Bolivian Minister of Hydrocarbons, Andres Soliz Rada, said on May 3 that the assets of foreign oil companies in Bolivia could be expropriated as an extreme measure, if the companies fail to renegotiate their contracts within a period of 180 days. The move will be part of the hydrocarbons sector nationalisation decree, signed by Bolivian President Evo Morales on May 1, which obliges foreign private oil and gas companies in Bolivia to sign new contracts, giving the state a majority stake in oil and gas installations. The Bolivian army has already occupied 56 oil and gas fields in the country, preventing commercial oil and gas companies from operating. San Alberto and San Antonio, Bolivia’s largest two oil and gas fields, will continue operating, but 82% of output will go to the state and the remaining 18% to the operating companies: French Total, Spanish Repsol and Brazil Petrobras.
China's State Security Fund Council said that it will appoint trustees to help its overseas investment operations, worth $1.1 billion. The Council was established in 2000 as a strategic reserve, for China's aging population. Its total assets are estimated at over 200 billion yuan taken from the national budget. The Council said that eligible trustees would have to have more than $5billion in capital during the preceding fiscal year or $5 billion under trusteeship. Potential trustees' ratings must be A or above, assigned by an internationally recognised rating institution.
Today´s meeting of the Czech National Bank’s rate-setting Bank Board ended with no change in the rate. The benchmark interest rate has been 2% since last October.
Czech National Bank governor Zdenek Tuma told journalists last week that he imagines that interest rates will increase this year, though not this month to come. Last month’s quarter point rate hike was viewed by many economists as unnecessary.
The Czech National Bank and Swedish Riksbank have the lowest interest rates in the European Union.
Russian banks should set aside in reserves 21% of their assets in trusts if the risks they face are impossible to assess , the Central Bank of Russia has ruled. The ruling was published in the Bank’s bulletin and comes in force on June 1. Banks are not required to create reserves for marketable assets, according to the ruling, but only for non-marketable assets, receivables and other assets that can lose their value, according to the ruling.
Mexican mining and metal production increased by 11.1 percent in February 2006, compared with February 2005. According to statisticians at Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Geografia e Informatica (INEGI) the biggest increases were in production of gypsum, zinc, charcoal fluorite, gold, silver and iron.
Philippines' Finance Secretary Margarito B Teves announced on Tuesday that ratings agency Moody's could improve its outlook on the country if it manages to meet its fiscal targets. The Philippines government is expecting an increase in its value-added tax (VAT) collections and aims to balance the budget by 2008. In February, Standard and Poors and Fitch upgraded their outlook on Philippines from negative to stable, following the passage of the law to increase VAT.