27 Jan 2009
Source: The Telegraph
As many as 40 million Chinese who moved from the country to the city to find work are expected to lose their jobs this week as the New Year celebrations come to a close.
Instead of returning to work after the public holiday, many will remain in their remote rural homes, having been told not to come back.
Others will make the long journey to China's economic heartlands only to find their source of income has evaporated.
The gloomy prediction came from an official at the Central Communist Party School, who estimated that between 20 and 30 per cent of the 130 million provincial Chinese who moved to the city for employment would find themselves obsolete.
To make matters worse, they will find no guarantee of work at home as sophisticated farming methods reduce the need for labourers and agricultural hands.
In Shanghai, the New Year was ushered in with an unparalleled pyrotechnic display as the population let off steam.
Firework sales rose by a third from last year, and it took more than 30,000 street sweepers to clear the 1,200 tonnes of debris from the streets.
But even in China's financial capital, a sober mood emerged as the economy continued slowing down, raising fears that it may have ground to a halt entirely in the last quarter of 2008.
Xie Xuren, China's finance minister, was moved to issue a sombre New Year greeting. The situation, he said, was now "very severe".
His warning spurred some to ignore the holiday and try to make themselves indispensable.
Fen Yi, a 26, software developer said: "One of my New Year resolutions is not getting sacked. I am working again on the fourth day of the Chinese New Year, giving up my holiday time.
"The unemployment rate is rising and the economy is falling, 2009 will be a dangerous year for China, and a sensitive year with all the anniversaries coming up, like the one for the riots in Tiananmen Square. "The general mood is not as bullish as it is supposed to be for the year of the Bull."
In the southern province of Guangdong, where millions of factory workers have lost their jobs, a daily queue has started to form in front of a giant golden bull: one of capitalism's most potent symbols.
The Charging Bull, a three-tonne sculpture cast in the 1980s to symbolise the might of Wall Street, may be tarnished in the eyes of the West.
But a replica of the statue at Changlu Farm in Shunde is attracting tens of thousands of Chinese visitors every day, hoping for a touch of luck in the coming year.
"The Wall Street bull is famous and influential," said He Siyuan, the manager of the farm. "It's very impressive, so we built our own and organised a 'touch the gold bull, boost the stock market' initiative for Chinese New Year. People like to ride it and take pictures."
According to Chinese astrology, the Ox stands for prosperity through fortitude and hard work, an attitude that the Chinese government has encouraged amid plunging exports and job losses.
People born under the sign are thought to be natural leaders, and include Barack Obama, Saddam Hussein, Margaret Thatcher, Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte. The People's Republic of China was also created in the year of the Ox.
Older Chinese reflected, however, on the transformation of the country since the last year of the Ox. "Twelve years is like a blink. Last year of the Ox, we did not have air conditioner, now my place has three," said Wang Jing, a 56-year-old property manager.
"We didn't have a computer or a car. Everything looks brighter now, but the people have also changed. We used to be simpler and more honest. Now everyone worships money."
In 2008, the glory of the Olympics provided little cheer after the traumas of the riots in Tibet, the frozen harvests and the Sichuan earthquake, which killed 90,000 people.
One popular text message, sent by millions of Chinese, read: "Goodbye to the snows of 08, the quake of 08, the pain of 08, the bitterness of 08. May 2009 be bullish for you."
Friday, January 30, 2009
27,000 jobs to go at NEC and Hitachi
30 January 2009
Source: The Guardian
NEC and Hitachi, the Japanese electronics makers, will between them cut at least 27,000 jobs worldwide to try to counter falling demand and plummeting prices.
NEC said today that its third-quarter losses had reached ¥130bn from ¥5.2bn for the same period last year. It also forecast losses for the full year.
Hitachi, which makes everything from home appliances and TVs to IT systems and medical equipment, predicted it would post a huge net loss this fiscal year and said it would slash about 7,000 jobs as part of a global restructuring plan.
NEC, a major producer of semiconductors, said about half of the job losses would affect full-time employees and that 40% would be in Japan.
"We are aiming for 20,000 or more," NEC's president, Kaoru Yano, told a news conference. "It is regrettable that we have to announce such a big downgrade. We must cut waste."
