Obama orders $150m cut in federal budget

Obama orders $150m cut in federal budget

WASHINGTON: - In his debut Cabinet meeting this week, President Barack Obama ordered his government to cut US$100 million (S$150 million) from the US federal budget within 90 days, with an eye on the ballooning deficit.
But Mr Obama’s Republican critics mocked his initiative as minuscule compared to a deficit tipped to hit at least US$1.7 trillion in the fiscal year 2009, renewing warnings that his spending plans will bankrupt future US generations.

‘One hundred million dollars there, one hundred million here, pretty soon even in Washington it adds up to real money,’ Mr Obama said on Monday, though he agreed with a reporter’s proposition that the initial target was a ‘drop in the bucket’.

Reducing spending by US$100 million would cut this year’s projected deficit by about 0.006 per cent. ‘None of these things alone is going to make a difference. But cumulatively, they make an extraordinary difference because they start setting a tone,’ Mr Obama said.

The President called efforts to shore up financial institutions with large sums of taxpayer dollars ‘the right thing to do’, but he argued that the Cabinet now had an obligation to ensure every government dollar was spent wisely.

The Cabinet meeting came days after a string of ‘tea party’ demonstrations across the United States, which saw Obama critics claim the administration was busting hopes of future prosperity with high taxation and ballooning deficits.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell warned that the figure of US$100 million amounted to about the sum the US was paying on daily interest payments on Mr Obama’s US$787 billion economic stimulus plan.

Later on Monday, Mr Obama visited Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters to defend his decision to release top-secret memos that detailed the CIA’s use of simulated drowning while interrogating terror suspects, and to boost morale at the agency.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS, WASHINGTON POST, BLOOMBERG

esterday, the ICA announced the setting up of a new unit called BorderWatch, which can pull together information from the various checkpoints - including camera footage - and analyse it for suspicious individuals and travel patterns.

Source : Straits Times - 22 April 2009

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Biometrics to make it tougher for illegals

Biometrics to make it tougher for illegals

Tapping a centralised database will allow officers to act quickly

By Jermyn Chow & Teh Joo Lin

IT WILL become tougher to enter Singapore illegally as the Republic’s immigration authority ramps up its use of biometrics to weed out identity fraud.
To make it easier to detect those who try to sneak in, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will set up a central database of facial images and fingerprints, of all Singaporeans, permanent residents and foreigners living here.

This new Biometrics Hub, or BioHub, will allow enforcement officers to quickly suss out those who try to enter the country using fake documents.

There were 3,600 attempts at illegal entry last year, compared to 2,600 in 2007. Of these, 1,230 tried to use fake documents, or those which had been tampered with, to get in.

Right now, officers have to access up to five databases to identify a person correctly, which could take up to five minutes.

The new process will reduce the time to seconds.

This speed will also allow more efficient clearance at checkpoints for the burgeoning number of people coming to Singapore each year.

Last year, 149 million people - about 400,000 a day - went through Singapore’s checkpoints, up from 143 million in 2007.

If the old system continued to be in use, it would result in hold-ups for many travellers.

The new database was revealed at an annual workplan seminar for ICA officers yesterday.

In his speech at the seminar, Law Minister and Second Home Minister K. Shanmugam said the ICA’s border strategy is based on risk evaluation, since complete checks on every individual would simply hold up passenger flow and cause the economy to stutter.

The new tech will not be available just at checkpoints. Officers on the ground will also be able to tap this central database while carrying out random checks at, say, construction sites.

Yesterday, Mr Shanmugam also said that though it is now tougher for criminals to sneak past the checkpoints, ‘no country can promise there will be no errors or mistakes’.

Referring to an incident last June, in which a passenger mistakenly used his son’s passport to leave Singapore, he said: ‘To some extent, the intense focus that ICA was subjected to for a misclearance that arose in the first place because of an error by a passenger, did not take into account the realities of the situation.

‘No substantial immigration facility in the world can or does promise there will not be errors at all.’

Mr Shanmugam said what was important was to ensure a ‘near foolproof system, without compromising on passenger experience’, and to fix errors, not assign blame.

Also yesterday, the ICA announced the setting up of a new unit called BorderWatch, which can pull together information from the various checkpoints - including camera footage - and analyse it for suspicious individuals and travel patterns.

Source : Straits Times - 22 April 2009

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URA Woodlands site available

URA Woodlands site available

By UMA SHANKARI

THE Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday released detailed sale conditions for an industrial site at Woodlands.

Developers interested in buying the site can now apply to URA for it to be put up for tender. The plot, which is being offered from the reserve list, is at the junction of Woodlands Industrial Park E5 and Woodlands Avenue 4.

