Live Streaming
Program Highlight
Company Profile
International News (6893)
April
Japan MOF panel recommends revoking Russia's most-favoured-nation status
Written by Nur Yasmin
An advisory panel to Japan's finance minister on Tuesday recommended that the law should be changed to revoke Russia's most-favoured-nation trading status following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The recommendation was made weeks after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to deprive Moscow of the status as Japan kept in line with the Group of Seven (G7) advanced nations over sanctions against Russia.
"Following G7 leaders' statement and from the standpoint of coordinating with international community in further adopting sanctions as needed against Russia, we will revoke Russia's most-favoured nation treatment on tariffs," the panel said.
The panel called for revoking Russia's adoption of preferential WTO treaty tariffs by revising the law and ordinances.
The law revision would raise tariffs on Japan's imports from Russia by 10%, or 150 billion yen. Currently, Japan's imports from Russia stand at an annual 1.5 trillion yen.
In 2021, Russia accounted for 81% of Japan's sea urchin imports and 47.6% of crab imports, government data showed.
As preferential World Trade Organisation treaty tariffs are removed when Russia's most-favoured-nation status is revoked, tariffs would rise to 5% from WTO rates of 3.5% on some fishery products such as salmon roe, salmon and trout. Crabs would face a tariff rise to 6% from 4%.
Tariffs on shaven wood such as pine trees would rise to 8% from the WTO preferential rate of 4.8%, the panel said, adding the measures would take effect a day after promulgation through fiscal year-end of March 2023.
Russia calls the Feb. 24 invasion in Ukraine a "special operation" to disarm its neighbour. The West says it launched an unprovoked invasion.
Following the invasion, the Japanese government slapped asset-freeze sanctions on more than 100 Russian officials, oligarchs, banks and other institutions, in step with G7 economies. Japan has also banned high-tech exports to Russia. (Reuters)
April
Sri Lanka's ruling coalition loses parliamentary majority amid growing protests
Written by Nur Yasmin
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's ruling coalition lost its majority in parliament on Tuesday after at least 41 lawmakers walked out of the alliance amid growing unrest over an economic crisis, according to parliamentary proceedings.
"Our party is on the side of the people," said Maithripala Sirisena, leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party which withdrew its support for Rajapaksa's coalition.
The shift left Rajapaksa with a minority government, which could make decision making more challenging, although independent lawmakers can still continue to support government proposals. (Reuters)
April
North Korea says it will strike with nuclear weapons if South attacks
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea opposes war but would use nuclear weapons if South Korea attacked, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Tuesday, in a warning that analysts said is probably aimed at the South's incoming conservative president.
Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in the government and ruling party, said it was a "very big mistake" for South Korea's minister of defence to make recent remarks discussing attacks on the North, state news agency KCNA reported.
South Korean Defence Minister Suh Wook had said on Friday that his country's military has a variety of missiles with significantly improved range, accuracy and power, with "the ability to accurately and quickly hit any target in North Korea."
Both Koreas have increased displays of military strength after North Korea test-fired a range of increasingly powerful missiles this year. Officials in Seoul and Washington also fear it may be preparing to resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time since 2017 amid stalled negotiations. read more
Kim and another North Korean official issued earlier statements on Sunday condemning Suh's remarks, and warned that Pyongyang would destroy major targets in Seoul if the South takes any "dangerous military action" such as a preemptive strike. read more
Kim's criticisms are most likely aimed at South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has called for a more muscular defence against North Korean threats, said Rachel Minyoung Lee, an analyst with the U.S.-based 38 North project, which monitors North Korea. read more
"Yoon's 'preemptive strike' comment made the headlines a few months ago, and Pyongyang is seizing Suh’s remarks to make a point to the incoming South Korean administration," she said. "North Korea has thus far refrained from criticizing Yoon at any authoritative level, but it certainly seems to be laying the groundwork for it."
The statements suggest Pyongyang is preparing the North Korean public for a possible shift in inter-Korean relations once Yoon takes office in May, Lee added.
