VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A senior South Korean official on Thursday called for greater efforts to manage the country's excessive borrowing, saying problems at China Evergrande served as an example of the debt issues economies could face as they scale back stimulus.

Lee Eog-weon, a vice finance minister, said South Korea should "pre-emptively manage default risks that could arise from excessive leveraging and risk-taking," citing a potential Evergrande default as the kind of incident that could arise as central banks globally unwind pandemic-era monetary policy.

Koreans have been borrowing more than ever before, and South Korean policymakers are increasingly worried the debt pile could become unsustainable as rates rise, hurting people's purchasing power and long-term growth. The central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in almost three years in August. 

Lee's comments come after data last week showed home prices in the capital region, home to about half of the country's population, jumped 13.11% this year through August. That was the fastest increase in 15 years and up from an annual increase of 9.8% last year, according to the Korea Real Estate Board.

The monthly pace of home price gain also accelerated to a 13-year high.

Dozens of loan curbs and tax measures over the past five years have done little to curb the home buying frenzy. Household borrowing hit a record 1,805.9 trillion won ($1.54 trillion) in the June quarter.

Global investors have been on tenterhooks in recent weeks as debt payment obligations of Evergrande, labouring under a $305 billion mountain of debt, triggered fears its malaise could pose systemic risks to China's financial system. Markets were keeping a close eye on China's second-largest real estate developer to see if it will be able to pay interest on one of its dollar bonds due on Thursday. 

"At a time when nothing seems to be working to cool the debt binge, the lesson from Evergrande is that crisis will come around when you have a lot of debt," said Park Sang-hyun, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities.

"I'm unaware of direct exposures Korea has, but any instability in the Chinese economy will hurt Korean growth momentum too," Park said.

Home affordability has also become a problem is South Korea, data from Kookmin Bank showed.

The average price of a Seoul apartment has roughly doubled in the past five years to 1.18 billion won ($999,236) as of August this year, data from Kookmin Bank showed.

An apartment in Seoul now costs more than 18 years' worth of South Korea's median annual household income, up from 11 years when President Moon Jae-in took office in 2017, according to the bank. (Reuters)

Taiwan's air force scrambled again on Thursday to warn off 19 Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone, Taiwan's defence ministry said, the latest uptick in tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

The Chinese aircraft included 12 J-16 fighters and two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, the ministry added. (Reuters)

The World Health Organisation's representative to Afghanistan called on the international community on Thursday to resume funding of the war-torn country's health program which was suspended when the Taliban took over governing the country, as the healthcare system had plunged into crisis.

The deteriorating situation underscored the dilemma faced by many international donors, many of which are reticent to fund the Taliban-led administration, some of whose members are on international sanctions lists, but fear that the country is veering towards a humanitarian crisis.

"In the recent weeks, access to health care has significantly declined for hundreds of thousands of some of the most vulnerable Afghans," Luo Dapeng, WHO's representative to Afghanistan, said at a press conference in Geneva.

"The country's already-fragile health system is overwhelmed," he said, adding they were coordinating with donors to find alternative funding mechanisms for health facilities.

International governments have pledged millions in urgent humanitarian aid but questions remain over longer term development and other funding to an economy highly dependent on international assistance. Billions of dollars in central bank assets held outside the country have also been frozen.

A roughly $600 million three-year health project administered by the World Bank in Afghanistan has funded the operation of hundreds of health facilities, and WHO estimated less than a fifth were now fully functional. That has contributed to a surge in cases of measles and diarrhoea, with half of Afghan children at risk of malnutrition and millions of COVID-19 vaccines sitting unused, Dapeng said. (Reuters)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is due to holds talks with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, will also meet chief executives of several U.S. companies, including Qualcomm (QCOM.O) and Blackstone (BX.N), two sources said.

During his White House meeting with Harris, Modi is expected to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, greater cooperation in technology, space and other sectors, and supply chain issues, the sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

In addition, he will meet with the chief executives of companies such as Adobe (ADBE.O), First Solar (FSLR.O) and General Atomics, the sources said.

Modi is also due to join a four-way summit at the White House involving President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia and Japan, a meeting that aims to boost cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region amid China's growing dominance in the area. (Reuters)