HK: Tighter lending rules, land supply, may stabilize prices
Hong Kong’s tightening mortgage lending rules and plan to increase the supply of land may help cool surging home prices in the city. Down payments for apartments costing HKD12m or more will rise to 40% from 30% with immediate effect, Hong Kong Monetary Authority said. The government will also increase land sales next year according to Financial Secretary John Tsang. (Bloomberg)
China: Favouring euros over greenback as Bernanke shifts course
China, whose USD2.5tn in foreign exchange reserves are the world’s largest, is turning bullish on Europe and Japan at the expense of US. The nation has been buying “quite a lot” of Europe’s bonds, said a former adviser to the People’s Bank of China. It bought JPY1.7tn more Japanese debt than it sold in the first half of 2010, the fastest pace of purchases in at least 5 years. (Bloomberg)
Russia: Banks flock to foreign debt market as deposits at record
Russian banks are stepping up international bond sales after relative corporate borrowing costs fell to their lowest level in 3 months and record deposits increased the allure of the lender’s debt. The yield difference for Russian company debt compared with government bonds sank to 91bps on 5 Aug, the lowest since 27 April and down from 942 in October 2008. (Bloomberg)
South Korea: May need extra tax for reunification
South Korea needs to prepare for eventual unification tax with North Korea and should consider a special tax to cover the costs that will incur, its President Lee Myung Bak said. The comments came amid heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula over the possible succession of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il by his son Kim Jongun. (Bloomberg)
US: Production, housing starts probably rose
Factory production and housing starts probably rose in July as part of the US economy’s uneven transition to a slower pace of growth in the second half of the year, economists said. Output increased 0.5%, led by a rebound in auto making as fewer plants closed for mid-year retooling, according to the median estimate of 57 economists surveyed before Federal Reserve figures on 17 Aug. (Bloomberg)
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