Lebanese commercial banks have resorted to restricting withdrawal of US dollar currency notes to $2000 per person. Heavy demand for US currency by Arabs and foreign nationals fleeing the country has resulted in a shortage of physical currency notes. A spokesman for Fransabank, said that customers are being offered euro, sterling or Lebanese banknotes instead of US dollars. Overall deposits have not drastically change as a result of the Israeli invasion. BLC Bank’s chairman Shadi Karam said confidence has not been shaken as badly as after the assassination former PM Rafiq Hariri in February 2005.
The Czech Republic’s Social Democrats today rejected a coalition with the centre-right Civic Democrats and Christian Democrats, and the Greens, and called for another solution, outgoing Prime Minister and Social Democrats head Jiri Paroubek said.
Chile’s mutual fund industry is set to grow by 21% during 2006 according to Monica Cavallini, General Director of the Mutual Funds Association. Mutual fund companies will manage $16 billion by the end of the year, with 800,000 customers.
The Asian Development Bank said on Tuesday that it expects emerging East Asian economies to expand by 7.5% in 2006. Growth is based on exports to major industrial countries and an upturn in demand from the global information technology industry. The ADB found that the region has adjusted well to rising energy costs, inflationary pressures, financial volatility and higher interest rates. 2006 will be the third consecutive year of growth above 7%. The countries covered are the ASEAN ten, plus China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.