16 Business Daily Thursday, December 1 2016
Closing Consumer prices
Eurozone inflation hits 31-month high
Eurozone inflation rose to a two-and-half year high in November as Europe moved further away from the low consumer prices that have put a fragile economic recovery under threat. The Eurostat statistics agency yesterday said consumer prices in the 19-country currency bloc rose by 0.6 per cent this month, the first time it has hit that level since April 2014. The level matched forecasts by analysts and will come as a relief to the European Central Bank which has embarked on a highly controversial and massive stimulus programme to boost inflation.
The eurozone’s ultra-low inflation is a huge worry for the ECB, where the goal is to keep inflation near 2.0 per cent. Inflation reflects underlying consumer demand in the economy and while still edging higher this month, 0.6 per cent means Europe is still short of a full-fledged recovery. Analyst Howard Archer said that core inflation - stripped of highly volatile oil prices - still remained far too low at 0.8 per cent. “The muted November core inflation data highlight that the ECB cannot relax on the inflation front yet, even if the headline rate looks primed to rise appreciably over the next few months,” Archer of IHS Global Insight wrote. AFP
Women’s rights
Let women drive, urges Saudi prince He also detailed the “economic costs” of women having to rely on foreign private drivers or taxis Ian Timberlake
A
n outspoken billionaire Saudi prince wants an “urgent” end to his country’s ban on women driving, saying overturning the law was a matter of women’s rights and economic necessity. “Stop the debate: Time for women to drive,” Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on his official Twitter account, @Alwaleed_Talal.
“Preventing a woman from driving a car is today an issue of rights similar to the one that forbade her from receiving an education or having an independent identity”
theme park. He is a long-time advocate of women’s rights in the Islamic kingdom, which has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive. In conjunction with his short tweet, Alwaleed’s office issued an unusually long statement outlining his reasons for supporting an end to the ban. “Preventing a woman from driving a car is today an issue of rights similar to the one that forbade her from receiving an education or having an independent identity,” Alwaleed said. “They are all unjust acts by a
traditional society, far more restrictive than what is lawfully allowed by the precepts of religion.” He also detailed the “economic costs” of women having to rely on foreign private drivers or taxis, since public transit is not a viable alternative in the kingdom. Using foreign drivers drains billions of dollars from the Saudi economy, Alwaleed said. He calculated that families spend an average of 3,800 riyals ($1,000, 940 euros) a month on a driver, money which otherwise could help household incomes at a time when many are making do with less. Even if their husbands can take time out to transport the women, that requires temporarily leaving the office and “undermines the productivity of
the workforce,” Alwaleed said. “Having women drive has become an urgent social demand predicated upon current economic circumstances.” The prince said he is making his call on behalf of those with “limited means”. A slow expansion of women’s rights began under the late king Abdullah, who in 2013 named them to the Shura Council which advises cabinet. Abdullah also announced that women could for the first time vote and run in municipal elections, which were held last December. These and other decisions in Saudi history were initially opposed by “certain elements” but soon became accepted, Alwaleed said, calling for “a similarly decisive” political act. In April, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said change cannot be forced, and “it is up to Saudi society.” In Alwaleed’s view, however, “what cannot be allowed is to have one segment imposing its preferences on the rest of society.” AFP
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
Alwaleed is an unusually outspoken member of the Saudi royal family who holds no political posts but chairs Kingdom Holding Co., which has interests including US banking giant Citigroup and the Euro Disney
Trade
Korean crisis
APEC
Japanese minister says deals Park’s allies suggest that she New Zealand gov’t determined with Russia to be ‘win-win’ resign presidency in April to tackle non-tariff barriers Japan’s trade minister yesterday dismissed concerns that boosting economic ties with Russia as part of a push for progress on a decades-old territorial row would mainly benefit Moscow, saying any business deals would be “win-win” for both. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is betting his close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the lure of Japanese investment in fields from medical technology to energy could ease progress in the dispute over four islands seized by Russia at the end of World War Two when the leaders meet in Japan next month. The feud over the islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kuriles in Russia, has kept Tokyo and Moscow from signing a peace treaty formally ending their conflict and strengthening ties in the face of a rising China. “This is not a matter of Japan giving money to Russia. These are all projects that will provide business chances for Japanese firms,” Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko, now in charge of economic cooperation with Russia, told Reuters. “These projects ... will cultivate new growth areas for Japanese firms and in the sense they will also be a plus for Russia, they will be win-win.” Reuters
Embattled South Korean President Park Geunhye may have bought some time in office after offering to resign on Tuesday over an influencepeddling scandal. A faction of her ruling Saenuri Party that had previously supported her impeachment said yesterday that it would accept her resignation at the end of April, and gave her nine days to make a proposal. The group of about 40 lawmakers holds the balance of power in an impeachment vote, which requires support from two-thirds of parliament. “It’s important for Park to clearly propose a detailed timetable for her resignation to show her sincerity,” Hwang Young-cheul, a spokesman for the Saenuri faction, said after a meeting with them yesterday. “End-April will be the most appropriate time.” Hwang also laid out some other conditions for Park: She should appoint a prime minister recommended by parliament to set up a coalition government, and give that person her power. If Park doesn’t spell out a plan for resigning, he said, his faction would again support an impeachment motion on Dec. 9 - the last day of the current parliamentary session. Bloomberg News
New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay yesterday reiterated the government’s determination to tackle the growth in non-tariff barriers in the Asia-Pacific region. McClay was commenting on the release of two studies this week that revealed the cost and impact of “unnecessary red tape and arbitrary trade rules” on exporters. Non-tariff measures (NTMs) in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies were costing the region’s exporters US$790 billion, said a report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER). The amount was triple the total costs associated with simple border tariffs. NTMs were costing New Zealand exporters about US$5.9 billion a year, said the report. Meanwhile, the APEC Business Advisory Council released a new study showing non-tariff barriers were making food trade more difficult and expensive than it should be, and undermining goals of food security in the Asia-Pacific region. The government’s New Zealand Trade and Enterprise agency was encouraging its export customers to come forward with market access issues they might be encountering. Xinhua