Archive for December 19th, 2008

World Bank, S’pore to set up Urban Hub to help developing countries

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore News.

World Bank, S’pore to set up Urban Hub to help developing countries

By Wong Siew Ying,

SINGAPORE : Singapore and the World Bank have joined hands to provide development assistance to emerging economies.

The World Bank has set aside a few million dollars to fund programmes under the Urban Hub, to be set up in Singapore.

Across the world, hundreds of millions of people are moving from rural areas to the cities, and this will put stress on resources. The World Bank said governments have to find sensible solutions to manage demand for land, water and jobs.

From February, the team will embark on civil service development project with the government in Laos.

Singapore, through the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE), has embarked on a public finance modernisation and governance programme in Laos, while Temasek Foundation and the World Bank Laos Office will jointly fund a capacity building programme involving the national tax, treasury and customs departments of Laos’ Ministry of Finance.

“Whether the issue be public administration, whether it be water policy or transportation, or green areas and ecological dimensions, there is a tremendous amount we can draw from the Singapore experience,” said World Bank’s President Robert Zoellick.

Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo said: “What we do here cannot be applicable to larger nations… But for municipal management, urban planning and design, traffic control, pollution control, greenery, there are some things which we do here which we are quite happy to share with others.”

Other areas of cooperation include environment, education, governance and training projects in the East Asia and Pacific region.

After signing the agreement with the city-state to expand cooperation on urban management on Thursday, Mr Zoellick called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While at the Istana, he also called on Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

During the meetings, the leaders discussed the impact of the financial crisis, the responses of different governments and the World Bank’s role in Asia.

They also discussed how the World Bank can leverage on Singapore’s developmental experience to produce joint capacity-building initiatives for the region and beyond. - CNA /ls

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 19 Dec 2008

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Ministry of Home Affairs to hold biggest recruitment drive

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore News.

Ministry of Home Affairs to hold biggest recruitment drive

By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid,

SINGAPORE : Despite the economic downturn, Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will be holding its biggest recruitment drive this weekend to recruit more staff and boost its strength.

There are about 1,050 job vacancies, with the largest numbers in the Singapore Police Force and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

The police force is looking to add some 470 new officers to its current strength of over 6,000.

Apart from improving manpower capabilities and security standards, the larger number would also mean easing the burden of present staff who are feeling overstretched and stressed - as findings of an ongoing human factor study, which was mentioned in Parliament in August, have shown.

“Especially since 2001, after 9/11, police have taken a much stronger focus on security… And with Singapore taking on more events, that is added workload for our police, so we are getting more staff to do this work as well,” said Jerry See, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Singapore Police Force.

And should there be overwhelming response, the police force is ready to increase the intake by up to a further 200.

Meanwhile, the ICA wants to recruit some 300 junior and 30 senior officers.

“New recruits will be deployed to land checkpoints - Woodlands and Tuas - to increase the manning levels at these land checkpoints… in response to recent feedback from the public,” said Pravina Jit, director of Manpower Division, ICA.

The MHA is targeting school-leavers with at least secondary school qualifications, and those retrenched.

Even though entry requirements remain stringent, MHA believes various schemes like retention bonus for junior officers and sign-on incentive for senior officers will continue to be a draw and will be enough to keep successful job seekers in the force.

Koh Siong Ling, senior director of the Human Resource Department, Ministry of Home Affairs, said: “We recognise that there might be people who sign up now but may leave when the economy picks up.

“But we are confident that after they have spent some time with the Home Team, they will realise that the Home Team is an organisation that emphasises training and development, and will provide them a full and stable career.”

In fact, such incentive schemes were deemed to be one of the main reasons in maintaining the low attrition rate of 3-5 per cent across the Home Team departments in previous years.

Other vacancies include 70 openings as prison officers with the Singapore Prisons Service, 60 openings as narcotics officers with Central Narcotics Bureau, 20 fire and rescue specialists with the Singapore Civil Defence Force and 100 senior Home Team uniformed officers.

The two-day recruitment drive will be held at VivoCity this weekend, December 20-21, from 10am to 7pm. Visitors will be able to get more job insights from career counsellors and undergo an on-site job selection.

As MHA will be partnering with the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), job seekers who do not meet the Home Team’s requirements can find other job placement and skills upgrading opportunities in other sectors.

The public can also catch displays of the Home Team’s various operational capabilities and equipment such as the SCDF’s Firebike and Red Rhino. - CNA /ls

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 19 Dec 2008

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Singapore 4,000 smaller HDB flats coming up

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore Real Estate News.

Singapore 4,000 smaller HDB flats coming up

Supply over the next two years is a marked increase to meet demand

By Jessica Cheam

SMALLER flats are making a comeback, with the Housing Board (HDB) ramping up supply to around 4,000 over the next two years to meet surging demand.
It marks a dramatic turnaround for a style of flat that had not been been built for about 20 years.

Next year 2,000 three-room and smaller flats will be built, almost double the amount put up this year, with a further 2000 earmarked for 2010.

The HDB move will mean a steady supply of smaller flats for lower income families and homeowners who need to downgrade amid grimmer economic times.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan flagged the strategy in Parliament last month.

HDB deputy chief executive Tan Poh Hong said yesterday that the board has revived smaller flats on a large scale as ‘there are are more people who will need to downgrade, as well as first-timer families who would also like to start with smaller flats to be financially prudent’.

Analysts anticipate a good take-up as ‘difficult economic conditions’ encourage homebuyers to ’start small’.

Buyers like nurse Liu Li, 29, a home-hunter on the look-out for such affordable flats, said: ‘A bigger pool of new, small flats will widen choices for first-timers like me.’

Prices will start from as low as $76,000 for the new small units.

The HDB stopped building two- and three-roomers in the 1980s as growing families fuelled demand for bigger flats.

But they were re-introduced in 2004 and two years ago, the HDB said it would resume building two-roomers to meet increasing demand.

Demand for smaller flats has been red hot recently. HDB sales have attracted over 10 times more applicants than homes available. An October sale of 150 small flats was swamped with 2,426 applications in just a week.

Mr Kelvin Wang, who recently bought a three-roomer in Tiong Bahru, said he had difficulty finding the home, his first, because there were so few small ones around.

‘The increased supply will help ease demand for such homes,’ said the 24-year-old engineer.

Some of the new smaller flats form part of a new standard project launched by the HDB yesterday.

Dew Spring @ Yishun at the junction of Yishun Ring Road and Yishun Street 41 offers 504 four-room, 216 three-roomers and 144 two-room units.

The build-to-order (BTO) project has the largest number of smaller flat types among HDB’s BTO launches this year. BTO projects are built only when a certain level of demand is reached.

HDB’s Ms Tan stressed that the homes will be kept affordable.

Two-roomers at Dew Spring start at $76,000 to $90,000; three-roomers go for between $120,000 and $146,000 with four-roomers at $197,000 to $238,000.

For the first time, the HDB has released comparable prices of resale flats in the same area to show the affordability of the new flats being launched.

Prices of 20-year-old three-roomers nearby of similar size, for example, are selling for $175,000 to $180,000 - higher than the launch price, the HDB said.

PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail said that Dew Spring flats ‘are priced very attractively. The smaller units are below $200 psf (per square foot), which is much lower than the median resale prices for that area in the last quarter’.

The HDB has launched 6,600 homes this year under its BTO scheme, of which 883, or 13 per cent, were two-room and three-room flats.

It plans to launch a further 1,180 units in the next two weeks, which will include 280 studio apartments, two-room and three-room homes.

Source : Straits Times - 19 Dec 2008

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World Bank to spread Singapore success globally

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore News.

World Bank to spread Singapore success globally

MOU will allow it to tap Republic’s expertise in tackling urban problems

By Robin Chan & Fiona Chan

THE efficient e-government services or the neatly planned roads and buildings Singapore calls its own could become a benchmark for other cities across the world.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the World Bank at the Foreign Ministry yesterday, public servants here will be roped in to advise countries struggling with urban problems like water management and overcrowding.