The redundancies, to be made by the end of March next year, will help bring savings of ¥80bn over two years, the company said.
NEC expects a net loss of ¥290bn for the year to the end of March, having predicted a ¥15bn profit only three months ago. It also cut its sales estimate to ¥4.2tn compared with an initial forecast of ¥4.6tn.
The firm announced its earnings results after its shares fell 6.5% during trading in Tokyo.
Officials refused to comment on reports that NEC is planning to merge its semiconductor business with Toshiba's chip operation. Toshiba, which is also battling falling prices and demand, has warned it is on course for its biggest-ever annual loss.
Analysts said a merger would bring little comfort to either company amid plummeting demand for electronic parts for personal computers and cars.
"It's a losers' union," SMBC Friend Securities manager Fumiyuki Nakanishi told Reuters. "The domestic chip industry appears at the brink of death."
Battered by plunging demand, Hitachi today forecast a net loss of ¥700bn ($7.7bn) for the fiscal year to 31 March, a stark reversal from the ¥15bn profit it forecast in October.
Hitachi also cut its operating profit projection by 90% to ¥40bn.
The company blamed sharply falling sales in most of its main businesses, including electronic devices, power and industrial systems, and consumer products.
Source: The Guardian
NEC and Hitachi, the Japanese electronics makers, will between them cut at least 27,000 jobs worldwide to try to counter falling demand and plummeting prices.
NEC said today that its third-quarter losses had reached ¥130bn from ¥5.2bn for the same period last year. It also forecast losses for the full year.
Hitachi, which makes everything from home appliances and TVs to IT systems and medical equipment, predicted it would post a huge net loss this fiscal year and said it would slash about 7,000 jobs as part of a global restructuring plan.
NEC, a major producer of semiconductors, said about half of the job losses would affect full-time employees and that 40% would be in Japan.
"We are aiming for 20,000 or more," NEC's president, Kaoru Yano, told a news conference. "It is regrettable that we have to announce such a big downgrade. We must cut waste."
The redundancies, to be made by the end of March next year, will help bring savings of ¥80bn over two years, the company said.
NEC expects a net loss of ¥290bn for the year to the end of March, having predicted a ¥15bn profit only three months ago. It also cut its sales estimate to ¥4.2tn compared with an initial forecast of ¥4.6tn.
The firm announced its earnings results after its shares fell 6.5% during trading in Tokyo.
Officials refused to comment on reports that NEC is planning to merge its semiconductor business with Toshiba's chip operation. Toshiba, which is also battling falling prices and demand, has warned it is on course for its biggest-ever annual loss.
Analysts said a merger would bring little comfort to either company amid plummeting demand for electronic parts for personal computers and cars.
"It's a losers' union," SMBC Friend Securities manager Fumiyuki Nakanishi told Reuters. "The domestic chip industry appears at the brink of death."
Battered by plunging demand, Hitachi today forecast a net loss of ¥700bn ($7.7bn) for the fiscal year to 31 March, a stark reversal from the ¥15bn profit it forecast in October.
Hitachi also cut its operating profit projection by 90% to ¥40bn.
The company blamed sharply falling sales in most of its main businesses, including electronic devices, power and industrial systems, and consumer products.
Thousands layed off in Singapore in fourth quarter: Govt
Jan 30, 2009
Source: AFP
Companies in Singapore laid off 7,000 workers in the last three months of 2008, as the economy slipped deeper into recession, the government said Friday.
More than half of the layoffs were in the key manufacturing sector, which has been hit by a sharp decline in demand for the city-state's exports, the Ministry of Manpower said in a statement citing preliminary estimates.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.6 percent in December, up from 2.2 percent in September and 1.7 percent in December 2007, it said.
The 7,000 workers laid off in the December quarter compared with 2,346 employees who lost their jobs in the preceding three months and 1,966 for the same period in 2007, the ministry said.
For the whole of 2008, there were 13,400 workers laid off, up from 7,675 the year before.
Employment also slowed significantly to 26,900 in the fourth quarter of last year, from 55,700 people who were hired in the preceding quarter and 62,500 in the same period in 2007.
