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Currency swap expands - includes multiple records - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

JAPAN HAS agreed to increase the amount of currency reserves swaps with Korea and Malaysia to strengthen its safeguard against a repeat of the rapid fall of Asian currencies that sparked the regional recession in 1997/1998.

Japan and Korea will raise the amount swapped with each other to US$7 billion ($13.64 billion) from US$5 billion, while Japan and Malaysia will increase their currency swap to US$3.5 billion from US$2.5 billion.

In a new agreement, Japan and Thailand will swap US$3 billion of their currencies. Japan is also negotiating currency swap pacts with the Philippines and China.

* AUSTRALIA

A record 2.7 million tourists visited Australia in the last 10 months, a 7.3 percent increase from the year-ago period.

Visitors from China jumped 53 per cent in the July-April period, while Brazilian visitors rose 49 per cent.

The number of visitors from South East Asian countries were also on the rise, with the number of tourists from Indonesia rising 32 per cent, from Thailand by 14 per cent and from Korea by 14 per cent.

* CHINA

China will impose a unified tax rate of 25 percent on foreign and domestic companies within three years of joining the World Trade Organisation.

At present, the Government charges companies with foreign investment a 15 per cent corporate tax rate as part of its incentives to woo overseas money. Domestic firms, who now pay a 33 per cent rate, have complained that the higher tax rate makes them uncompetitive.

The Chinese Government may allow special economic development zones within a certain period of time after WTO entry, to continue to grant preferential tax rates to foreign investors.

* HONG KONG

Hong Kong workers received salary raises of between three and 6.2 per cent in the 12 months to April 1, according to a Government survey.

The Government will use the survey to determine whether civil servants will get a raise, following more than two years of frozen pay. In turn, employees may follow the Government increase and give their staff raises.

It is hoped pay rises will boost economic activity and stimulate consumer prices, which have fallen every month since November 1998.

* INDONESIA

PT Bank Danamon, Indonesia's biggest bank by market value, is in preliminary talks with PT Bank Universal and may merge with the ailing lender by the third quarter of this year.

The merger is aimed at rescuing Bank Universal from the risk of closure by year-end if it fails to reach the required eight per cent capital adequacy ratio, or ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets.

Indonesia is trying to bolster its banks as it calls on those with weak capital to merge with stronger ones.

* JAPAN

Honda Motor is set to become the first Japanese carmaker to produce automatic transmissions in China.

Honda will invest about 950 million yen ($15.1 million)in a production line for automatic transmissions at Guangzhou Honda Auto Automobile, which produces midsize Accord passenger cars. Dongfeng Honda Engines, another Honda unit, will set up the line.

* MALAYSIA

Malaysia's second biggest political party, the Malaysian Chinese Association, has agreed to buy 72 per cent of Nanyang Press Holdings for 230.1 million ringgit ($116.1 million), giving the ruling coalition member control of the publisher of the nation's second and third-largest Chinese language dailies.

The party bought the shares from Hume Industries, a member of the Hong Leong group under its investment arm Huaren Holdings, and will later offer to buy the rest of the Nanyang stock to comply with Malaysia's takeover laws. Several Chinese associations have voiced objections to the sale, saying the MCA should respect newspapers' objectives and rights.

* PHILIPPINES

The Philippine Government and the nation's bankers association will set up a company before the end of June to help lenders dispose of their bad loans.

Vitaliano Nanagas, a member of President Gloria Arroyo's economic team and president of the Social Security System, said the company, to be mostly run by the private sector, will only arrange transactions and not buy bad loans.

The country's commercial lenders had about 235 billion pesos ($9.07 billion) of bad loans at the end of March, representing 16.7 per cent of total lending.

* SOUTH KOREA

Some of Korea's top 30 industrial concerns will be granted a grace period of as much as a year, or will be exempted, from rules requiring them to limit their equity investments in other affiliates.

The Fair Trade Commission will give more time to some industrial groups, or exempt those that are making equity investments to restructure their businesses.

Regulators have required most Korean industrial groups to limit their equity investments in affiliates to 25 per cent of a group's net worth since April.

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FOLLOWING ARE SOME SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS OR STATISTICS RELATING TO ASIA-PACIFIC NATIONS

65 The percentage of Taiwan's population now with mobile phone accounts.

153 The numbers of seats held in the Indonesian Parliament by the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle led by Megawati Sukarnoputri.

365 The number of Parliament members in favour of starting impeachment preceedings against Indonesian Prime Minister Adburrahman Wahid.

COPYRIGHT 2001 First Charlton Communications Pty Ltd.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group