Nine bodies will be involved, including the Economic Development Board, the National Environment Agency, the Public Utilities Board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority as well as the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick, in town on a one-day visit, said that Singapore’s unique development experience can be of great value to the developing world. ‘Connecting this knowledge with the World Bank Group’s development operations in East Asia and around the world creates a vital source of relevant and tested expertise that can benefit many countries,’ he said.

Developing countries, most notably China, are facing large-scale challenges as millions of people move from rural areas to the cities.

‘Countries across the world are struggling with the sheer scale of the urban challenge before them,’ said Mr Zoellick.The challenge is for governments to find ’sensible solutions’ to managing the increased demand for land, water, and jobs while ensuring that the cities remain ‘liveable and socially cohesive’, he added.

Foreign Minister George Yeo acknowledged that the agreement was needed now: ‘This is something which meets the needs of the times. Asia is urbanising on a scale and speed never seen before.’

At first glance, rural-urban migration might not seem a problem with a Singapore solution, but the World Bank wants to tap the country’s experience in dealing with urban issues, education and public administration systems. It believes that those skills combined with its own in areas of global development and operational experience can make an impact.

The bank commented in a 1993 report that Singapore was one of East Asia’s ‘miracle’ economies, having rapidly transformed itself from a Third World to First World nation.

Mr Yeo noted that when Singapore first started developing, the Government was not thinking about larger lessons.

‘We were just being practical, having to squeeze a lot into a small space, feeling our way into the future by practice, by responding to the pressures of necessity.’

He said there was now great interest in applying the Republic’s methods on a wider scale and the World Bank’s resources can facilitate that process.

Singapore and the World Bank will collaborate though various means. These include capacity-building programmes with training courses, study visits and workshops, seconding local experts to the bank and developing joint projects.

Mr Zoellick said the initiatives will be focused on Asia first, possibly China and some countries in South-east Asia.

The new partnership - called the World Bank-Singapore Urban Hub - will make it easier to provide advice and technical assistance on vital issues such as managing waste and water, financing urban infrastructure and urban planning.

Work through the partnership is already underway with a civil service development project for Laos. The agreement will also see more cooperation between the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector arm, and Singapore-based companies.

Mr Zoellick said: ‘Whether the issue be public administration, or water policy, or transportation, or green areas and ecological dimensions, there’s a tremendous amount that we can draw from the Singapore experience.’

Source : Straits Times - 19 Dec 2008

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Mindy Yong

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Singapore Property auctions of $83.7m at 11-year low

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore Real Estate News.

Singapore Property auctions of $83.7m at 11-year low

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

WITH the last two property auctions for the year concluded this week, the final tally of the value of properties sold at auctions in 2008 is $83.7 million - the lowest in 11 years, according to Colliers International.

This year’s figure is 79 per cent below last year’s number of $407.4 million and 38 per cent less than the $135.7 million plumbed in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis.

Colliers pointed out that the 2008 auction sales value of $83.7 million was worse than two trough points reached in 2001 and 2004, when auction sale values dropped to $160.5 million and $155.4 million, respectively.

All property sectors experienced a decline in their total sales value at auctions in 2008, with the residential sector registering the biggest drop of 88 per cent to $25.2 million from $202.4 million in 2007.

This decline was marked by a plunge in activity in the high-end residential segment in 2008. The year saw just three prime district properties worth a total $4.62 million changing hands at auctions - against 24 properties that sold for $106.1 million at auctions in 2007. In contrast, mass market and mid-tier properties dominated the list of of residential properties sold under the hammer this year.

Colliers’ deputy managing director and auctioneer Grace Ng attributed the drop in auctions sales this year to cautious buying sentiment amid the worsening economic outlook. ‘Additionally, sellers are also holding on to their asking price. This resulted in a stalemate between buyers and sellers, contributing to the decline in sales value,’ she added.

