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To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (31016)	4/1/1999 8:40:00 AM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

Russian c. bank to help pay foreign debt Apr-Jun MD. 4th paragraph interesting. MOSCOW, April 1 (Reuters) - Russia's central bank will dip into reserves which are at the lowest level in three years to help the state make foreign debt payments due between April and June, Chairman Viktor Gerashchenko said on Thursday. He told a news conference he hoped gold and foreign currency reserves, which dropped to $10.9 billion last week from $11.2 billion a week earlier, would not fall to a critical level. "In April, May and June we will fulfil our debts, help the government fulfil its (foreign) debts," Gerashchenko said. The finance ministry and the central bank have been raiding cash reserves to support the rouble and make sovereign Eurobond payments. Reserves also include a substantial amount of gold, $4.15 billion of the total figure on March 1. Russia owes around half a billion dollars in Eurobond payments, $1.6 billion on dollar-denominated domestic MinFin bonds and major payments to the London Club of foreign banks and the International Monetary Fund between April and June. Gerashchenko, asked what a critical level of reserves would be, responded, "I was always bad at figures." reuters.com

To: Bobby Yellin who wrote (31016)	4/1/1999 5:42:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

''In March 1998, the country exported $300 million worth of gold as an extraordinary factor,'' Cho said. FOCUS-SKorea exports under siege, surplus shrinks 02:39 a.m. Apr 01, 1999 Eastern By Kim Myong-hwan SEOUL, April 1 (Reuters) - South Korea announced on Thursday that its trade surplus shrank in March as the won's strength gnawed at the price competitiveness of its exports. Analysts said the price handicap and dim prospects for the Chinese economy could dent the government's target of attaining a $25 billion trade surplus this year. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said the customs-cleared trade surplus dropped to $2.43 billion in March from $3.72 billion a year earlier. ''Exports fell from a year earlier because of the won's strength against the dollar,'' said Cho Young-jai, deputy director of the ministry's export division. ''But they improved from February.'' Free-on-board (FOB) exports in March fell 1.9 percent to $11.78 billion from a year earlier, while imports on a cost, insurance and freight (CIF) basis rose 12.8 percent to $9.35 billion, the ministry said. ''In March 1998, the country exported $300 million worth of gold as an extraordinary factor,'' Cho said. ''If exports of gold and other special items, including idle facilities, were excluded, the March exports would show positive growth.'' ''Exports in March performed better than expected. But the slowing Chinese economy will likely hamper South Korean exports,'' said Lee Hahn-koo, president of Daewoo Research Institute. ''Rising prices of crude oil and other raw materials would be another burden,'' Lee said. In short, the country's trade surplus this year would be somewhere between $15 billion and $20 billion, far below the government's target of $25 billion.'' Imports of consumer products and capital goods would rise on recovering domestic demand, analysts said. ''Domestic consumption has increased and inventories have hit rock bottom, so imports are bound to rise,'' said Kim Hun-soo, the head of research at Merrill Lynch Korea. Hank Morris, director of Industrial Research and Consulting Ltd, said: ''Probably, the government's target of attaining a $25 billion trade surplus looks too optimistic. ''If crude oil prices rise further from the current level, the suplus will be below $20 billion this year.'' The trade surplus during the first three months of this year totalled $4.86 billion, down from $8.58 billion a year before, the ministry said. It said exports of industrial electronics and ships during the first 20 days of March rose 26.4 percent and 19.5 percent respectively from a year earlier. Semiconductor exports increased 7.0 percent year-on-year, but car exports fell 20.9 percent, the ministry said. Imports rose in March due largely to a surge in capital goods imports, it said. Imports of capital goods during the first 20 days of March rose 29.4 percent, and those of consumer goods rose 4.1 percent. Imports of raw materials slid 0.3 percent. Imports of crude oil fell 7.6 percent, while machinery purchases rose 28.5 percent. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited