berlin are anything to go by many are up to their necks
at the gruene woche green week fair in berlin which attracts
visitors annually and which wrapped up sunday the talk was of battle for
survival as the discounters wage an aggressive price war
the five main discount supermarkets aldi lidl netto penny and norma which
together account for percent of germany retail food market have launched
price cutting bonanzas across their range since january
the head of the federation representing the german food industry peter feller
said his members were suffering from the enormous purchasing power that the no
frills sector is able to bring to bear
percent of our members are small and medium sized businesses they are the
ones who pick up the bill he told afp on the sidelines of the fair
and the trend towards stack em high sell em cheap outlets appears to be
particularly german trait consumers in germany spend mere percent of their
household budget on food one of the lowest percentages in europe
study by consumer research group gfk found that percent of germans
shop at least once week at budget supermarket
people are not so spendthrift when it comes to other ways to spend their money
as seen in the incongruous sight of the car parks of discount supermarkets being
chock block with expensive cars
germany is the only country where you wear armani and go to aldi the saying
goes
we are worried because german consumers do not seem to understand that if they
want to eat well they need to pay decent price said feller
michael lohse president of the german farmers federation said the french
and the italians have relationship with food that is all about enjoyment
freshness and loyalty to local products
in germany people go straight for the low cost option it completely the
wrong way of doing things he complained
then we encourage our children to do the same and wonder why they are not
eating healthily he added
but the price war between the discounters continues unabated with several shops
slashing the price for breakfast cereals on the eve of the gruene woche which
lohse described as provocation
feller said the downward spiral of more vicious price wars leading to further
pain for producers was not about to end any time soon
we still haven hit the bottom don know if we ll get there in or
he said
the crisis in the food industry has begun to concern politicians in germany as
well
speaking at the fair agriculture minister ilse aigner said she was extremely
worried at the relentless competition between the discounters which could
weigh on the quality of food and therefore harm consumers
and it is politicians and regulators that hold the hope for the industry the
government has said it intends to launch probe into non competitive practices
in several sectors of the economy
could imagine that the food industry would be one of the sectors probed and
we will see if it stands up in terms of competition said feller
football fury seek peace talks with snubbed fowler
melbourne jan afp
australian league club north queensland fury said sunday they will meet with
robbie fowler on monday after the former england international sat out weekend
game
the liverpool great refused to play in the home draw against brisbane roar
after being informed by the club scottish coach ian ferguson that he would be
starting the match on the substitutes bench
fowler who is in the middle of two year contract watched the match with
one of his children in the stands amid speculation that he may be finished at
the club in its debut league season
fury chairman don matheson on sunday dismissed the speculation but said he
planned to hold clear the air talks with the striker
although robbie has been fantastic for the club we re not one man team
matheson told reporters
he here to play football he didn play last night for reasons between him
and the coach
ll talk to him tomorrow and it will be sorted out
former glasgow rangers midfielder ferguson said he wanted change in playing
formation against brisbane with dutchman dyron daal starting as lone striker
and fowler to be brought off the bench as an impact player late in the second
half
all it was wanted to change things ve done that and robbie didn want to
sit on the bench ferguson said
we ve got few issues and we ll sort that out on monday and that it
ultimately it will be fowler decision about his future at the club it
really up to robbie
the former liverpool star is the highest profile signing in the five years of
the league and is playing club football outside england for the first time
since he finished as the fourth highest all time scorer with goals in the
premier league
saturday draw left the fury five points outside finals berth with three
matches to play
nigerian leader absence stalls oil reforms
lagos jan afp
long awaited reforms to regulate nigeria oil sector are among raft of
ambitious government projects which have been stalled by the protracted absence
of ailing president umaru yar adua
for over year multinational oil giants and nigerian officials have been locked
in standoff over the reforms contained in the petroleum industry bill pib
