ADB aid to P’ppines

MANILA: The ADB said it had launched a pilot project to bring tap water to teeming slums on the eastern outskirts of the Philippine capital. Small piped water networks would be built for more than 1,000 households in the Kabisig, Batasin, Panghulo, and Ibayo communities that are now paying more than four times the cost of tap water in other areas served by Manila’s water utilities. — AFP

BoF lowers estimate

PARIS: The French central bank said on Monday that it had lowered its estimate for growth of the French economy over the first half of the year to 1.5 per cent from a previous estimate of 1.6 per cent. Its forecast for growth in the second quarter of the year was also revised down to 0.6 per cent from a previous estimate of 0.7 per cent. The Bank of France (BoF) said that its monthly survey of business sentiment showed a decline in June. — AFP

Inflation rises in NZ

WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s annual inflation rate rose to four per cent in the June quarter — the highest since the end of 2000 — due to the relentless rise in oil prices. Inflation in the June quarter was 1.5 per cent compared with the previous three months, the highest quarterly rise for 16 years. The rise in the consumer price index was higher than economists’ predictions of annual inflation of 3.7 per cent and is likely to dash any lingering hopes that interest rates will be cut this year. — AFP

Budget surplus posted

MANILA: The Philippines posted a budget surplus in June for a third consecutive month, totalling 12.7 billion pesos ($242 million). Last month’s surplus helped narrow the first half budget deficit to 31.5 billion pesos, compared with a government deficit target of 90.4 billion pesos. The first-half deficit target represents about 72 per cent of the government’s full-year budget deficit estimate of 125 billion pesos. — AFP

Singapore’s exports up

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s key non-oil exports grew by 16.9 per cent in June compared with a year earlier, boosted by faster growth in the non-electronic sector. Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in June were valued at 14.13 billion Singapore dollars compared with 13.41 billion in May when they were up by 18.1 per cent compared with the same month last year. Analysts had expected a June NODX rise of between 14 and 22 per cent. — AFP

Aussies may hike rate

SYDNEY: The Australian government may inadvertently provoke the central bank into hiking interest rates after generous tax cuts that take effect this month. Access Economics, an economic forecaster frequently commissioned to cost government policies, said personal tax cuts of $27 billion could overstimulate Australia’s economy. It said they made the Reserve Bank of Australia more likely to hike interest rates. — AFP

NZ, EU butter row

WELLINGTON: New Zealand urged the EU to honor its trade agreements with the South Pacific dairy exporter after stopping butter imports last week. The EU’s executive commission retroactively suspended New Zealand butter imports from July 1 after the European Court of Justice ruled parts of regulations governing them were invalid. — AFP

More premiums sold

KATHMANDU: Nepal Life Insurance Company (NLIC) has sold the largest number of insurance premium in the month of Ashad. According a press release issued here, NLIC sold 4,621 insurance premiums during the period and stood first among five life insurance companies in Nepal. Established five years ago, the company has been able to sell 89,308 premiums so far. Ramesh Kumar Bhattarai, CEO of NLIC informed that the company plans to sell about 50,000 premiums annually. — HNS

Consumer confidence

BANGKOK: Thailand’s consumer confidence is among the lowest in Asia due to the prolonged political turmoil rocking the nation, a survey by credit card company MasterCard showed Monday. Consumer confidence index in Thailand stood at 28.6 points out of 100, the lowest level since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis which set off a chain reaction of collapsing Asian currencies and soaring interest rates. — AFP

Euro inflation stable

BRUSSELS: Inflation in the 12 nations that use the euro was stable at 2.5 per cent in June. Surging euro-zone inflation has fueled the case for the European Central Bank to raise interest rates several times in recent months. Year-on-year inflation was 2.5 per cent in May, 2.4 per cent in April and 2.2 per cent in March. — AP

Oil prices to stabilise

VIENNA: Developments in the oil industry should help cool crude prices in 2007 but the market will remain vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, OPEC said in its July report. “The expected increase in OPEC capacity, combined with the projected decline in required OPEC crude, should help to moderate prices,” the OPEC said, “Whether the market will benefit from the full effect of these trends will depend mainly on downstream developments.” — AFP