1 IMF chief sees Grexit a possibility (Helena Smith
& Heather Stewart in The Guardian) The head of the International Monetary
Fund has warned that a Greek exit from the eurozone is a “possibility” as debt
talks reach a critical stage.
Christine Lagarde said a deal with Athens was
unlikely to be reached over the next few days, as the indebted country strives
to meet a 5 June deadline for a €305m (£218m) payment to the IMF. The IMF managing
director said: “A Greek exit is a possibility.” Lagarde added that such a step
would “not be a walk in the park”, but would “probably not” mean the end of the
euro.
Her comments came as Athens’ lead negotiator
admitted Greece required intervention at the highest political level in Europe
in order to seal an agreement after acknowledging that ongoing negotiations in
Brussels would not achieve a final deal. Greek ministers have admitted next
week’s €305m payment cannot be met without securing a deal to release the
€7.2bn of loans outstanding on the country’s current bailout programme.
The IMF is said to be insisting that Athens must be
offered debt relief if its future repayments are to be manageable, but that
would mean lenders, including the European Central Bank, writing off some of
the Greek debts they own. That proposal is being resisted by other members of
what was known as the creditors’ “troika” of the IMF, the EU and the ECB.
2 Why sponsors aren’t tougher on Fifa (Robert Peston
on BBC) The Fifa scandal is an "absolute disaster" for the multinationals
who sponsor it - because they cannot escape taint from the perceived lapses of
football's supreme governing body. So why aren't these huge and powerful global
companies doing what the UK culture secretary John Whittingdale has asked, and
following the lead of Visa - which said it would review its sponsorship deal if
Fifa does not clean up its act?
Well, part of the answer is implicit even in the
less mild sabre-rattling of Visa. Because it is striking that even Visa only
said it might review its commercial relationship with Fifa, not that it was
doing so. The point, according to well-placed executives, is that Coca Cola,
Hyundai, Budweiser, McDonald's, Gazprom and Visa (among others) have signed
legally binding contracts.
So they may not be able to get out of the contracts
without paying spectacular damages - given that they are each believed to be
paying Fifa up to $200m (£130m) over four years for the marketing opportunities
associated with the World Cup. There is another point, though, which is that
the World Cup is "the best sponsorship opportunity on the planet".
How so? Well, association football is arguably the
world's most global sport - though the Olympics and Formula One also have
serious worldwide reach. And the World Cup allows the sponsors to get their
names in front of hundreds of millions of consumers, both in the rich West and
in the faster-growing economies of Asia and South America.
So, although all the sponsors want to be seen to be
doing the "right thing" by putting pressure on Fifa to reform, they
are fearful that if they completely incinerate their relationships with the
World Cup, they may simply be providing a precious and rare marketing
opportunity to their bitterest rivals.
3 Tough times for Singapore ornamental fish biz
(Jessica Lim in Straits Times) Things are not looking pretty for Singapore's
ornamental fish business. The Republic might still be the world's largest
exporter of ornamental fish like mollies, guppies, goldfish and koi, but the
amount of fish exported has fallen to levels similar to those a decade ago.
Major
exporters here point to a strong Singapore dollar, falling global demand, high
operating costs and uncertainty over the lease of their premises. The latest UN
Comtrade statistics showed that firms here exported about $56 million worth of
fish in 2013. This is a dip from 2012, when Singapore exported $62 million
worth of ornamental fish, and is even lower than the $60 million in 2009 - in
the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Figures peaked at $69 million in
2008.
Export
figures for 2013 were comparable to the $54 million worth of fish exported in
2005. Sanyo Aquarium managing director William Chew had 20 per cent less
turnover last year than in 2013. Mr Chew said ornamental fish farms here
"are afraid to invest". They can set up only in locations approved by
the Government, and such land is leased out for a limited number of years.
Dr Maliki Osman, Minister of State for National
Development, said it was critical that firms find ways to raise productivity. He
said the ministry is exploring the possibility of developing a multi-storey
building for flatted farming, like a flatted factory, a move he called a
"game changer".
But at least one company has thrown in the towel. Mr
Fong Ching Loon, 78, owner of Pisces Tropica and chairman of the Singapore
Aquarium Fish Exporters' Association, shut his firm in January despite having paid
rent until 2020 and spending $2 million to relocate in 2010. "We make a
smaller loss closing down than remaining open," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment