News Highlights Friday 25 July 2008

MAS expects inflation to start easing
Following June's 7.5 per cent pace, MAS has raised - for the third time this year - the official headline consumer price inflation forecast for 2008, by one full point to 6-7%. MAS said the full-year rate will likely come in at around 6.5%. And with the first-half average at 7.1%, the new forecast for 2008 implies that the inflation rate should ease over the rest of the year. MAS cites four reasons: Firstly, the one-off impact of last July's GST hike will disappear from this month. Secondly, while commodity prices will likely remain high, further price increases are expected to be milder. Thirdly, increases in commercial rentals appear to have peaked, and recent employment surveys show more cautious hiring. MAS' monetary tightening policy will continue to cap cost and price pressures, he added. MAS cautioned that Singapore cannot totally insulate itself from the hikes in global food and oil prices, and needs to ensure that external price changes do not trigger second-round effects. MAS sees Singapore's economic growth easing in the next few quarters in view of slowing external demand, but maintains the full-year growth outlook at 4-6 per cent.

-The Business Times, P1 – Also see The Straits Time, P1 “Full-year inflation forecast by MAS raised to 6-7%”



More property agents may head for exit
Many more property agents could quit the industry - or be forced to leave - in light of the current market downturn, say industry players. PropNex Realty said that it was firing more than one-third of its agents (about 2800) who have been with the firm for over a year but have yet to record a single transaction will be terminated. Industry players said during the property upturn in the last two years, a number of agents entered the industry to make a quick buck. But with the current property slowdown, many of these agents have been unable to close deals and have left the industry and more could follow. Savills commented that the fired agents should take advantage of the now relatively stable market to upgrade themselves and deepen their knowledge if they are interested in the industry.

- The Business Times, P3




URA awards Woodlands site to Soilbuild
URA awarded a Woodlands industrial site to top bidder Soilbuild Group Holdings - two days after the tender closed on Tuesday. The 180,835 sq ft site, at Woodlands Industrial Park E5, comes with a 60-year lease. Soilbuild, which bid $13.61 million or $30.10 psf ppr, said that the total development cost including land would be $35-40 million. Development could take about 20 months, with factories slated for completion by 2010. Soilbuild is targeting SMEs for these factories, which can be used for clean/light industry, general industry and warehousing.

- The Business Times, P7




Expats rank S'pore as world's best place to live
Singapore has emerged as the best place to live in the world in a survey of more than 2,000 expatriates by HSBC Bank. The Republic also ranked first for quality of accommodation and second for luxury living. HSBC's Expat Explorer survey interviewed 2,155 expats across 49 countries and territories to rank places based on living standards, the ability to earn and save, a country's popularity, and the level of luxury experienced. HSBC said there are an estimated 300,000 expats residing here and the safe environment and relatively low taxes make it an ideal location for expats to grow and protect their savings and investments.

- The Straits Times, H36



Singapore capital markets raised $76b in net funds last year
$75.6 billion in net funds were raised last year, well up on the $40.8 billion in 2006. In value terms, there was around a doubling in the amount of government securities and private-sector shares issued, while there were five times as many rights issues sold. The private sector raised just $1 billion in Q1 this year. At that rate, total capital raised this year could pale in comparison to last year's total of $22.7 billion. Net funds, including the private and public sectors, totalled just over $14 billion in Q1 this year. Banking insiders said it was no surprise that capital markets are taking a beating, given that global credit and stock markets have been battered since August last year.

- The Straits Time, H35




US engineering giant expands S'pore operations
A giant American engineering and construction company - Fluor Corporation - opened its new Singapore office yesterday. It intends to use the Robinson Road office as a regional management hub. Fluor Singapore employs 100 people, and plans to double or triple this in the coming months. The workforce will consist mostly of Singaporeans and permanent residents.

- The Straits Times, H36




Jakarta growth 'insufficient' to reduce poverty,
create jobs
Indonesia's economic growth, which accelerated to an 11-year high in 2007, is insufficient to reduce poverty and create jobs, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said. The government needs to reduce subsidies for fuel and electricity and ease labour rules to attract investment and boost growth. South-east Asia's biggest economy expanded 6.3% last year, the most since a financial crisis hit the region in 1997-98. OECD said gross domestic product (GDP) growth of about 8 per cent is needed to pull some 35 million people out of poverty in Asia's third-most populous nation.

- The Business Times, P13




Investment out of China doubles in H1
China's overseas investment more than doubled in the first half of 2008, the government said, as the energy-hungry nation sought to secure resources globally to fuel its economic boom. Non-financial direct outward investment hit US$25.7 billion in the first six months of the year, 2.3 times the level recorded in the same period last year. The figure for the first six months was already bigger than for all of 2007, when total Chinese investment overseas reached US$18.7 billion. Analysts said that a key factor was rising international commodity prices, giving Chinese companies an incentive to go directly to the source for raw materials. With forex reserves of US$1.8 trillion and growing, China is looking abroad to acquire resources to fuel an economy that has maintained double-digit growth for five consecutive years.

- The Business Times, P14


Studios@marne
- Farrer Park MRT Station & City Sq Mega Mall within 200 meters
- SMU/NAFA/National Library located 2 MRT Stations / 5-min drive away- Freehold 46 units + 3 retail shop space- Studio apts ranging from 474 to 883 sft- 1 bedroom apts ranging from 980 to 1098sft- Retail shop space of 700, 1195 and 1690sft
- Sales suite at 2 Marne Road/Petain Road- Property Agent : REMAX- Developer : Vyco Pte Ltd- Expected TOP 31/12/2012- The Business Times, P28 - advertisement
Dubai & Indian Properties
- 10 Tower, Dubai
- Smart Towers, Ajman, UAE
- Verde, Dubai, UAE
- HPG, Chennai, India
- Rosedale, Chennai
- Exhibition by Milan Realtors during the weekend at Grand Hyatt
- The Straits Times, H18 - advertisement

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