumers’ Price Index, stood at 15.8 per cent in February 2007, the release said.
   The inflation rise was another blow to the economy whose growth slowed to 6.7 per cent in 2007 from 7.7 per cent the previous year amid an upsurge in fighting between separatist Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces.
   The department blamed the inflation increase mainly on rises in the price of food as well as in the cost of fuel, clothing and other items.
   ‘These price increases can be mainly attributed to the short supply of locally produced agricultural consumer goods, especially rice, coconuts and coconut oil,’ the department said.
   Inflation is expected to rise further in March when electricity prices are slated to jump by 136 per cent.
   The rise, due to take effect at the start of March, is a result of soaring global fuel prices. About 60 percent of Sri Lanka’s electricity is generated by diesel fuel, which is imported. The remainder of the island’s electricity comes from hydro.
   Sri Lanka’s central bank kept interest rates on hold at a five-and-a-half-year high last week as monetary policy authorities sought to curb inflation without further slowing economic growth.
   The inflation rise came on the back of a jump in state-set retail fuel prices in January.
   Sri Lanka’s central bank warned earlier in February that inflation could hover between 16 and 20 percent in the first half of 2008, blaming the “low supply” of domestic food.

India’s annual inflation rate spiked to its highest level since June 2007 on higher food and fuel prices, data showed on Friday.
   Inflation climbed to 4.89 per cent for the week ended February 16 from 4.35 per cent the previous week, according to the wholesale price index, India’s most watched cost-of-living monitor.
   Wholesale prices stood at a then two-year peak of 6.73 per cent in the same period a year ago.
   Inflation in Asia’s third largest economy has fluctuated in recent months but has been inching closer to the central bank’s ceiling of five per cent for the fiscal year to March 31, 2008.
   The bank has warned recently that rising prices remain a worry and has raised interest rates nine times since 2004 to keep prices in check amid an economic boom.
   Prices of fruits, vegetables, lentils and spices all rose, according to the latest data, which marked the fourth week in a row that inflation has been above four per cent.
   State-set petroleum prices were increased for the first time in 20 months on February 14 to reduce losses at government-owned oil companies reeling from surging global crude prices.
   Also on Friday, the government reported economic growth of 8.4 per cent in the third quarter, the slowest pace in two years, on lower farm and industrial output from the same period a year ago.

Japanese share prices are expected to face selling pressure next week as a strong yen threatens to erode the earnings of Japanese exporters, analysts said Friday.
   They said worries about the US economy have also grown after downbeat comments from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke.
   ‘The market has been nervous about the foreign ex-
   change rates as the yen rose so rapidly,’ said Masatoshi Sato, strategist at Mizuho Investors Securities.
   If the greenback remains under pressure, ‘100 yen (to the dollar level) may be in sight,’ Sato said.
   The dollar was bid as low as 104.66 yen in early Tokyo
   trade, its weakest since May 2005. The greenback extended its losses after the stock market closed.
   ‘A further rise in the yen would not only affect market sentiment but actually affect the earnings of Japanese
   companies,’ said Hirokazu Fujiki, strategist at Osakan Securities. ‘Players will
   have to keep an eye on the foreign exchange rate closely for now.’
   During the past week to February 29, the headline Nikkei-225 index rose
   102.56 points or 0.76 per
   cent to 13,603.02, after a 0.9 per cent decline the previous week.
   The broader Topix of all first-section shares increased 2.91 points or 0.22 per cent to 1,324.28.
   On Wednesday, the benchmark Nikkei closed at a six-week high above 14,000 points. But the index ended the week below the key threshold due to a slide in industrial output, the yen’s strength and US losses, dealers said.
   Investors are waiting for US economic data to be announced next week, including the Institute for Supply Management’s manu-
   facturing index on Monday,
   its services index on Wed-
   nesday and a key jobs report on Friday.
   Worries about the US economic outlook grew after Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke said the US economy faces a different and more complex set of issues than before the recession of 2001.
   ‘We are facing a situation where we have simultaneously a slowdown in the economy, stress in the financial markets and inflation pressure coming from these commodity prices abroad,’ Bernanke said in Congress.
   He said that while large US banks will likely recover from the credit crisis, others are at risk of failing.
   ‘Although negative factors are mounting, there is one bit of good news: foreign investors are said to be raise their portfolio of Japanese shares,’ said Okasan’s Fujiki.
   ‘The Japanese economy is relatively stable, and the performance of Japanese companies is not so bad,’ Fujiki said. ‘We can still expect that
   foreign players will hunt out some Japanese shares from now on.’
   The market will monitor monetary policy meetings at the central banks of Japan, Britain and the eurozone next week, although markets think all three will probably leave their key interest rates unchanged for now, dealers said.

Brazil seeks closer ties with Southeast Asia
Brazil is seeking closer trade relations with Southeast Asia, the South American nation’s minister for external relations said Friday during a visit to Singapore. Celso Amorim, who arrived in Singapore from a two-day visit to Vietnam, was speaking to reporters after attending a business seminar. The trip is part of his government’s effort ‘for having closer relations with countries in Southeast Asia and the Far East,’ he said. ‘Our trade with the region is still very uneven,’ Amorim said, calling trade with Singapore already significant while with Vietnam it is ‘almost negative’ but offers much potential. Brazil’s junior trade minister Welber Barral said late last year that his country is one of the 30 biggest exporters in the world, according to the World Trade Organisation, and by 2010 will be among the 25 biggest. ‘What we have seen in Brazil is that our trade is based more and more with the countries in the developing world,’ Amorim said. ‘If we take a country like Singapore, our exports, our trade both ways, was multiplied by four in three years. The same goes for many other countries.’ Amorim said Brazilian companies are also now making their presence felt with foreign investment. ‘Brazil companies are establishing themselves in India. You have steel mills wishing to go to Vietnam,’ and shoe factories in China, he said. Ultimately, he said, he would like to see a trade agreement between the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and South America’s Mercosur trading bloc. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said earlier that he was planning a trip this year to East Timor, Indonesia and Vietnam, most likely in June.
— AFP