Economic Update by RHB - 12 August 2010

Global economy: Resilient but slowing economic growth. Click here for details.

Strong quakes hit off Indonesia's Papua

JAKARTA | www.reuters.com | Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:20am EDT

A series of quakes struck off Indonesia's Papua province on Wednesday within a few minutes of each other, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, but there were no reports of casualties.

A 6.4 magnitude quake was followed 10 minutes later by a 7.0 magnitude quake, USGS said. A third quake struck a little later, with a magnitude of 6.3.

Indonesia's meteorological agency said the quakes occurred 114 kilometers (70.84 miles) southeast of Biak, in Papua, at a depth of 10 kilometers, and issued a tsunami warning after the second quake.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency's spokesman, Priyadi Kardono, said there were no reports of casualties from the area. Kardono said he was still awaiting updates after the second quake.

BP said that its Tangguh LNG project in Papua was operating normally and was not affected by the quake.

"According to reports, the quakes were felt strongly in Biak, and with the intensity the quakes could cause cracks on the walls of houses and buildings" said Jaya Murjaya, an official at the meteorological agency.

(Reporting by Olivia Rondonuwu and Muklis Ali; Editing by Sara Webb and Sanjeev Miglani)

15th Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur (7-8 June 2010)

· US$80/barrel the new normal

· PM acknowledged oil & gas industry’s significant contribution to the country’s economy… cautioned that the country is not necessarily well past the danger zone and the downside risks in the industry should not be downplayed

· In light of the developments at the Gulf, the industry can expect a fundamental shift in policies and regulations in relation to “green energy”. Oil & gas companies now have to anticipate potential environmental criticism by integrating safe and sustainable development initiatives into their strategies

· Pace of investment remains slow and industry cost remains high

Read analyst report from CIMB Research and Maybank IB research

Highlights of the 10th Malaysia Plan (15 June 2010)

Following are the highlights of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's speech when tabling the Tenth Malaysia Plan (10MP) at the Dewan Rakyat:

* Theme: Towards Economic Prosperity and Social Justice
* The 10MP (2011-2015) is critical for the continuation of the national agenda to realise Vision 2020

Read more »

Hire purchase interest rates are up by about 0.25%!

June 2, 2010 at 2:11 pm By Paul Tan 

According to a report by StarBiz, hire purchase interest rates have gone up by about a quarter of a percent early this week. An EON Bank officer told the StarBiz reporter that hire-purchase loans are now at the following rates:

The previous rates were between 3.25% to 3.5% for non-national cars and between 3.75% to 4% for national cars. These rates are a good 1% higher than that of the rates not too long ago where you could get a loan for a new non-national car for 2.8%. For example, taking a loan from Public Bank for BMW 5 series E39 two years ago for just 3.75% and that’s for a (then) 11 year old non-national European marque. Another case buying the same model of E39 last year and paying nearly 6% of interest!

A 1% hike could cost a user an extra installment amount of between RM50 to RM100 a month, with the upper end not seeming like a significantly amount when you are taking a loan for over RM100,000 and paying over RM1,500 a month although it is still money.