She predicts an increase in mortgagee sale properties at auctions next year against the backdrop of worsening economic outlook and expected rise in unemployment.

This could lead to a potential rise in loan default rates and raise the number of forced sales.

Rival property consultancy Knight Frank projects an increase in the number of properties offered for auction next year as there could be some investors who bought their properties with the deferred payment scheme and would need to sell their properties quickly as the completion dates draw nearer.

Source : Business Times - 19 Dec 2008

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Mindy Yong

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New Yishun HDB flats up for grabs at below-market resale prices

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore Real Estate News.

New Yishun HDB flats up for grabs at below-market resale prices

By ARTHUR SIM

THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) has launched Dew Spring @ Yishun where a good number of units are smaller two and three-room flats.

Prices range from $76,000 to $90,000 for each of the 144 two-bedroom flats.

There are 216 three- room flats and these have been priced at $120,000 to $146,000. HDB says that prices of nearby resale flats (which are about 20 years old) are about $175,000 to $180,000 (on a pro-rated basis with units of the same 65 square metre size).

As such, HDB has priced the three-room flats at about 20 to 30 per cent less than comparable resale prices.

There are 504 four- room flats and these have been priced between $197,000 and $238,000.

HDB says that resale prices are between $225,000 and $257,000 (on a pro-rated basis with units of the same 90 sq m size) for the four-room flats nearby. As such, Dew Spring four-room flats are about 7-12 per cent cheaper.

HDB did not have comparable resale prices for two-room flats.

The board said that in pricing new flats, it considers several factors such as location, individual attributes of the flats, design of the project and the prevailing market conditions.

‘To ensure public housing is affordable for first- time home buyers, new HDB flats are priced below their equivalent market prices,’ it added.

Including Dew Spring, HDB has launched a total of 883 units of two-room and three-room flats this year and plans to launch another 100 smaller flats soon. It also plans to offer about 4,000 smaller units over the next two years.

The launch of Dew Spring follows National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan’s announcement in Parliament on Nov 18 that lower-income families and those who need to downgrade to smaller flats can look forward to a steady supply of smaller flats.

PropNex chief executive officer Mohamed Ismail believes that HDB’s launch of the smaller units is timely, considering the ‘current economic uncertainty’.

He added: ‘These flats are priced very attractively. The smaller units are actually going at below $200 psf, which is very much below the median resale prices for that area in the last quarter.’

As the units are situated not far from a golf course and a reservoir, Mr Ismail expects an oversubscription for these units of about four times.

HDB has so far launched 6,600 units under its Build- to-Order system in 2008. It plans to launch another 1,180 units by the end of the year.

Source : Business Times - 19 Dec 2008

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Sale of Kallang River hotel plot delayed

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore Real Estate News.

Sale of Kallang River hotel plot delayed

URA says release of the site will be deferred to June 2009

By UMA SHANKARI

THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has deferred the release of a hotel site along Kallang River from this month to June 2009. The site was originally due to be made available for December 2008, as part of the government’s plans to transform the Kallang Riverside into a waterfront lifestyle precinct by the edge of the city.

‘URA is currently working with other agencies to finalise the detailed planning and development conditions of the Kallang River site to relate to the broader plans for Kallang Riverside and, as more time is needed, the release of this site at Kallang River on the reserve list will be deferred to June 2009,’ the agency said yesterday.

The deferment ‘makes sense’ as the site is unlikely to be triggered in the current market conditions even if it is made available, market watchers said.

URA also announced yesterday that a commercial site at the corner of Stamford Road and North Bridge Road is now open for application under the reserve list system.

The site contains three historical buildings - Capitol Theatre, Capitol Building and Stamford House - that are to be retained and restored for use. The Capitol Theatre, for one, is required to be restored into an arts or entertainment-related performance venue, said URA.

And to strengthen the hotel cluster in the area, the developer of the site will be required to develop a minimum of 40 per cent of the total gross floor area (GFA) for hotel use as well.

