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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (17091)	2/22/1998 2:47:00 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Sorry, was unable to post yesterday due to slow connection; following is the continuation of 21 Feb post: 5. New fund sought, Asia crisis drags - EU backing needed: Asia's battered economies will take up to four years to recover but the situation could worsen into a geopolitical problem if China succumbs as well, Singapore Deputy Premier Lee Hsien Loong said Friday. Lee urged European governments to provide emergency financial assistance to the region and convince their banks to ease Asia's debt burden. China has been facing pressure after currency falls in Southeast Asia made the region's exports more competitive, but Beijing has repeatedly ruled out a devaluation. 6. Indonesia seeks G7 assistance as markets ponder currency peg - Currency crisis remains unsolved: Jakarta faces sever food shortages, seeks good relations with IMF. 7. World oil nudges up - Gulf banks shrug off crisis: World oil markets edged tentatively higher on Friday but were quiet as traders watched from the sidelines in a last-ditch effort by the United Nations to avert a military strike on Iraq. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due to arrive in Baghdad on Friday aiming to tell Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to comply with UN resolutions. London April Brent crude futures were up six cents at $14.91 a barrel at 1310 GMT, well clear of a 46-month front-month futures low of $14.22 hit on Wednesday this week. Prices rallied from Wednesday's low on Saudi Arabia's announcement that it was prepared to consider reducing output with other Opec members if those pumping above assigned quotas showed some output restraint first. Gulf banks have shrugged off an escalating crisis between Iraq and the United Nations but oil prices could rise if hostilities erupt in the region. With the exception of Kuwait where banks reported withdrawals, business in neighbouring Gulf Arab states remained normal. 8. Attempt to sell Renault stake - Paris denies move: The French government denied on Friday that it plans to sell off part of its 44% stake in automaker Renault, a day after the company announced plans for a cutback of 1,500 workers in 1998 (transfer 1,200 others to new jobs and undertake massive cost-cutting programme). The aim is to save 20 billion francs ($3.3 billion) over the next three years. Renault said the measures were due to "prospects for mediocre growth" of the French auto market and for stability as a whole of the European market." The Financial Times said the government planned to sell at least 25% of Renault, probably through public share offering, but not before 1999. The sale should net 10 to 15 billion francs for the government, the Financial Times said, without citing any sources. While the government denied the report, a Renault spokesman refused to comment, saying it was up to the state as shareholder to announce any plans to reduce its stake. Tokyo: Japanese auto giants Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co Ltd on Friday reported year-on-year declines in January sales and output, citing sluggish demand and the impact of Asia's economic crisis. Toyota said in a report that its domestic vehicle sales in the month plunged 24.6% from a year earlier to 95,430 units. Sales of cars fell 21.5% to 63,464 units and those of trucks and buses slumped 30.0% to 31,966 units. Japan's Sharp Corp on Friday slashed its group pre-tax profit forecast for the year to March to 49.5 billion yen ($390 million) from 77.6 billion forecast earlier. The major electronics maker attributed the downgrade to lower-than-expected prices of liquid crystal displays and integrated circuits, and to sluggish sales of air conditioners, audio visual products and personal computers. Japan's Komatsu Ltd on Friday lowered its consolidated earnings forecasts for the year March due to sluggish domestic sales of construction machinery products and declines in microchip prices. The company cut forecasts for group pre-tax profit to 37 billion yen ($290 million) from 50 billion estimated earlier. Revenue is now estimated at 1.09 trillion yen, down from the earlier forecast of 1.11 trillion yen, with net profit seen at 19 billion yen, down from 23 billion yen.