The site area is 2.5 ha and the gross plot ratio is 2.5. The lease period is 60 years. The site is being made available despite the depressed global economy and trade continuing to put downward pressure on the rents and capital values of industrial properties.

The investment market for industrial properties is not faring any better, with only one transaction above $5 million in Q1 this year, data from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) shows. Against this background, demand for the Woodlands site is unlikely to be strong, analysts reckon.

‘In such as weak market, even if there is interest, the price will not be very high,’ said Knight Frank’s head of industrial business space Lim Kien Kim. Bernard Goh, director for industrial and logistics services at CBRE, said: ‘If there is a bid, the price is likely to be below expectations because of how the market is.’

Traditionally, demand for industrial properties in Woodlands has been weak, said Mr Lim. He expects bids in the range of $25-30 per sq ft per plot ratio.

Industrial rents are falling due to a slowdown in demand for industrial space. Consolidation and downsizing is the order of the day, and expansion is the exception rather than the norm, CBRE said in its Q1 2009 industrial report.

According to CBRE, monthly rent for hi-tech space fell 3.3 per cent quarter on quarter to $2.90 psf in Q1. Average monthly rents for ground and upper-floor factory units fell $0.10 psf quarter-on-quarter to $1.45 psf and $1.20 psf respectively.

Source : Business Times - 22 April 2009

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Retraining, upgrading must go on: PM Lee

Retraining, upgrading must go on: PM Lee

Emphasis is on preparing workers to be employable

By TEH SHI NING

THE economy will take some time to recover, so the retraining and upgrading of workers must continue, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

‘The problems will be with us for some time, and we must work at it. We must make sure we prepare our people so they can be as employable as possible, and can endure through this downturn,’ he told reporters after visiting two Continuing Education & Training (CET) centres.

Recently, US officials have spoken of the first ‘green shoots’ of economic recovery emerging, but PM Lee was hesitant to say Singapore’s economy has seen the worst. ‘I hope they’re right, but I’m preparing on the basis that this is going to take some time,’ he said.

On the revised official GDP growth forecast of a 6 to 9 per cent contraction, he said: ‘Surprises can always happen, but for now I think it’s a fair estimate of where we’re likely to be this year.’

Yesterday, PM Lee visited Nanyang Polytechnic, where he observed mid-career professionals training for nursing and allied health care jobs. 140 adult students are taking diploma courses there to switch to careers in health care. The Health Ministry has 4,500 vacancies to fill over the next two years.

He also observed culinary training classes at the At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy, which can take up to 500 students a year. Of its current enrolment, about 100 are mature students who are re-entering the work force or making a career switch into the food and beverage industry.

PM Lee was accompanied by Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong and the Workforce Development Agency’s chief executive, Chan Heng Kee.

Replying to a query on whether the CET system faces capacity constraints, PM Lee said: ‘It’s a lot more than we were able to do in previous recessions, because we have been building up the infrastructure over previous years, but there are still constraints.’

Source : Business Times - 22 April 2009

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CEO vows Citigroup will pay back every dollar

CEO vows Citigroup will pay back every dollar

FT report says FDIC talked about Pandit replacement if bank asks for more aid

(NEW YORK) Citigroup Inc chief executive Vikram Pandit said he expects the No 3 US bank to rebound from its current woes and pledged that it would repay ‘every dollar’ it owes to the US government.

Mr Pandit commented on the bank’s prospects yesterday at the annual shareholders’ meeting, which came just days after the bank posted a US$1.59 billion first-quarter profit before payments of preferred dividends to the US Treasury.

‘I intend to see this through,’ Mr Pandit told shareholders.

Mr Pandit told shareholders that the bank’s management has a ’sense of urgency’. ‘I fully recognise the loss of value’ that investors have endured, Mr Pandit said. ‘Our own people have paid a dear and heavy price.’

The bank reported a US$1.6 billion first-quarter profit on April 17, thanks to trading gains and an accounting benefit for distressed companies.

The Financial Times newspaper reported that senior Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) officials had privately discussed who might replace Mr Pandit if the bank needed more government aid.

Citigroup has already taken US$45 billion of taxpayer money and may need more after the Obama administration reveals on May 4 how the 19 largest US banks fared on stress tests being conducted by the Federal Reserve, according to Christopher Whalen, a managing director at bank-research firm Institutional Risk Analytics in Torrance, California.

Mr Whalen says Citigroup, the third-biggest US bank by assets, will be ‘ranked as one of the lowest’ in the stress tests, which are designed to gauge whether lenders have enough capital to withstand a continuing economic crisis.