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam warned last week the country is facing its worst recession since independence 44 years ago and announced a record stimulus package of more than 13 billion US dollars.
Singapore in October became the first Asian economy to enter recession, falling victim to a global slowdown sparked by a crisis in the US housing market.
Source: AFP
Companies in Singapore laid off 7,000 workers in the last three months of 2008, as the economy slipped deeper into recession, the government said Friday.
More than half of the layoffs were in the key manufacturing sector, which has been hit by a sharp decline in demand for the city-state's exports, the Ministry of Manpower said in a statement citing preliminary estimates.
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.6 percent in December, up from 2.2 percent in September and 1.7 percent in December 2007, it said.
The 7,000 workers laid off in the December quarter compared with 2,346 employees who lost their jobs in the preceding three months and 1,966 for the same period in 2007, the ministry said.
For the whole of 2008, there were 13,400 workers laid off, up from 7,675 the year before.
Employment also slowed significantly to 26,900 in the fourth quarter of last year, from 55,700 people who were hired in the preceding quarter and 62,500 in the same period in 2007.
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam warned last week the country is facing its worst recession since independence 44 years ago and announced a record stimulus package of more than 13 billion US dollars.
Singapore in October became the first Asian economy to enter recession, falling victim to a global slowdown sparked by a crisis in the US housing market.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Finance crisis claims government, 85,000 jobs
January 27, 2009
Source: The Straits Times / AFP
NEW YORK (AFP) - - Companies forecast more than 85,000 job cuts in a single day as the rampant financial crisis hit workers in factories and offices across the globe and brought down a government on Monday.
In a sign of the deepening social impact of the US-born crisis, several companies announced an avalanche of cuts, piling pressure on US President Barack Obama as he pushes a stimulus plan for the world's biggest economy.
The financial catastrophe also claimed a scalp as Iceland's Prime Minister Geir Haarde announced the resignation of his government after months of protests over economic policies that brought the country close to bankruptcy.
Obama warned the recession-hit United States could not afford delays in Congress over his 825-billion-dollar (630-billion-euro) stimulus plan.
He called for "swift and extraordinary" action, after earlier saying the downturn could get "dramatically worse."
In New York, construction equipment giant Caterpillar said it planned 20,000 job cuts worldwide to cope with plunging sales.
New York-based drug maker Pfizer announced it would acquire its rival Wyeth for 68 billion dollars, the largest pharmaceutical takeover deal in nearly a decade amid a dearth of corporate dealmaking due in part to a credit squeeze.
It said it would also cut its global workforce by around 10 percent -- meaning at least 8,000 posts cut in a company that currently employs almost 82,000 people in more than 150 countries.
General Motors announced plans Monday to cut 2,000 jobs at two US plants as it prepares to submit a long-term viability plan in exchange for billions in loans from the US government.
US telecom operator Sprint Nextel announced 8,000 cuts -- 14 percent of its staff -- and top US home improvement retailer Home Depot said it would cut 7,000.
Japan's top 12 automakers expect to cut a total of 25,000 jobs between now and the end of March, a survey by Jiji Press concluded on Monday.
Dutch banking and insurance group ING announced 7,000 job cuts and a deal for the Dutch state to guarantee billions of euros' worth of troubled assets.
Dutch electronics giant Philips said it would eliminate 6,000 jobs.
The announcements by the two Dutch companies came ahead of confirmation that Europe's second-biggest steelmaker, Indian-owned Corus, said it would cut more than 3,500 jobs around the world, most of them in Britain.
Workers arriving early Monday were gloomy about their prospects. "People feel gutted. I have already had to take a 10 percent pay cut," said 45-year-old Douglas Mayhill, a worker at a Corus plant in Port Talbot, southern Wales.
"I was told on Friday I have a choice -- either accept a 10 percent pay cut or take redundancy -- that is no choice."
The US Congress was meanwhile due to begin debate this week on Obama's stimulus bill, designed to haul the US economy out of a paralysing recession.
In his first presidential radio address at the weekend, Obama raised the spectre of double-digit unemployment and a massive erosion of family incomes if Congress did not act on the bill.