which will dictate where billions of investment dollars will be spent
objections by the oil companies some of which have been operating in nigeria
for five decades have forced changes to the bill but these require yar adua
approval before they can be incorporated into the proposed law
my concern at this time is over the completion of that legislative process
junior oil minister odein ajumogobia told afp
imagine that this would be the oil firms primary concern too
executive power in nigeria is centred on the presidency
but the president has been receiving treatment for heart condition in saudi
arabian hospital for over two months and the government has been unable to say
when he will be well enough to return
his protracted absence has left potential investments hanging experts say
iocs international oil companies can take technical risks but hate commercial
risks one expert told afp on condition of anonymity
nobody will invest there will be no investment not only shell but total
exxon chevron the industry is totally aligned on this particular issue
the bill plans to transform existing joint ventures between international oil
giants and the corruption ridden state oil firm into autonomous entities in
bid to promote transparency and raise tax revenue from foreign oil majors
the bill is currently in the second reading stage in the senate and house of
representatives in two different forms once it goes through the third stages
the texts from the two chambers of parliament will have to be reconciled
the government acknowledges there are differences still to be ironed out with
the oil majors and one industry source told afp the new law could be adopted at
the best in february and has to be approved before year end
delays in reforms to the crucial oil sector can only stall the economic growth
prospects for the world eight biggest crude exporter which relies on oil for
more than percent of its foreign exchange earnings
gbenga famoriyo lagos economist said the absence of the president means it
will definitely suffer lot of delay and inaction
the protracted uncertainty over the president health is also threatening to
undo progress made during peace talks in the volatile and oil rich niger delta
region where yar adua had launched peace overtures to rebels
on the oil front multinationals already operating in nigeria are fearing the
worst as chinese companies try to get foothold in the sector
with the future taxation regime risking to slash by half capital investment
levels over years they say the growth of oil operations will be curbed
the key determining factor will be what does the nigerian government do with
its proposed legislation changes said an industry executive
as long as there is commercial uncertainty our willingness to invest will be
curtailed the executive said
for now it is wait and see game in the high stakes sector
the money we re planning to invest worldwide will go to the best opportunity
if nigeria is good opportunity because it fiscally sound we will invest
here said the chief executive of an oil major
in the current confusion there have been rumours that british dutch oil giant
shell may be planning to pull out of some onshore operations in nigeria
while stressing nigeria importance shell chief executive peter voser earlier
this month played down its significance to the company global activities
nigeria is still heartland for shell but we no longer depend on it for our
growth aspirations this gives us more flexibility in deciding when and how to
develop oil and gas resources in nigeria he said
football fury seek peace talks with snubbed fowler
melbourne jan afp
australian league club north queensland fury said sunday they will meet with
robbie fowler on monday after the former england international sat out weekend
game
the liverpool great refused to play in the home draw against brisbane roar
after being informed by the club scottish coach ian ferguson that he would be
starting the match on the substitutes bench
fowler who is in the middle of two year contract watched the match with
one of his children in the stands amid speculation that he may be finished at
the club in its debut league season
fury chairman don matheson on sunday dismissed the speculation but said he
planned to hold clear the air talks with the striker
although robbie has been fantastic for the club we re not one man team
matheson told reporters
he here to play football he didn play last night for reasons between him
and the coach
ll talk to him tomorrow and it will be sorted out
former glasgow rangers midfielder ferguson said he wanted change in playing
formation against brisbane with dutchman dyron daal starting as lone striker
and fowler to be brought off the bench as an impact player late in the second
half
all it was wanted to change things ve done that and robbie didn want to
sit on the bench ferguson said
we ve got few issues and we ll sort that out on monday and that it
ultimately it will be fowler decision about his future at the club it
really up to robbie
the former liverpool star is the highest profile signing in the five years of
