ADB loan to Bhutan

MANILA: Bhutan is to get a $24.6 million soft loan from the ADB to shore up tap water and other urban facilities at three key cities which are besieged by rural migrants. Urban settlement, a new phenomenon in the landlocked mountain nation, is putting pressure on Thimphu and Phuentsholing, Bhutan’s two largest cities, as well as Dagana, a regional centre, an ADB statement said. — AFP

UK public finance

LONDON: Britain’s public finances worsened in September, as government spending grew at a faster pace than tax receipts. Public sector net borrowing, the government’s preferred measure of the public sector finances, stood at $23.0 billion in September. Last month’s reading also marked the highest level of borrowing for September since records began in 1993. — AFP

Economy resilient

TOKYO: Bank of Japan (BoJ0 governor Toshihiko Fukui said that Japan’s economy was weathering a US economic slowdown but he kept markets guessing on the outlook for further interest rate rises. “Japan’s economy is expanding moderately,” the central bank chief said. “Japan’s exports are expected to continue to expand despite a slowdown in the US economy as other regions of the world are expanding.” — AFP