A delegation from Yoon's team was in Washington this week to meet with U.S. officials, who reiterated their commitment to defending South Korea, according to a statement by the U.S. State Department on Tuesday. read more
In her statement on Tuesday, Kim said Pyongyang opposes war, which would leave the peninsula in ruins, and does not view South Korea as its principal enemy.
"But if south Korea, for any reason - whether or not it is blinded by misjudgement - opts for such military action as 'preemptive strike' touted by (Suh Wook), the situation will change," Kim added. "In that case, south Korea itself will become a target."
If the South Korean military violates North Korea territory, it will face an "unimaginably terrible disaster" and the North's nuclear combat force will have to inevitably carry out its duty, she said, noting that the South can avoid this fate by dropping any "fantastic daydream" of launching a preemptive attack on a nuclear-armed state. (Reuters)
April
World Bank cuts East Asia's 2022 GDP forecast on Ukraine war
Written by Nur Yasmin
The World Bank cut its growth forecast for East Asia and the Pacific for 2022 to reflect the economic impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, warning the region could lose further momentum if conditions worsen.
The Washington-based lender said in a report on Tuesday it expected 2022 growth in the developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, which includes China, to expand 5.0% percent, lower than its 5.4% forecast in October.
But growth could slow to 4.0% if conditions worsened and government policy responses were weaker, World Bank said.
China's economy is expected to grow 5.0% this year, down from a previous estimate of 5.4%, it said, noting its government's capacity to provide stimulus to offset adverse shocks.
"The region confronts a triad of shocks which threaten to undermine its growth momentum," said World Bank East Asia and Pacific Chief Economist Aaditya Mattoo.
The war between Russia and Ukraine, which Mattoo said was the "most serious risk" to the region's growth outlook, is leading to food and fuel price increases, financial volatility and reduced confidence all over the world.
Mattoo said Russia's invasion of Ukraine was more worrying given that the region was still contending with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a structural slowdown in China and faster inflation that could prompt quicker U.S. monetary tightening.
The war's impact on economies in East Asia and the Pacific would vary depending on their exposure and resilience, Mattoo said. Excluding China, output in the rest of the region is projected to expand 4.8% this year.
"Just as the economies of East Asia and the Pacific were recovering from the pandemic-induced shock, the war in Ukraine is weighing on growth momentum," World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Manuela Ferro said in a statement.
"The region's largely strong fundamentals and sound policies should help it weather these storms." (Reuters)
April
Japan's household spending up but price rises weigh on outlook
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan's household spending rose for a second consecutive month year-on-year in February, helped by a flattering comparison with last year's sharp pandemic-induced slump but the consumer sector is now facing growing headwinds from soaring prices.
Households cut spending from the previous month as pandemic curbs, rapid food and fuel price rises and the coronavirus kept wallets shut, casting a shadow over the world's third-largest economy.
In a sign of trouble for consumer sentiment, real wage growth stagnated in February as global inflationary pressures weighed on household purchasing power.
"Prices will outpace wage gains from now on, so consumption will be on a sluggish trend," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.
"While service spending is expected to pick up from April onwards, the likelihood is big that higher prices will weigh on other areas of consumption," Minami said, adding that spending was likely to pick up nonetheless.
Household spending increased 1.1% in February from a year earlier, government data showed, much weaker than the market forecast of a 2.7% gain in a Reuters poll.
The month-on-month figures showed a sharp 2.8% decline, also weaker than a forecast 1.5% drop.
The data raises some concerns for policymakers looking for ways to offset the hit households are taking from soaring global inflation and a weakening yen, which is pushing up import costs, as the economy shakes off the pandemic's drag.
Households increased spending on mobile phones as well as car insurance and parts such as batteries on pent-up demand due to price hikes, a government official said.
But slower spending on eating out, including on sushi, weighed on expenditures, as authorities prolonged pandemic curbs in response to a wave of Omicron infections during the month.
A separate survey showed that Japan's services sector activity continued to shrink in March, though the pace of contraction slowed as domestic demand got a lift from the subsequent easing of the pandemic curbs last month.