The Treasury Department, which will become the biggest shareholder in New York-based Citigroup when the bank converts as much as US$52 billion of preferred stock into common shares as soon as next month, may order the resignations of some long-serving board members to show they are accountable, according to Peter Sorrentino, a senior portfolio manager at Cincinnati-based Huntington Asset Advisors, which has about US$13.3 billion under management, including 1.5 million Citigroup shares.

‘There has to be a cleaning of all that was at Citigroup,’ Mr Sorrentino said. ‘Anyone who was involved with the board in the lead-up to the crisis is tainted.’

Board members who ’sanctioned the risks that were taken and the business practices followed’ will likely be replaced by the government by the end of the year, he said.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner yesterday defended the bank rescue programme devised by the Obama administration before the plan’s Congressional Oversight Panel, saying it ’strikes the right balance’ by letting taxpayers share the risk with the private sector while at the same time letting private industry use competition to set market prices for the assets.

His testimony came in the wake of a watchdog agency report that warned Obama administration initiatives could increasingly expose taxpayers to losses and make the government more vulnerable to fraud.

A special inspector-general assigned to the Treasury’s US$700 bailout programme concluded in a 250-page quarterly report to Congress that the private-public partnership is tilted in favour of private investors and creates ‘potential unfairness to the taxpayer’. — Reuters, Bloomberg, AP

Source : Business Times - 22 April 2009

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Marina Bay sucks in $22b of investments

Marina Bay sucks in $22b of investments

More sites are available in the area but govt is in no hurry to release them
By EMILYN YAP

(SINGAPORE) Marina Bay has attracted investments of more than $22 billion and while the area still has sites for development, the government has no plans to sell them at the moment.
 
 
‘We are in no hurry to release these sites,’ said National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan yesterday. He was speaking to the media after a tour of several projects taking shape along Marina Bay, such as the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort, the double helix bridge and the Fullerton heritage area.

According to Mr Mah, some investors are looking at specific sites and have approached the government, but ‘we will pause for a while’, he said. Of the 360 ha of land set aside for Marina Bay’s development, around 24 ha have been sold, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said.

The agency has not put up any more sites at Marina Bay for sale through the Government Land Sales Programme. The timing and number of sites to be released ‘will depend on the economic conditions and market demand and subject to more detailed planning later on,’ URA added.

For now, ‘the timing is not right,’ Mr Mah explained. ‘We also want to be sure that the infrastructure is in place and the other developments are up. Then we’ll see what else we want to have that will add to the attractiveness of the bay.’

 
‘What we have seen today shows that the progress of Marina Bay is very much on schedule and on track.’
 
- Mr Mah 
 
 
 
 
Of the more than $22 billion pumped into Marina Bay’s development, close to $5.7 billion was the government’s investment in infrastructure. Another $16.5 billion came from private investors both in Singapore and abroad.

The US$4.5 billion Marina Bay Sands integrated resort is one of the most significant projects in the area. In 2006, the consortium behind the Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) also said that they would spend $2 billion on the first phase of the development.

Over the next 10 to 15 years, the government will continue to pump more than $1 billion into infrastructural works to support Marina Bay’s growth and to enhance connectivity within the city.

‘What we have seen today shows that the progress of Marina Bay is very much on schedule and on track,’ Mr Mah noted.

One important project is the construction of the double helix bridge, which will allow pedestrians to cross from Marina Centre to the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort in just three to four minutes when it is completed at the end of the year. The bridge, together with an adjacent vehicular bridge and the nearby art park, cost $82.9 million.

The double helix bridge will be part of a 3.5 km long waterfront loop linking key developments along Marina Bay, such as the upcoming MBFC and 50 Collyer Quay. ‘In one or two years’ time, this bay will be alive with people and activities,’ Mr Mah said.

There will also be an extensive underground pedestrian network linked to MRT stations and retail shops. Phase one of MBFC for instance, will have around 93,000 sq ft of retail space both above and below ground level.

MBFC manager Raffles Quay Asset Management may start marketing the retail mall in H2 2009. ‘The exact timing depends on how best we could finalise our plans once all the necessary authorities’ approvals are in place as well as market conditions,’ said its general manager Wilson Kwong.

As for the MBFC, space across its three towers is 61 per cent pre-committed.

‘Given the uncertainty and business volatility, it is inevitable and understandable that interested prospects would take a longer time before making any long-term pre-commitments,’ Mr Kwong said. Nevertheless, MBFC still receives a ‘healthy level’ of leasing enquiries.

According to property consultant Cushman & Wakefield, 1.97 million sq ft of new office space could come onstream this year even as the property market softens. But Mr Mah was not unduly worried by such numbers.

‘While we need to be mindful of the current economic downturn . . . we must also not forget that we have to prepare ourselves for when the economy recovers,’ he said. ‘When it does, we will be ready.’

Source : Business Times - 22 April 2009

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