Obama was to meet later this week with Republican leaders hostile to the bill. The lower House of Representatives was expected to vote Wednesday on the stimulus, with the Senate to follow later.
European shares surged on Monday however with sharp gains in the banking sector on positive news from British group Barclays, whose share price surged more than 75 percent on unexpectedly strong profit expectations, analysts said.
London closed 3.86 percent higher, Paris added 3.73 percent and Frankfurt climbed 3.54 percent.
US stocks opened narrowly mixed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.25 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged up 0.08 percent.
Source: The Straits Times / AFP
NEW YORK (AFP) - - Companies forecast more than 85,000 job cuts in a single day as the rampant financial crisis hit workers in factories and offices across the globe and brought down a government on Monday.
In a sign of the deepening social impact of the US-born crisis, several companies announced an avalanche of cuts, piling pressure on US President Barack Obama as he pushes a stimulus plan for the world's biggest economy.
The financial catastrophe also claimed a scalp as Iceland's Prime Minister Geir Haarde announced the resignation of his government after months of protests over economic policies that brought the country close to bankruptcy.
Obama warned the recession-hit United States could not afford delays in Congress over his 825-billion-dollar (630-billion-euro) stimulus plan.
He called for "swift and extraordinary" action, after earlier saying the downturn could get "dramatically worse."
In New York, construction equipment giant Caterpillar said it planned 20,000 job cuts worldwide to cope with plunging sales.
New York-based drug maker Pfizer announced it would acquire its rival Wyeth for 68 billion dollars, the largest pharmaceutical takeover deal in nearly a decade amid a dearth of corporate dealmaking due in part to a credit squeeze.
It said it would also cut its global workforce by around 10 percent -- meaning at least 8,000 posts cut in a company that currently employs almost 82,000 people in more than 150 countries.
General Motors announced plans Monday to cut 2,000 jobs at two US plants as it prepares to submit a long-term viability plan in exchange for billions in loans from the US government.
US telecom operator Sprint Nextel announced 8,000 cuts -- 14 percent of its staff -- and top US home improvement retailer Home Depot said it would cut 7,000.
Japan's top 12 automakers expect to cut a total of 25,000 jobs between now and the end of March, a survey by Jiji Press concluded on Monday.
Dutch banking and insurance group ING announced 7,000 job cuts and a deal for the Dutch state to guarantee billions of euros' worth of troubled assets.
Dutch electronics giant Philips said it would eliminate 6,000 jobs.
The announcements by the two Dutch companies came ahead of confirmation that Europe's second-biggest steelmaker, Indian-owned Corus, said it would cut more than 3,500 jobs around the world, most of them in Britain.
Workers arriving early Monday were gloomy about their prospects. "People feel gutted. I have already had to take a 10 percent pay cut," said 45-year-old Douglas Mayhill, a worker at a Corus plant in Port Talbot, southern Wales.
"I was told on Friday I have a choice -- either accept a 10 percent pay cut or take redundancy -- that is no choice."
The US Congress was meanwhile due to begin debate this week on Obama's stimulus bill, designed to haul the US economy out of a paralysing recession.
In his first presidential radio address at the weekend, Obama raised the spectre of double-digit unemployment and a massive erosion of family incomes if Congress did not act on the bill.
Obama was to meet later this week with Republican leaders hostile to the bill. The lower House of Representatives was expected to vote Wednesday on the stimulus, with the Senate to follow later.
European shares surged on Monday however with sharp gains in the banking sector on positive news from British group Barclays, whose share price surged more than 75 percent on unexpectedly strong profit expectations, analysts said.
London closed 3.86 percent higher, Paris added 3.73 percent and Frankfurt climbed 3.54 percent.
US stocks opened narrowly mixed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.25 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged up 0.08 percent.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Help to save jobs
Jan 24, 2009
Source: The Straits Times
Budget 2009
MM: Help to save jobs
Govt measures call for response from banks, employers and landlords
A DAY after the Government unveiled a $20.5 billion package to deal with the downturn, this message rang out to employers, banks and retail landlords: It's your turn to take the help given and do the right thing.
For employers, it means keeping workers on the payroll, now that the Government is pitching in to subsidise wage bills.