the league and is playing club football outside england for the first time
since he finished as the fourth highest all time scorer with goals in the
premier league
saturday draw left the fury five points outside finals berth with three
matches to play
cricket bangladesh bat against india in second test
dhaka jan afp
bangladesh captain shakib al hasan won the toss and elected to bat in the second
and final cricket test against india here on sunday
india made four changes from the side that won the first test in chittagong by
runs on thursday
skipper mahendra singh dhoni and leading spinner harbhajan singh who both
missed the previous test due to injuries returned in place of dinesh karthik
and the injured shanthakumaran sreesanth
murali vijay came in for another injured batsman venkatsai laxman while left
arm slow bowler pragyan ojha was preferred to leg spinner amit mishra
the hosts made one change replacing shahriar nafees with junaid siddique
bangladesh shakib al hasan capt mushfiqur rahim tamim iqbal imrul kayes
mohammad ashraful raqibul hasan mohammad mahmudullah junaid siddique
shahadat hossain rubel hossain shafiul islam
india mahendra singh dhoni capt virender sehwag gautam gambhir rahul
dravid sachin tendulkar murali vijay yuvraj singh zaheer khan pragyan ojha
harbhajan singh ishant sharma
umpires billy bowden nzl and marais erasmus rsa
tv umpire sharfuddoula shahid ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
fed tipped to hold its course as clock runs on stimulus
washington jan afp
the us federal reserve is expected to signal steady policy course at its
upcoming meeting in an effort to keep fragile economic recovery on track
analysts say
the central bank opens two day policy meeting tuesday that could be
overshadowed by the drama surrounding fed chairman ben bernanke reappointment
to second term
the federal open market committee is likely to keep the federal funds base rate
at range of zero to percent which has been in place for more than year
as part of plan to revive economic activity
fed members certainly are not going to send any signal that interest rates are
going up said sung won sohn economist at california state university
the only thing they are going to do is to point out that growth is continuing
and there is some momentum based on that we can surmise the fed would have to
raise interest rates sooner or later
many economists believe the fed will keep the ultralow rates into the second
half of or possibly into
but questions remain on the fed plans to wind down series of special
programs aimed at pumping more than one trillion dollars into the financial
system initiatives set to expire in the coming months
sohn said he has concerns about what will happen to the mortgage market and the
overall economy if the fed holds to its schedule of ending purchases of
mortgage backed securities at the end of march
without the support of the fed the mortgage market would essentially fall
apart sohn said
they said they would conclude their purchases by the end of march but think
there is good chance they would have to extend it for fear the mortgage market
would falter
but george mokrzan senior economist at huntington national bank said he
believes the fed will be able to withdraw support from the mortgage market as
the economy heals
there has been an enormous price correction and housing prices have come back
into line with longer term economic fundamentals he said
once the fed stops pumping money into the market by buying mortgage securities
mokrzan said this will probably lead to an initial rise in rates on mortgage
backed securities but think there should be good market appetite for bonds
as those rates rise
mokrzan said that allowing the special liquidity programs to end is the first
step toward normalizing monetary policy and may suggest the economy is on the
mend
even without changes in interest rates this is big change in monetary
policy he said
as for any movement on rates mokrzan said it is too soon to ponder
think the fed will acknowledge the improvement in the economy but say more
needs to improve before they will tighten monetary policy
for some analysts more significant than the fomc is bernanke confirmation for
second term which has been thrown into doubt with key senate democrats
joining the opposition to the fed chief
think what is going on now is that politicians feel that fed bashing and bank
bashing is the way to get back into favor with the american voters said
nariman behravesh chief economist at ihs global insight
if he is not reappointed think the markets would have fit the stock
markets would take hit the bond market would take hit the dollar would
take hit
if bernanke is not confirmed and his term expires january behravesh said the
uncertainty would weigh on markets
this is time when there is still fair amount of uncertainty but one area of
certainty is that there is steady hand on the helm at the federal reserve he
said
people feel there is an exit strategy and that the fed has handle on risks on
both sides you would greatly increase the uncertainty
