Quotable quote

businesstimes.com.sg :

"In my mind there is no inflation problem for Singapore."

- Jan Lambregts,
Head of Research in Asia,
Rabobank International

Very funny.

See instead :

1. Singapore CPI inflation hits 16-year high
2. Bread and inflation
3. 23.62% : Singapore M3 money supply growth

(2007-12-11 22:04:10 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

China CPI inflation surges to 11-year high of 6.9% on food, fuel

bloomberg.com :

China's inflation accelerated at the quickest pace in 11 years and the trade surplus swelled, adding pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates and let the currency appreciate faster to cool the economy. Consumer prices rose 6.9% in November from a year earlier after climbing 6.5% in October, the statistics bureau said today [11 Dec 2007].

Surging food and fuel costs and a record $238 billion surplus in the first 11 months have prompted the government to name inflation and overheating as the biggest threats to growth. Pork prices surged 56% in November from a year earlier, driven by a shortage of pigs. Food makes up a third of the consumer price index and rising costs pose a threat to social stability, illustrated by a stampede last month at a cooking-oil sale that killed three people in the central city of Chongqing. Overall, food climbed 18.2%. Non-food prices rose 1.4%, accelerating from a 1.1% gain in the previous month. Utility prices including water, electricity and gas rose 5.6%.

The inflow of cash from record exports, besides stoking inflation, has also fueled a surge in property and stock prices, with the benchmark CSI 300 Index gaining 152% this year. The central bank today ordered banks to tighten rules for real estate loans after property prices in 70 cities jumped 9.5% in October, the fastest pace in two years. China's economy, the world's fourth largest, expanded 11.5% in the third quarter from a year earlier.

ComfortDelGro overhauls taxi fare structure

channelnewsasia.com :

ComfortDelGro, the largest operator of taxis in Singapore, has overhauled its fare structure which it says will better meet the demand for and supply of taxi services at different times of the day. The changes will kick in next Monday [17 Dec 2007]. Flagging down a Comfort or CityCab will cost $0.30 more at $2.80. The metered fare has also been adjusted. It will cost $0.20 per 385 metres of travel for the first 10 kilometres. This will go up to $0.20 per 330 metres for journeys beyond 10 kilometres. It will cost $0.20 for every 45 seconds of waiting time. Instead of the $2 surcharge for peak hour travel, there will now be a premium levied. It will be 35 per cent of the metered fare. And the CBD surcharge will go up from the existing $1 to $3.

The Taxi Operators' Associations or TOA, in its response, called the fare revision fair and timely. This is in view of the rapidly rising operating cost, especially the price of diesel and the increase in the Goods and Services Tax. It believes that overall taxi metre fare should reflect the operating cost of the taxi business, and the primary consideration is the income stability of the taxi drivers when fare adjustments are made.

- This is the taxi fare increase we've all been waiting for. Um, about that statement, wait a minute. Actually, that's technically correct, in a sense. Everyone was waiting for Comfort to make their move and they did. And I'm sure this is certainly not going to be the last move.

It's certainly not the taxi drivers' fault, and it's not the taxi companies' fault either. Inflation is taking off. You can bet your every last cent and every last taxi ride on that.

(2007-12-11 13:01:29 SGT) [Biz] Permalink Comments [1]

Bank of America to liquidate $12 billion cash fund

bloomberg.com :

Bank of America Corp. will liquidate a $12 billion cash fund for wealthy clients and institutions, the largest investment of its type to close because of losses tied to the collapse of the subprime-mortgage market.

The fund, Columbia Strategic Cash Portfolio, was sold as an alternative to money-market funds, offering a higher yield by taking more risk. It was the biggest so-called enhanced cash fund, with $33 billion in assets two weeks ago before an investor pulled more than $20 billion, said Peter Crane, founder of Crane Data LLC, the Westborough, Massachusetts-based publisher of the Money Fund Intelligence. "This could be the death of enhanced cash funds," Crane said. Such funds hold about $850 billion in assets. Cash funds became popular in 2003 when interest rates plummeted to their lowest in almost five decades and the average net yield on money-market funds fell to less than 1 percent.

Some cash funds hold commercial paper or medium-term notes issued by structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, that have fallen in value as delinquencies on home loans rose to the highest in 20 years in the third quarter. SIVs use proceeds from the short-term debt to buy longer-term securities backed by assets including subprime mortgages and credit-card receivables. In August, investors started shunning the short-term debt sold by SIVs and other funds that, in some cases, invested in securities tied to subprime loans. Three SIVs have defaulted and Moody's Investors Service said this month it may cut the ratings on $105 billion in commercial paper and medium-term notes sold by the funds.

(2007-12-11 10:02:17 SGT) [Biz] Permalink

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