Analysts said that the site is unlikely to see interest anytime soon. ‘This is an irreplaceable site in terms of its location and heritage value but the timing may be inappropriate to realise its full potential,’ said Ku Swee Yong, director of marketing and business development at Savills Singapore.

‘I don’t think the site will be triggered in the next six months,’ said Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank.

Other than the poor economic outlook, potential bidders are also likely to be deterred by a few other factors, he said. For one, the conservation element might put off some developers. Others are likely to be deterred by the fact that some of the GFA has to be devoted to hotel use.

Developers are also not too keen on the ‘two envelope’ system, under which the site is being sold, Mr Mak said. Under such a system, the government first picks out developers whose concepts gel with its vision, then awards the site to the highest bidder.

Analysts also expressed concern that if the government keeps releasing sites on the reserve list, there could soon be too many sites on the list.

Source : Business Times - 19 Dec 2008

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Slow loans flow for some small, medium businesses

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore News.

Slow loans flow for some small, medium businesses

30 applications approved under new scheme; processing fees still a bugbear

By CHEW XIANG

(SINGAPORE) Banks here have approved 30 applications for a total of $5 million in loans under recently enhanced government- backed funding schemes, according to interim data from Spring Singapore.

That is out of more than 140 applications received so far by participating financial institutions.

In November, the government said that it would be increasing the amount of loans that could be disbursed, relaxing eligibility criteria and taking on up to 80 per cent of the default risk for schemes targeted at small companies, such as the Local Enterprise Finance Scheme and a microloan programme.

So far, almost all of the approved loans have gone to small and medium-sized companies, according to Melvin Lee, Spring’s deputy director of financing and incentives management. More than 700 inquiries have been received for the enhanced schemes and $804 million in government loans to SMEs have been committed so far this year, he said.

Mr Lee said that the enhancements ‘are about helping good companies get through the bad times’.

‘For those who had their commercial credit lines cut by their FIs, the government loan schemes now provide another option,’ he said.

But SMEs that BT spoke to said that they still face long processing times, onerous conditions and are not told fully why they were turned down. ‘Companies who are in genuine need of loans often do not get the financial support,’ said Annie Chan, events director of Redbox Events.

Chong Thow Chuang, business development manager of Strategy Entertainment said that companies faced a ‘chicken and egg problem’. Banks are only interested in lending when a company is doing well, and pull out when it isn’t performing, he said.

Seah Hwee Kia, DBS vice-president for enterprise banking, said that banks consider the company’s financials as well as its management when giving out loans. One reason applications get thrown out is that SMEs often do not provide enough information to banks for an accurate evaluation of the company, he said.

But it is as yet unclear whether the enhancements are helping to get funds to small companies, which need them the most. Redbox Events’ Ms Chan said that she had tried to apply for a hire purchase loan through the micro loan programme, but was told that while the enhanced programme would facilitate lending, the bank still had to adhere to old procedures in deciding.

Justin Tham, director of USI Technologies said that Spring should make the final decision on loans. This could cut waiting times while shedding more light on the reasons applications get rejected, he said. USI applied for a micro loan two months ago but has yet to hear from the bank.

Another common bugbear was the combination of interest rates and high processing fees charged even for rejected applications. For instance, micro loans carry a 6.25 per cent interest rate, but a number of banks, such as DBS, United Overseas Bank, HSBC, OCBC Bank and Maybank, also charge between $500 and $1,000 to process each application.

Mr Lee said that Spring was working with its enterprise development centres to help SMEs with their loan applications, but said that the ultimate decision over who gets money and in what amount should remain with the banks.

‘Even with the government taking on the bulk of the default risk, SMEs are and should still be subjected to credit evaluation by the participating financial institutions,’ he said. — Additional reporting by Ang An Shing and Jonathan Gan

Source : Business Times - 19 Dec 2008

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Orderly bankruptcy for carmakers possible: White House, WASHINGTON

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: Singapore News.