cricket bangladesh bat against india in second test
dhaka jan afp
bangladesh captain shakib al hasan won the toss and elected to bat in the second
and final cricket test against india here on sunday
india made four changes from the side that won the first test in chittagong by
runs on thursday
skipper mahendra singh dhoni and leading spinner harbhajan singh who both
missed the previous test due to injuries returned in place of dinesh karthik
and the injured shanthakumaran sreesanth
murali vijay came in for another injured batsman venkatsai laxman while left
arm slow bowler pragyan ojha was preferred to leg spinner amit mishra
the hosts made one change replacing shahriar nafees with junaid siddique
bangladesh shakib al hasan capt mushfiqur rahim tamim iqbal imrul kayes
mohammad ashraful raqibul hasan mohammad mahmudullah junaid siddique
shahadat hossain rubel hossain shafiul islam
india mahendra singh dhoni capt virender sehwag gautam gambhir rahul
dravid sachin tendulkar murali vijay yuvraj singh zaheer khan pragyan ojha
harbhajan singh ishant sharma
umpires billy bowden nzl and marais erasmus rsa
tv umpire sharfuddoula shahid ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
volcker back in obama crackdown on us banks
washington jan afp
the crackdown on us banks announced by president barack obama marks comeback
for paul volcker the economic adviser whose ideas forged the battle plan
though volcker few weeks ago murmured that his opinions were only one voice
obama put him front and center for praise as he announced the plan thursday
flanked by the former central bank chief
proposing simple and common sense reform which we re calling the
volcker rule after this tall guy behind me the president said
the volcker rule limits the size and scope of financial institutions and
prohibits banks that engage in commercial activities such as holding customer
savings and deposits from proprietary trading making investments on their
own behalf
the year old former federal reserve chairman supported obama
during his democratic bid for the presidency and subsequently was tapped to head
the president economic recovery advisory board an independent nonpartisan
body created to tackle the worst recession in decades
but volcker who tamed soaring inflation in the had pleaded in vain for
months for government action to stop commercial banks from engaging in so called
prop trading
in an interview published friday on wall street journal blog volcker said he
was not surprised by the president choice
we discussed this proposal for year volcker said adding that he
always believed that obama was sympathetic to his point of view the online
article said
he could have fooled us the report said
in october the new york times dedicated lengthy article to his failure to
capture obama ear which inclined toward the white house official teams of
advisers and particularly listened to his top economic adviser larry summers
along with then treasury secretary robert rubin whose deputy he was in
before succeeding him summers is one of the architects of financial
deregulation under former democratic president bill clinton
that deregulation was capped in with the congressional repeal of
depression era law to accommodate banking giant citigroup born of the merger of
the bank citicorp and insurance titan travelers in the prior year
rubin who advised obama during his white house campaign for many years had
been travelers special advisor and board member
the glass steagall act prohibited commercial banks from underwriting
corporate securities or acting as brokerages
volcker is seeking new version of the law but until just recently he had
seemed to be voice in the desert facing countervailing winds from summers his
former protege treasury secretary timothy geithner and other obama economic
counselors
the new york times article highlighted that volcker disagreement with the
obama people on whether to restore some version of glass steagall appears to
have contributed to published reports that his influence in the administration
is fading and that he is rarely if ever in the small washington office assigned
to him
as recently as few weeks ago volcker said in businessweek interview the
president has heard my arguments number of times but he added am one
voice in the conversation and there are others
ultimately he told the magazine he the president he decides
obama finally listened
some observers like economist peter morici university of maryland professor
said that obama change of heart appeared to occur amid falling public approval
ratings as americans grow more critical about his handling of economic policy
pressure for bank reforms to rise at davos meet
zurich jan afp
pressure for bank reforms is set to grow at gathering of the world elite at
davos this week shortly after us president barack obama set the stage with an
offensive against wall street excesses
however emboldened by growing economic recovery bankers who were
conspicuously missing from last year world economic forum meeting in the swiss
mountain resort are set to fight back in vocal fashion experts said