Other government data on Tuesday showed inflation-adjusted real wages hit a standstill in February, as growth of consumer prices offset gains in nominal wage growth.
The economy is projected to grow in the current quarter following an expected contraction in the first three months of the year, though it is facing an unpredictable outlook in part due to the Ukraine situation and the weak yen. (reuters)
April
Kyrgyzstan and Canada's Centerra end Kumtor gold mine dispute
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Kyrgyzstan government on Monday said it has reached an out-of-court settlement with Centerra Gold (CG.TO) over ownership of the Kumtor gold mine (KGC), ending a series of legal challenges launched by both parties over the past year.
Kyrgyzstan, which holds a 26% stake in Centerra, had seized the former Soviet republic's biggest industrial enterprise from the Canadian miner, prompting the initial arbitration. read more
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov is scheduled to say in a televised announcement at 1230 GMT that state-owned gold miner Kyrgyzaltyn will own Kumtor and retain income it earned from the mine since it was seized in May, according to an advanced release of the agreement seen by Reuters.
In exchange, Kyrgyzaltyn will return the 26% stake it holds in Centerra, which will make a cash payment of $50 million to repay an outstanding loan to KGC and preserve and protect the country's natural resources.
Centerra and Kyrgyzstan, which have a long history of disputes over how to share profit from the 550,000-ounce gold mine, have also agreed to end all legal proceedings against each other with no admissions of liability.
Shares in Centerra, which lost 34% of their value in 2021, have rebounded by 29% so far this year on expectations that the dispute would be resolved outside international courts. (Reuters)
April
Sri Lanka president invites all parties in parliament to join government
Written by Nur Yasmin
Sri Lanka's president on Monday invited all political parties represented in parliament to accept ministerial portfolios to help find a way out of the country's worst economic crisis in decades, his office said in a statement.
"President Gotabaya Rajapaksa invited all political parties to come together to find solutions to the ongoing national crisis," the statement said.
"Considering this a national need, the time has come to work together for the sake of all the citizens and future generations," it added. (Reuters)
April
Japan 'really shocked' by killing of civilians in Ukraine -gov't spokesman
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan was shocked by Russia's alleged killing of civilians in Ukraine and sternly condemns such conduct, its top government spokesman said on Monday.
"Japan takes deaths of innocent civilians in Ukraine extremely seriously. We are really shocked," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a regular news conference.
Germany on Sunday said the West would agree to impose more sanctions on Russia after Ukraine accused Russian forces of war crimes near Kyiv. Russia denied its forces were responsible for the deaths of civilians in the town of Bucha. (Reuters)
April
South Korea president-elect's team visits U.S. with eye on early Biden summit
Written by Nur Yasmin
A team of foreign policy and security advisers to South Korea's president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is visiting the United States this week, seeking to help engineer a early summit with President Joe Biden and coordinate efforts to rein in North Korea's intensifying weapons tests, sources said on Monday.
Conservative outsider Yoon won the March 9 election and is working to map out his foreign policy agenda ahead of his swearing in on May 10, just as tension is flaring in the wake of North Korea's launch last month of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). read more
Yoon had vowed to ramp up defence capability to counter the North's threats, including by buying an additional new THAAD U.S. missile system, but left the door open for dialogue. read more
A seven-strong delegation led by Park Jin, a four-term lawmaker of Yoon's People Power Party (PPP), and former vice foreign minister Cho Tae-yong arrived in Washington for talks with U.S. officials, politicians and academics. Both Park and Cho are being floated as strong candidates to be foreign minister in Yoon's cabinet.
Topping their agenda is a push for a potential summit in Seoul between Yoon and Biden as early as May when Biden visits Japan for a meeting of the Quad group, which also includes Australia and India, two sources familiar with the team's plan and involved in Yoon's foreign policy deliberations told Reuters.
The date of the Quad conference has not yet been announced, but local elections in Australia and Japan, expected in May and July respectively, are complicating Biden's earlier plans for a May trip, one of the sources said.
Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison must call a federal election by May 21 but has yet to finalise a date. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also faces a crucial election for the upper house of parliament in July, as a victory could ensure several election-free, politically stable years to pursue his policy goals.
"My understanding is that the Japan side had asked for holding the Quad summit in late April so that they can have enough time to prep for the election," the source said on condition of anonymity due to diplomatic sensitivity.
"But the best time for us is somewhere between those two elections, possibly around late May, and Washington would also want to talk to the new president rather than being here before he takes office."
An early summit has become all the more important due to North Korea's March 24 missile launch - its first full ICBM test since 2017 - which prompted Yoon to revive a scrapped plan to send envoys to Washington, the source said.
There are also growing signs that Pyongyang could soon test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017, after leader Kim Jong Un threatened to break his self-imposed moratorium on ICBM and nuclear testing. read more
But when asked if the team would discuss Yoon's pledge of a THAAD battery purchase, the source said that cannot be ruled out but is "not a priority" and they have "no reason to rush."
Park, arriving in Washington on Sunday, told reporters that his group would explore a "concrete roadmap" for North Korea's denuclearisation.
Park said a Yoon-Biden summit would "naturally happen" if Biden visits Asia as expected, but declined to elaborate. (Reuters)
April
Sri Lanka's president drops brother as finance minister in crisis shake-up
Written by Nur Yasmin
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa dropped his brother as finance minister on Monday after calling for a unity government as protests against an economic crisis persisted and cracks emerged in the ruling coalition.
The debt-laden country, run by Rajapaksa and his brothers in top positions, is struggling to pay for imports of fuel and other goods due to a scarcity of foreign exchange, leading to hours-long power cuts and a shortage of essentials. read more
Street protests against the government continued on Monday with crowds gathering in several towns, including in southern Tangalle where people holding posters and the national flag broke through police barricades, local media reported.
"Four ministers were appointed to ensure parliament and other tasks can be conducted in a lawful manner until a full Cabinet can be sworn in," Rajapaksa's media office said in a statement after cabinet ministers resigned in a bid to resolve the crisis.
It said Justice Minister Ali Sabry would be the new finance minister, replacing Gotabaya's brother Basil Rajapaksa, who was due to visit Washington this month for talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan programme.
Previous ministers of foreign affairs, education and highways will keep their positions.
"The president invites all political parties representing in the parliament to come together to accept ministerial portfolios in order to find solutions to this national crisis," the president's media office said, calling for a unity government.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said on Twitter he had also offered to quit.
'OLD WINE'
Udaya Gammanpila, the chief of one of the 11 political parties comprising the ruling coalition, rejected Rajapaksa's move, calling the new cabinet "old wine in a new bottle".
"Our demand is for an all-party interim government to restore essential services and to hold a parliamentary election," Gammanpila of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya party wrote on Twitter. "People should decide their next leaders, not anybody else."
Charmara Nakandala, a protester, said the cabinet changes were temporary attempts to placate the public.
"This cabinet change is to try and fool the people," Nakandala, a marketing executive, said at a protest in Colombo, the main city. "This government is over. Rajapaksas no longer can save this by playing musical chairs."
The Colombo Stock Exchange's All Share Index (.CSE) briefly turned positive following the flurry of announcements, before turning red again. The market is down about a third this year, and the bourse suspended trading twice on Monday morning due to sharp falls in the benchmark share price index.
The developments come after Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose elder brother is the prime minister, declared a state of emergency on Friday, following spiralling street protests in the island nation.
The country of 22 million, off India's southern tip, is also grappling with soaring inflation after the government steeply devalued its currency last month ahead of the IMF talks.
The country's expenditure has exceeded its income under successive governments while its production of tradable goods and services has been inadequate. The twin deficits were badly exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic that crippled its economic mainstay, the tourism industry.
"If this interim government is put in place and it is with people who have some credibility, then we can instil some confidence both in the people and in the markets," said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives think-tank.
But there would be some dissatisfaction with the president holding on to his position, he said.
"The demands on the street were that Gotabaya Rajapaksa should go," Saravanamuttu said. "He was the target." (Reuters)