Orderly bankruptcy for carmakers possible: White House, WASHINGTON
(WASHINGTON) The Bush administration is seriously considering ‘orderly’ bankruptcy as a way of dealing with the desperately ailing US car industry.
Said White House press secretary Dana Perino yesterday: ‘There’s an orderly way to do bankruptcies that provides for more of a soft landing. I think that’s what we would be talking about.’

President George W Bush, asked about a car rescue plan during an appearance before a private group, said that he had not decided what he would do. But he, like Ms Perino, spoke of the idea of bankruptcies organised by the federal government as a possible way to go.

‘Under normal circumstances, no question, bankruptcy court is the best way to work through credit and debt and restructuring,’ he said. ‘These aren’t normal circumstances. That’s the problem.’

Ms Perino said: ‘The president is not going to allow a disorderly collapse of the companies. A disorderly collapse would be something very chaotic that is a shock to the system.’

She said that the White House was close to a decision and emphasised that there were still several possible approaches to assisting the carmakers, such as short-term loans out of a US$700 billion Wall Street rescue fund. — AP

 

Source : Business Times - 19 Dec 2008

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Japan to go down zero-rate road again

Posted on December 19th, 2008 by Mindy Yong.
Categories: World News.

Japan to go down zero-rate road again

BOJ expected to cut rate today while it seeks to rein in power of yen
By ANTHONY ROWLEY
IN TOKYO
THE Bank of Japan appears set to cut interest rates today, returning in effect to the zero rate policy it pursued from 2000 to 2006 to counter deflation and to stabilise the Japanese financial system.
This time, Japan will join the US, where the Federal Reserve cut rates this week to near zero, and probably Britain where Bank of England deputy governor Charles Bean said yesterday that zero rates were possible.

Official warnings meanwhile grew louder in Japan yesterday of intervention by the BOJ in foreign exchange markets to stem the surge in the value of the yen, which yesterday hit a new 13-year high of near 87 yen to the US dollar. But such intervention could be neutralised by a tsunami of private capital now flowing back into Japan, analysts warned.

‘We have conducted currency intervention in the past, and we will take appropriate measures, which includes that (option),’ Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said yesterday.

Japan’s leading motor vehicle and electronics makers have already seen their profits savaged by the strength of the yen and yesterday chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Satoshi Aoki called for measures to restore stability in foreign exchange markets.

 
 
Japan has conducted intervention (via the Bank of Japan, acting as agent for the Ministry of Finance) on numerous occasions in the past when the yen was subjected to sudden and sharp appreciation. But some economists say that such a move now by Japan could trigger competitive currency devaluations elsewhere in Asia and beyond.

The BOJ’s Policy Board will end its latest two-day meeting around midday today and is expected to announce a cut in the central bank’s short-term overnight policy lending rate from its current level of 0.3 per cent to 0.1 per cent. This is in effect a zero interest rate level as dealers say it is difficult to hold the rate at precisely zero.

Such a move is not expected to have any measurable impact on Japan’s economy, which is officially in recession and which is expected to continue contracting well into next year. But it would have the symbolic effect of signalling Japan’s solidarity with monetary authorities that are pushing rates down to zero to counter deepening economic recession.

What Japanese authorities appear to be hoping for through a combination of cutting rates and launching a unilateral dollar-buying operation in foreign exchange markets is to deter speculation in the yen and to re-ignite the so-called yen carry trades which had pushed the yen down to very low levels until recently.

These carry trades, which involved hordes of Japanese and other speculators selling yen and buying assets denominated in higher yielding currencies and areas - thereby pushing the yen down - have reversed in the face of the story that has swept through global financial markets and some analysts doubt they can be re-ignited in the current climate of fear and volatility.

Recently, Japanese portfolio investors have begun to sell foreign assets and repatriate capital. This appears to be an actor behind the rise of the yen, in spite of the fact that foreign investors have been selling Japanese assets.

The Nikkei 2225 stock average (up some 0.6 per cent yesterday to 8,667.23) appears stable despite selling by foreign investors, indicating that Japanese investors feel safe now with yen assets, analysts say.

 
Source : Business Times - 19 Dec 2008

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