excessive risk taking by the banking industry has been cited as one of the
causes of the recent financial and economic crises and regulators have been
tasked by top politicians to draw up new rules to rein the banks in
but as the world slowly emerges from recession the worst since the great
depression opposing voices from banks on these new rules are growing louder
the lobbying is getting very strong and the political will can be diluted
quickly warned cedric tille professor of economics at the graduate institute
for international and development studies in geneva
it urgent to put these reforms in place said tille former economist at
the federal reserve bank of new york
proponents of the reform would find an ally in obama who announced plans on
thursday to prevent banks or financial institutions in the united states from
owning investing in or sponsoring hedge fund or private equity funds
the new rules would force firms to choose between activities such as trading in
stocks and sometimes risky financial instruments for their own benefit and
traditional activities like making loans and collecting deposits
the group of leading developed and emerging economies has also asked
for new rules to clean up the sector with more stringent requirements on
capitalisation and debt ratios due to be introduced by the end of
rainer skierka an analyst at bank sarasin noted that the new rules were
unpopular since they could generate costs and cut the profit margins of banks
in addition banks would be required to set aside more money as capital
reducing the funds they could use for investment to generate better returns
banks are doing intense lobbying as the new demands on capital reduces their
profits said tille
bankers are likely to be more vocal in their lobbying against the reforms said
nariman behravesh chief economist at ihs global insight
lot of bankers can wait to get out of the control of governments some feel
so stifled he said
they are going to do everything they can to resist the reforms they will be
more vocal this year he added
bankers and finance ministers are to sit together on wednesday to discuss
structural deficiencies that persist in the regulation of systemic financial
risk according to programme of the davos meeting circulated by organisers
on saturday the focus will be on how the largest financial institutions in the
world should be regulated
central bankers like the european central bank jean claude trichet as well as
egypt finance minister youssef boutros ghali and french economy minister
christine lagarde are expected to pile on the pressure analysts said
regulators have cautioned that reining in banks is becoming key issue
particularly now that governments have shown that they were willing to bail out
ailing banks in financial crisis
before the crisis you didn know how states were going to behave in the event
of crisis switzerland central bank chief jean pierre roth observed
recently before he retired
after the crisis the head of major bank knows that in case of major crisis
in the future he can count on state backing and that the parameter that has
changed fundamentally
the pre crisis ambiguity had broadly encouraged greater prudence he added
roth cautioned that its loss now posed fundamental problem hence the need
for regulation to take over
tense peace reigns as sri lanka heads to polls
colombo jan afp
war scarred sri lanka holds peace time presidential election this week after
bitter and highly personal campaign between the architects of the crushing of an
almost four decade long insurgency
president mahinda rajapakse will face his former army chief sarath fonseka on
tuesday in an intriguing contest between two men who were victorious allies on
the battlefield last year but are now sworn enemies at the ballot box
there are no reliable opinion polls in the country and political observers say
the election is too close to call both camps believe they can claim majority
in the voting by the million strong electorate
rajapakse and fonseka wiped out the tamil tiger rebels in may last year ending
their year violent struggle for tamil homeland that left between and
people dead according to un estimates
we are having the first presidential election without the tigers calling the
shots said moderate tamil politician dharmalingam sithadthan there could be
residual tiger influence but they no longer pose threat
there is tension in colombo however after fonseka warned saturday of violence
and vote rigging amid claims from the opposition that the army might stage
coup in support of rajapakse if the president loses
in the run up to the poll police say at least four people have been killed and
hundreds wounded in clashes between the factions the house of an influential
opposition figure was bombed on friday
rajapakse nationalist from the majority sinhalese ethnic group called
tuesday vote after only four years of his six year mandate in bid to
harness groundswell of support after the victory over the tigers
fonseka political novice whose popularity and influence also rose with
the military victory dashed rajapakse hopes of an easy ride back to power by
