Brunei warns of oil crunch

Brunei's energy minister has warned people of this cradle-to-grave welfare state to curb their "extravagant lifestyle" of wasting fuel and electricity, saying the country’s dwindling oil reserves will not last forever.

Energy Minister Yahya Begawan Mudim said the government expects to spend $144m on public subsidies this year to keep retail prices of petrol and diesel low, up from $106m in 2005. Because of such subsidies, the market price for diesel is cheaper than bottled drinking water, while low energy rates have made this tiny sultanate on Borneo island one of the highest per capita users of electricity in Asia.

Brunei's vast oil reserves were discovered more than a century ago and became a major export for this tiny country before World War II. Oil and natural gas account for nearly half of the nation's gross domestic product. But some experts say its proven oil reserves could run dry in around a decade.

"Singapore best positioned" to weather global slowdown

channelnewsasia.com :

The global economy is expected to hit a soft patch from the second half of this year, led by the US and euro zone economy. That is the forecast given by investment bank Lehman Brothers. But it also says that Singapore, which has reinvented itself in recent years, is well positioned to weather this slowdown.

According to Lehman Brothers, the cyclical downtown is upon us; the slowdown in the US will be housing-led, and with global markets hit by fears of a US interest rate-hike, the US Fed has little choice but to raise rates to fight inflation.

As for Singapore, Lehman says it is positive that the city-state will be better positioned for cyclical weaknesses as it embarks on new industries. Lehman expects Singapore to be the second fastest growing Asian economy this year after China, forecasting GDP expansion of 7 percent. The risk is, though Singapore has diversified into other growth economies, it's open economy, with exports at 250 percent of GDP, is susceptible to any economic disruption.

- Oh, really. New industries? Like what, the casinos? Are these recession-proof?

(2006-06-13 18:52:12 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

French government to cut 15000 civil service jobs

channelnewsasia.com :

The French government will cut 15,000 civil service posts next year and keep spending to one percentage point below the level of inflation, sources close to Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said. The jobs reduction, almost triple one contained in the 2006 budget of 5,300 posts, represents "500 to 600 million (euros, 630-750 million dollars) in savings", an official at the prime minister's office said.

According to the plan presented on Monday, around 19,000 full-time posts are to be eliminated through natural attrition, and about 4,000 created among security forces and judicial services, and in research programs, parliament deputy Herve Mariton told AFP.

De Villepin's conservative government set a goal of bringing the public deficit to 2.5-2.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2007, and overall public debt to 64.6 percent of GDP at the end of this year. Eurozone countries are supposed to maintain public deficits of no more than 3.0 percent of GDP and maximum overall debt of 60 percent.

(2006-06-13 10:35:10 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

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