For banks, it means lending to companies, now that the Government will bear more risk of the loans defaulting.
And for landlords, it means passing savings from property tax rebates to their shop tenants.
Saving jobs was uppermost on Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's mind, when asked his reaction to this year's Budget.
'The Budget is meant to save jobs,' he told reporters during a visit to the East Coast Park.
'That's the first thing we have to do because there's no better way of fighting this recession than to save jobs.'
He said there was a big question over when the downturn would end.
'We're prepared for all eventualities. It might last one year, two years, may go on to three years. We don't know, but we've got to be prepared for it,' he said.
The lower-income and those out of work or retrenched would need help to get through this rough patch, he noted. The $2.6 billion worth of measures to help them were neither over-generous nor ungenerous, he said.
A key plank of the Budget is a novel $4.5 billion Jobs Credit Scheme through which the Government will pay a portion of employers' wage bill - 12 per cent of the first $2,500 of the monthly wage of Singaporeans and permanent residents.
But the question is whether employers will, in turn, help their workers.
'With the Government doing its part, there is now a great deal of moral responsibility put onto businesses to do their part - keep jobs intact,' said political observer Gillian Koh from the Institute of Policy Studies.
Mr Koh Juan Kiat, executive director of the Singapore National Employers' Federation, said the subsidy could mean a 5 to 10 per cent cut in wage costs, which was 'quite significant'. But he felt it was too early to judge how employers will act.
The labour movement was optimistic.
In a statement, labour chief Lim Swee Say and NTUC president John De Payva said that the $20.5 billion 'resilience package' would have a significant impact on workers, companies and the economy.
'This is reflective of the Government's clear commitment and best efforts to save jobs for Singaporeans,' they added.
'It gives us tremendous assurance, encouragement and confidence to stay the path of tripartism, a unique advantage Singapore has over other nations.'
Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Ahmad Magad thinks it will all boil down to companies' cash flow.
'It will undoubtedly save some jobs, especially in bigger organisations which have deeper pockets,' he said.
But for smaller companies, he added, much would depend on how much revenue they can generate.
This is where the second plank of the Budget - access to bank credit - comes in.
The Government introduced a Special Risk Sharing Initiative yesterday which will see it set aside $5.8 billion in capital to take on more risk in bank lending to companies.
Giving details yesterday, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said he hoped banks would now play their part and extend credit to companies that need working capital.
Source: The Straits Times
Budget 2009
MM: Help to save jobs
Govt measures call for response from banks, employers and landlords
A DAY after the Government unveiled a $20.5 billion package to deal with the downturn, this message rang out to employers, banks and retail landlords: It's your turn to take the help given and do the right thing.
For employers, it means keeping workers on the payroll, now that the Government is pitching in to subsidise wage bills.
For banks, it means lending to companies, now that the Government will bear more risk of the loans defaulting.
And for landlords, it means passing savings from property tax rebates to their shop tenants.
Saving jobs was uppermost on Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's mind, when asked his reaction to this year's Budget.
'The Budget is meant to save jobs,' he told reporters during a visit to the East Coast Park.
'That's the first thing we have to do because there's no better way of fighting this recession than to save jobs.'
He said there was a big question over when the downturn would end.
'We're prepared for all eventualities. It might last one year, two years, may go on to three years. We don't know, but we've got to be prepared for it,' he said.
The lower-income and those out of work or retrenched would need help to get through this rough patch, he noted. The $2.6 billion worth of measures to help them were neither over-generous nor ungenerous, he said.
A key plank of the Budget is a novel $4.5 billion Jobs Credit Scheme through which the Government will pay a portion of employers' wage bill - 12 per cent of the first $2,500 of the monthly wage of Singaporeans and permanent residents.
But the question is whether employers will, in turn, help their workers.
'With the Government doing its part, there is now a great deal of moral responsibility put onto businesses to do their part - keep jobs intact,' said political observer Gillian Koh from the Institute of Policy Studies.
Mr Koh Juan Kiat, executive director of the Singapore National Employers' Federation, said the subsidy could mean a 5 to 10 per cent cut in wage costs, which was 'quite significant'. But he felt it was too early to judge how employers will act.