deciding to run as an opposition candidate
the retired four star general accuses the president of sidelining him after the
war and making false accusations that he was plotting coup
both men remain dogged by allegations of war crimes and whoever eventually
triumphs will have to contend with continuing pressure from the united nations
and western nations to submit to probe
the united nations says tamil civilians may have died in the final months
of the fighting though the government denies this independent journalists were
not given access to the war zone
fonseka has said he is willing to face scrutiny for his role in the war but
rajapakse has vowed he will not allow any of his men to be tried
in curious twist the minority tamils on whose behalf the tigers waged their
war of suicide bombings and assassinations might swing the final result if the
two candidates split the sinhalese vote equally
tamils could decide the next president said political analyst victor ivan of
the ravaya weekly in colombo
rights groups regularly accuse rajapakse of stifling free speech perverting the
judiciary and encouraging corruption through his network of family members in
key government positions
he was also widely criticised by european countries the us and the un for
holding tamil civilians in restricted camps until the end of last year
people in sri lanka are tired of the rule of the gun and long for the rule of
law amnesty international yolanda foster said
people have lost faith in the justice system and there has been chilling
effect on freedom of expression and association in the country
the tone of the campaign has been bitter and highly personal throughout
fonseka called rajapakse cardboard king in his closing campaign speech on
saturday and his team released photograph of the president eldest son namal
with tamil rebel leader at london nightclub
the ruling party have portrayed fonseka as future dictator with some even
comparing him to idi amin the notoriously brutal ugandan military leader
there is no informed debate on any of the pressing issues said political
analyst ivan what we are seeing is personality clash and slanging match
davos elite to grapple with bank reforms haiti
geneva jan afp
financial reforms climate talks and haiti reconstruction are set to dominate
the agenda of the world elites heading up to the swiss mountain resort of
davos this week for their annual meeting
and with the global economy showing signs of pick up participants expect the
mood to be lighter than the gloom experienced year ago
but the climate is far from the celebration that might be expected for
gathering that is commemorating its th anniversary
klaus schwab the founder and chair of the world economic forum that organises
the yearly meetings of top officials executives and experts set the tone for
the meeting with warning that another crisis may be looming
we have tendency to look at the stock exchanges to look at the very modest
growth figures of the economy and to feel the world overall has come back
schwab said
let not forget the world has fundamentally changed
we feel that this is the danger to move from financial crisis in an
economic crisis which we experienced in into social crisis in and
the following years
experts note that the global recovery remains fragile unemployment is high and
government budget deficits are worryingly wide
if there was immense optimism two years ago and immense pessimism year ago
this year it will be much more even people will be waiting to see what is
likely to happen said aron cramer who heads the non government group business
for social responsibility
french president nicolas sarkozy champion of re regulation has been
invited to deliver the opening speech of the meeting which is to be attended by
top politicians captains of industries and civil society leaders
central bankers ranging from the european central bank jean claude trichet to
central bank of mexico agustin carstens and finance ministers such as egypt
youssef boutros ghali and south africa pravin gordhan are also scheduled to be
out in force to discuss financial reform
however nariman behravesh chief economist at ihs global insight said the
fears of an economic meltdown that dominated last year meet have subsided
along with that the pressure for swift reforms is also receding
is this the new world or is this business as usual would say it is neither
it certainly not business as usual because some things have changed there is
some financial regulation but would say not major change
it will be modest redesign not an ambitious redesign said behravesh
bankers who are resisting the reforms are also expected to be lot more vocal
this time round compared to last year he added
while bosses from us banks were conspicuously missing in the midst of the crisis
last year they are back this year
however unlike corporate america the us government is for the second year
running sending bare minimum of officials
larry summers barack obama top economic advisor is the lone top official
from the administration scheduled to attend
