Russia keen...

The island nation saw a foreign outflow of Rs.64.2 billion (US$420.3 million) from government securities in the first quarter. But that has more than reversed since then, with net inflows of Rs.81.5 billion. REUTERS:

At the start of talks in August, Lighthizer said NAFTA must undergo wholesale revision to fulfill Trump’s goal of reducing bilateral trade imbalances and protecting American jobs.

But his Canadian and Mexican counterparts made clear they view the free trade deal as a success and only want to see it modernized and improved.

All of the parties said they hoped to get an accord by year’s end.

But if they do not show progress in this upcoming round the prospects of reaching a deal could be threatened by campaigning for Mexico’s July 2018 presidential elections and the November 2018 US midterms.

“It will be very difficult for the Mexican authorities to negotiate when the elections are in full swing,” explained Daniel Kerner, head of Eurasia’s Latin America group.

Carlo Dade, a senior fellow in global studies at the University of Ottawa, commented: “Because the NAFTA partners know each other, we all expected negotiations to be accelerated.”

“But the (proposed) timeline was never going to work,” he said, predicting negotiations will drag into 2019.

“You can either do it quickly or do it deeply. You can’t do both, unless the other trading partners simply roll over. And nobody thinks Canada and Mexico aren’t going to push back.”

There are numerous touchy subjects on the table at the NAFTA talks, including America’s demands to scrap its dispute resolution mechanism and change the rules of origin for the auto sector to require a certain percentage of cars’ components be built in the US to remain duty-free.

Canada is also facing pressure over its dairy and poultry supply management.

“The battle is partially at the negotiating table but also out in the congressional districts,” said Dade, noting that both Canada and Mexico lobbied the US Congress hard in advance.

Congress will have the last say on NAFTA, which covers a market of nearly 500 million people.

In the end, if a deal cannot be reached, it would not mean an end to continental trade.

“The strong divisions across the three countries on the key issues is increasing the risk that a deal can’t be reached in the near term,” said KPMG partner Russ Crawford.

“But geography and size of the respective markets -- and inertia -- will ensure trade flows within North America remain an attractive proposition,” he said.

The end of preferential access to the US market would instead push Canada and Mexico to diversify their export markets -- including looking to the EU, Asia and BRIC nations.

Despite Hong Kong’s “very strong” credit metrics, S&P said it still faces multiple challenges including sky-high property prices and rising interest rates in the United States, to which the city’s monetary policy is tied.

Chief Asia economist at Union Bancaire Privee Mark Mcfarland said Hong Kong’s downgrade was a “natural step”.

“It has been widely anticipated that S&P would eventually follow the others and that Hong Kong would be dropped a notch too,” he told Bloomberg News.

New York-based S&P on Thursday said a “prolonged period of strong credit growth has increased China’s economic financial risks”, and downgraded the world’s number-two economy from Aa-minus to A-plus -- its first downgrade since 1999.

While the credit growth has fuelled China’s economic expansion and high asset prices, “we believe it has also diminished financial stability to some extent”, the agency said.

Debt-fuelled investment in infrastructure and real estate has underpinned China’s growth for years but Beijing has launched a crackdown amid fears of a potential financial crisis.

China posted better-thanexpected second quarter growth as the economy expanded by 6.9 percent, but analysts have warned that the momentum may not last.

Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded China in May, the first time in almost three decades that the nation’s credit rating was cut.

Telia and its Uzbek subsidiary, Coscom LLC, “have admitted to paying, over many years, more than US$331 million in bribes to an Uzbek government official.”

As part of the multinational case, US authorities charged the companies with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, in what Kim called “one of the largest criminal corporate bribery and corruption resolutions ever.”

In addition to the fines, the company “also agreed to implement rigorous internal controls and cooperate fully with the Department’s ongoing investigation, including its investigation of individuals,” the statement said.

The probes were opened in March 2014 into alleged payments made to an Uzbek firm to obtain a mobile operating license as well as a 26 percent stake in the local operator Ucell.

