Just Economic Info

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati expresses concern that the strengthening value of Rupiah against US dollar over the past four months can impact negatively on the country’s competitiveness and hurt its exports.Mulyani said in Jakarta on Wednesday although the country’s exports still showed “positive level” when compared to its imports,...

South Korea's economic growth sharply accelerated in the first quarter of 2010 amid a rebound in manufacturing, exports and spending, the central bank said Tuesday.Gross domestic product expanded 1.8 percent in the three months ended March 31 from the fourth quarter last year when it grew 0.2 percent, the Bank of Korea announced.South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, has recovered strongly from the global downturn boosted...

Retail sales volumes during March rose by 0.4% from the month before, a smaller increase than had been expected, official figures have shown.The increase was below the average 0.6% rise predicted by analysts, and some economists said this could mean lower than expected growth for the economy.Sales had risen strongly in February, but this...

Indonesia aims to increase its electricity capacity to 15,000 megawatts this year to support its economic growth target of 7 percent by 2014, a senior minister says. "The15,000 MW capacity can be achieved through construction of new power plants," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Radjasa told a seminar organized by the Bogor Institute...

The first flights in northern Europe have taken off after five days of inactivity caused by the spread of volcanic ash from Iceland.Three flights departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport late on Monday, bound for New York, Shanghai and Dubai.There are hopes that many routes within Europe will be able to resume operations on Tuesday.But...

Toyota has agreed to pay a record fine of $16.4m (£10.7m) in the US for failing to report defects in some of its vehicles' accelerator pedals.The Japanese carmaker denied hiding the defects, but again acknowledged that it could have handled the issue better.Some 2.3 million Toyotas were recalled in the US in January amid reports the accelerator...

The Indonesian Computer Entrepreneurs Association (Apkomindo) expects a significant increase in the sales of ICT products within the next few years thanks to improvements in people’s purchasing power.The association’s chairman Suhanda Wijaya said in Jakarta on Monday personal computer (PC) sales could, for example, increase by 35 percent this year to between 3.6 million and 3.8 million units up from 2.8 million in 2009.This increase...

Airlines will lose at least $200m (£130m) per day in revenues as a result of the volcanic ash-linked disruption, the industry's governing body has said.The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said its members would also lose further money as a result of expensive contingency plans.Meanwhile accountants KPMG said it expected UK...

The Koja disturbance did not have a major effect on export-import flows in the Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta, not far from where the incident took place, Transportations Minister Freddy Numberi said, expecting the Jakarta administration to settle the problem immediately.“Two or three shipments were delayed, But now [shipments] are back...

Internet giant Google has reported a 37% rise in first-quarter net profit, beating analysts' expectations.Profit for the three months to March came in at $1.96bn (£1.26bn) compared with the $1.42bn it made a year ago.Revenue climbed 23% to $6.78bn, helped by an increase in online spending by advertisers."Going forward, we remain committed...

Bank of America (BoA) has returned to profit, reporting a net income of $3.2bn (£2.1bn) in the first three months of 2010.This compares with a $194m loss in the previous quarter, but is 24% lower than profits of the same period a year ago.The giant US bank said record sales and trading activity at its capital markets arm - including acquisition...

Venezuelan business leaders are exploring opportunities to improve cooperation with Indonesian partners in trade and investment."We would like to improve trade and investment relations, including those in tourism, technology, chemicals and natural gas," Mirtha Quintero, manager for commercial promotion of Foreign Trade Bank of Venezuela (Bancoex), said at a seminar in Jakarta on Tuesday.The trade mission seminar was held by a...

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia plans to phase out 16 old Boeing planes as part of rejuvenation of its fleet.Garuda, however, will buy or lease 24 new planes to increase its fleet to 116."As of today we operate 72 planes. This year Garuda will receive 24 new planes, but actually we will only have 8 more planes, because 16 classic units...

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) will launch a special investigation into alleged corruption in the tax office following its regular audit in the second semester, BPK chief Hadi Poernomo said.Speaking at a hearing session at the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Hadi said the upcoming investigation was a response to recent corruption cases...

Chinese President Hu Jintao has resisted pressure from President Obama to raise the value of the Chinese yuan.He told Mr Obama that it would "neither balance Sino-US trade nor solve the [US] unemployment problem", Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported.However, Mr Hu indicated that the Chinese were preparing to change their policy on...

Japanese carmaker Toyota is facing further safety concerns after a US consumer organisation warned customers not to buy one of its models.Consumer Reports issued a recommendation not to buy the Lexus GX 460 four-wheel drive because of fears that the car could roll over.The last time it judged a vehicle's performance unacceptable was in 2001.Toyota...

While the fast appreciation of rupiah against the US dollar will make imported products cheaper, analysts have warned that “too strong” rupiah would hurt Indonesia’s exports.The appreciation of the rupiah against the greenback may lead to danger signals for Indonesia’s exports if it stays stronger than Rp 9,000 to the dollar, analysts say.“A...

The government is expecting a slower annual growth in exports of tobacco and its products from average 18 percent in the past three years to an average of 15 percent growth in the next five years.Industry Ministry director for beverage and tobacco industries Warsono said Friday the government expected a slower rate of growth as the main cigarette...

China has reported a rare monthly trade deficit for the first time since May 2004. The country's foreign trade was up nearly 43 per cent in March to over $231bn, out of which exports accounted for about $112.1bn and imports about $119.4bn.In the same month, China's trade surplus was down 4 per cent with the US and over 13 per cent with the...

Lending by Chinese banks fell sharply in the first three months of the year after the government's efforts to clamp down on new loans proved successful.Banks lent 2.6 trillion yuan ($381bn; £247bn) between January and March, a 43% drop on the 4.6tn yuan they lent a year earlier, the central bank said.The state is trying to curb lending to...

Most Asian stock markets edged up in early trading Friday, led by overnight gains on Wall Street as strong U.S. retail sales data boosted confidence in recovery in the world's biggest economy.Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average rose 17.25 points, or 0.2 percent, to 11,185.45. Australia's benchmark was up 0.3 percent at 4,973.70.But South Korea's Kospi index slipped 0.9 percent to 1,718.04.In New York overnight, the Dow...

China posted a $7.24 billion trade deficit in March, its first in almost six years, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday, citing customs figures. Officials say the trend will be short-lived.The March deficit was China's first since it recorded a $2.26 billion deficit in April 2004.The return to deficit after many years of surplus could help ease reassure on China to allow the value of its currency to rise against...

The free trade agreement between ASEAN and China (ACFTA) has been cited as not being been “effective” for Indonesia as imports from China surged in the first two months of 2010 over the same period last year.The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced Thursday that non-oil-and-gas imports from China surged by 55 percent to US$2.79...

Personal loans and overdrafts will only be available to "better quality" borrowers in the next three months, according to a survey of lenders.Tighter credit scoring for non-credit card unsecured lending, already seen this year, will continue, the Bank of England's report said. The availability of mortgages will remain steady, lenders...

Toyota's US sales bounced back in March as substantial discounts helped to win back customers who had been shaken by the firm's mass safety recalls.The Japanese carmaker saw its US sales jump 40.7% last month compared with a year earlier. The big rise came after its sales slumped by 8.7% in February. Ford and General Motors also saw their...