The Asian Development Bank's President, Haruhiko Kuroda voiced the ADB's support for China's rural development. Kuroda expressed satisfaction at China's 11th Five Year Plan, which targets rural development as one of the top priorities. Kuroda said that China should give priority to development in the poorest rural areas, since 60% of its population is engaged in the agriculture sector. To achieve this, Kuroda suggested that the Chinese government should focus its attention on improving rural infrastructure, diversifying crop production, and adopting integrated approach towards farming. Kuroda also stressed the need for job creation for the rural labour force.
India's public sector banks decided to seek interest subsidy of 2.5 to 3 percentage points, if the government wants to implement its short-term credit to the farm sector at 7%, in line with their budget announcement. According to banking sources, the banks will make their request during a meeting with Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, tomorrow. The banks are also likely to urge Chidambaram to allow them to increase their prime lending rates, as the cost of funds has already gone up by as much as 200 basis points. India's public banks have so far refrained from increasing their lending rates on Chidambaram's request, to maintaining stable interest rates.
According to Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission, domestic banks' overseas profits accounted for 43% of their total profits in 2005, a record high. This highlights the reliance of domestic banks on income generated by overseas branches and offshore banking units, especially at a time when these banks are facing credit and cash card turmoil back at home. Commission officials expect this trend to continue, mainly due to risk diversification and the needs of Taiwanese businessmen in China. Bankers estimate that overseas profits will surpass domestic profits and account for over 50% of domestic banks' income this year. Commission statistics show that pre-tax profits of domestic banks stood at 78.6 billion Taiwanese dollars (TWD) in 2005, including TWD 45 billion generated by domestic branches and $11.5 billion by overseas branches.
News from Euromoney Group sources