Telia and Coscom admitted paying approximately US$331 million in bribes to a Uzbek official, who was a close relative of a high-ranking government official and had influence over the body that regulated the telecom industry.

It was the second resolution by a major international telecommunications provider to settle charges of bribery in Uzbekistan.

In February 2016, Amsterdam-based Vimpelcom Limited and its Uzbek subsidiary, Unitel LLC, also admitted to a conspiracy to make more than US$114 million in bribery payments to the same Uzbek government official between 2006 and 2012. That investigation has thus far yielded a combined total of over US$1.76 billion in global fines.

The price of oil has seesawed considerably in the last six months, but this week has traded around the Us$50-perbarrel level, suggesting that the agreement was finally bearing fruit.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, closed at US$56.43 a barrel on Thursday, its highest since February and up 25 percent since June.

“We have every reason to be pleased with the steady progress we have made in our collective efforts to overcome the challenges of the current oil market cycle, which is perhaps the worst of all the previous cycles that we have witnessed in recent times,” OPEC’S secretary general Mohammed Barkindo said at the talks.

Recent market data showing a reduction in a global glut that has depressed oil prices “confirm beyond all reasonable doubt... that the market rebalancing is on course,” the Nigerian said.

Officially, yesterday’s meeting at the headquarters of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries of a six-nation monitoring committee is to review compliance with the accord.

But there was speculation that the gathering might recommend that the deal be extended.

“OPEC members are trying to target a figure of close to US$60 a barrel. We’re not too far away from that,” Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s minister for petroleum resources, told Bloomberg.

“If we get to March (when the deal expires) and find that there’s a need to do more, I think we will.”

The danger, however, is that higher crude prices could help shale oil producers in the United States - outside the deal - to ramp up output and put the market back in surplus.

Okasan Online Securities’ senior strategist Rikiya Takebe added that the “possibility of a hydrogen bomb test by North Korea’s ‘rocket man’ prompted risk-off sentiment” in the currency market.

Investors will be keeping an eye on speeches this weekend by top Fed officials hoping they will give some clues about the Central Bank’s thoughts on interest rates.

Also, eyes will be on Vienna, where oil giants inside and outside OPEC are due to meet and are expected to discuss an ongoing production cut, with some market-watchers suggesting it could be extended.

Shares in firms linked to Apple were also dented after the US titan was hit by tepid reviews for the new Watch Series 3, while there was very little enthusiasm for its new iphone 8, which went on sale yesterday.

The huge queues that have greeted past incarnations of the handset were notably missing around Asia, with fans possibly staying away until the release of the much-hyped iphone X next month.

Japan Display fell 2.4 percent and Alps Electronic was off 2.8 percent in Tokyo, while in Taipei TSMC was down more than one percent. AAC Technologies in Hong Kong shed almost three percent.

Passenger traffic growth in most of the region is in double digits, with Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia among the leaders, Keskar added.

He said 39 percent of all new planes in the next two decades will be destined for Asia, trailed by 21 percent for North America and 19 percent for Europe.

Single-aisle planes favoured by budget airlines, such as Boeing’s 737 MAX and Airbus’ A320, are projected to account for 77 percent of the market share in Southeast Asia, he added.

He said the company remains optimistic despite concerns about overcapacity as Southeast Asian governments build new airports and improve existing ones.

Confirmation of the date comes after parliament in December approved a new Immigration Act, which requires banks to check its accounts and report customers found to be breaking immigration rules to the Home Office.

“This is part of our ongoing work to tackle illegal migration. People who are here legally will be unaffected,” the spokesman said. Earlier legislation prevented migrants illegally in Britain from opening bank accounts, while the new rules go further by tracing accounts opened before the 2014 law and people who have overstayed their visa.

Under the measures the government will be able to apply, without notice, for a court order to freeze the accounts of migrants found to be in Britain illegally. There are exceptions for joint accounts or allowing a person to access funds to cover living expenses and legal costs to appeal the decision.

The Home Office may also order banks to close accounts, apart from those which are overdrawn or shared with those who would be negatively affected.