The labour movement was optimistic.
In a statement, labour chief Lim Swee Say and NTUC president John De Payva said that the $20.5 billion 'resilience package' would have a significant impact on workers, companies and the economy.
'This is reflective of the Government's clear commitment and best efforts to save jobs for Singaporeans,' they added.
'It gives us tremendous assurance, encouragement and confidence to stay the path of tripartism, a unique advantage Singapore has over other nations.'
Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC MP Ahmad Magad thinks it will all boil down to companies' cash flow.
'It will undoubtedly save some jobs, especially in bigger organisations which have deeper pockets,' he said.
But for smaller companies, he added, much would depend on how much revenue they can generate.
This is where the second plank of the Budget - access to bank credit - comes in.
The Government introduced a Special Risk Sharing Initiative yesterday which will see it set aside $5.8 billion in capital to take on more risk in bank lending to companies.
Giving details yesterday, Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said he hoped banks would now play their part and extend credit to companies that need working capital.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
More spending on education
Jan 22, 2009
Source: The Straits Times
Singapore Budget 2009
DESPITE the recession, the Government will upgrade both the 'hardware' and 'software' of the education system, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Friday afternoon.
The Education Ministry (MOE) will hire more teachers and enhance the quality of the teaching force.
It will also bring in 'many others' to schools to collaborate with teachers to give each child better attention, said Mr Tharman, without elaborating.
On the hardware part, the MOE will provide better facilities for an 'all-round education' in every school and accelerate some projects like the roll-out of indoor sports halls.
The Government expects to spend an average of $9,200 per student each year over the next five years. This is an increase of about 60% compared to the previous five years, he added.
Source: The Straits Times
Singapore Budget 2009
DESPITE the recession, the Government will upgrade both the 'hardware' and 'software' of the education system, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Friday afternoon.
The Education Ministry (MOE) will hire more teachers and enhance the quality of the teaching force.
It will also bring in 'many others' to schools to collaborate with teachers to give each child better attention, said Mr Tharman, without elaborating.
On the hardware part, the MOE will provide better facilities for an 'all-round education' in every school and accelerate some projects like the roll-out of indoor sports halls.
The Government expects to spend an average of $9,200 per student each year over the next five years. This is an increase of about 60% compared to the previous five years, he added.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Asia's economies reeling
Jan 22, 2009
Source: The Straits Times / AFP
BEIJING - ASIA'S major economies reported a slew of gloomy news on Thursday showing the global crisis was hitting harder, as export-dependent nations feel the pinch from the worldwide slowdown.
China's economy slowed sharply in the final quarter of 2008 to just 6.8 per cent as thousands of factories that sold to overseas markets shut, pulling the full-year growth figure down to 9.0 per cent, official data showed.
South Korea said its economy was in the worst shape since the East Asian financial crisis a decade ago, following a 5.6-per cent contraction quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of last year.
Japan meanwhile announced a 35 per cent plunge in exports in December as consumers worldwide tightened their belts even more, driving Asia's biggest economy further into recession.
'Exports tumbled so much that you cannot believe your eyes,' said Naoki Murakami, chief economist at Monex Securities in Japan.
The three nations have the biggest economies in Asia, and the data reflected similar gloom across the rest of the region.
National Australia Bank group chief economist Alan Oster described Asia's economic health as 'in a word, poor - and decelerating quickly.
'One of the big problems is when we look at industrial production and GDP across the region, we see quite rapid declines,' Mr Oster told AFP.
Many of the region's national economies were 'trade-exposed' and faced growing problems as global fortunes declined, he said.
'We broadly see the global economy as going into a period where 2009 looks like its going to be the worst year since World War II.'
Singapore reported on Wednesday it was facing its worst-ever recession after the economy contracted by 16.9 per cent in the final quarter, its biggest fall on record.
In China, as many as six million people from the countryside have lost their jobs in the cities because of the economic crisis, the National Bureau of Statistics said as it released the economic data for 2008.
Many of these rural migrants worked in factories that sold products overseas, and the bureau's announcement confirmed the growing problem facing China as export markets evaporate.
'The international financial crisis is deepening and spreading with a continuing negative impact on the domestic economy,' said Ma Jiantang, the head of the statistics bureau.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had already warned this week that 2009 would be 'the most difficult year for China's economic development so far this century'.
Economists said the latest data showed it would be extremely difficult for China economy to grow this year by 8.0 per cent, a rate considered by many to be a minimum to maintain employment at a level that ensures social stability.
In South Korea, the government could not hide its shock at how quickly its economy was falling apart.
'We have forecast a bleak economic outlook but things are getting worse faster than has been expected,' Vice Finance Minister Hur Kyung-Wook told reporters.
Year-on-year, the economy shrank 3.4 per cent in the fourth quarter compared with 3.8 per cent growth in the third. The annualised figure showed the biggest fall since the fourth quarter of 1998 when it contracted six per cent.
For the whole of 2008, South Korea's economy grew 2.5 percent, sharply down from a five percent expansion in 2007, the central bank said.
The trade data out of Japan led analysts to predict that the economy there would suffer its worst performance since 1974 in the fourth quarter of 2008.
'It's inevitable that we will see a 10 per cent or steeper drop,' said Hiroshi Watanabe, an economist at Daiwa Institute of Research. -- AFP
Source: The Straits Times / AFP
BEIJING - ASIA'S major economies reported a slew of gloomy news on Thursday showing the global crisis was hitting harder, as export-dependent nations feel the pinch from the worldwide slowdown.
China's economy slowed sharply in the final quarter of 2008 to just 6.8 per cent as thousands of factories that sold to overseas markets shut, pulling the full-year growth figure down to 9.0 per cent, official data showed.
South Korea said its economy was in the worst shape since the East Asian financial crisis a decade ago, following a 5.6-per cent contraction quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of last year.
Japan meanwhile announced a 35 per cent plunge in exports in December as consumers worldwide tightened their belts even more, driving Asia's biggest economy further into recession.
'Exports tumbled so much that you cannot believe your eyes,' said Naoki Murakami, chief economist at Monex Securities in Japan.
The three nations have the biggest economies in Asia, and the data reflected similar gloom across the rest of the region.
National Australia Bank group chief economist Alan Oster described Asia's economic health as 'in a word, poor - and decelerating quickly.
'One of the big problems is when we look at industrial production and GDP across the region, we see quite rapid declines,' Mr Oster told AFP.
Many of the region's national economies were 'trade-exposed' and faced growing problems as global fortunes declined, he said.
'We broadly see the global economy as going into a period where 2009 looks like its going to be the worst year since World War II.'
Singapore reported on Wednesday it was facing its worst-ever recession after the economy contracted by 16.9 per cent in the final quarter, its biggest fall on record.
In China, as many as six million people from the countryside have lost their jobs in the cities because of the economic crisis, the National Bureau of Statistics said as it released the economic data for 2008.
Many of these rural migrants worked in factories that sold products overseas, and the bureau's announcement confirmed the growing problem facing China as export markets evaporate.
'The international financial crisis is deepening and spreading with a continuing negative impact on the domestic economy,' said Ma Jiantang, the head of the statistics bureau.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had already warned this week that 2009 would be 'the most difficult year for China's economic development so far this century'.
Economists said the latest data showed it would be extremely difficult for China economy to grow this year by 8.0 per cent, a rate considered by many to be a minimum to maintain employment at a level that ensures social stability.
In South Korea, the government could not hide its shock at how quickly its economy was falling apart.
'We have forecast a bleak economic outlook but things are getting worse faster than has been expected,' Vice Finance Minister Hur Kyung-Wook told reporters.
Year-on-year, the economy shrank 3.4 per cent in the fourth quarter compared with 3.8 per cent growth in the third. The annualised figure showed the biggest fall since the fourth quarter of 1998 when it contracted six per cent.
For the whole of 2008, South Korea's economy grew 2.5 percent, sharply down from a five percent expansion in 2007, the central bank said.
The trade data out of Japan led analysts to predict that the economy there would suffer its worst performance since 1974 in the fourth quarter of 2008.
'It's inevitable that we will see a 10 per cent or steeper drop,' said Hiroshi Watanabe, an economist at Daiwa Institute of Research. -- AFP
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