Asia Pacific

As Korea finds itself dragged into a disastrous vortex of faltering exports, collapsed consumer spending and spiraling debt, government officials appear at a loss on how to prevent the country’s fragile recovery from derailing, The Korea Times reported. But they could do much worse than starting from eliminating corruption and cronyism from the bureaucratic veins, according to a number of economists here. The subduing economy pretty much ensures that President Lee Myung-bak is going out on a whimper.

Cyprus said Monday that it urgently needed European financial aid to boost its banks' capital, a step that would make it the fifth euro-zone economy to seek help from the region's bailout funds, The Wall Street Journal reported. Cyprus Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said the country's need for an international bailout was "exceptionally urgent" in order for it to recapitalize its banks, and that the issue would need to be resolved by the end of the month.

Chinese auto firm Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile has made an improved 5 billion crown ($700 million) bid for bankrupt carmaker Saab, Swedish media reported on Friday, Reuters reported. Daily Svenska Dagbladet quoted Youngman's representative in Sweden saying the Chinese firm had raised its bid for all of Saab's assets from an offer of 3 billion crowns it made in February. "Our revised bid includes all parts of Saab's bankruptcy estate, including the spare parts unit," the paper quoted Johan Nylen, Youngman's representative saying.

A growing number of lawmakers are pushing for greater control over the Bank of Japan, just 14 years after the central bank first won its independence, as a strong yen and runaway deficits darken Japan's economic prospects, The Wall Street Journal reported. The moves come as politicians across the spectrum, and many economists, complain that the BOJ isn't acting aggressively enough to combat the country's persistent deflation, while mammoth borrowing limits the scope of fiscal policy to boost growth.

A slew of recent statistics confirm that China’s growth is slowing at a faster pace than expected, forcing anxious policymakers to debate which levers to pull to revive the economic juggernaut and preserve the ruling Communist Party’s last major pillar of legitimacy, The Washington Post reported. Unlike in past slowdowns, Chinese officials appear far less confident this time about what to do. Facing unpalatable choices — each carrying risks — the country’s top leaders have sent out confusing signals and statements in recent days. The crisis is coming at a perilous time here.

A senior BTA Bank executive said his signatures were forged last year and used to backdate documents in the months the Kazakh lender sought to staunch a capital deficit that forced its second debt restructuring in December, according to three people directly familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported. The official, who served on the bank’s management board, filed a complaint after discovering the fraudulent use of his electronic signatures in May 2011, the people said, declining to be identified because the information isn’t public.

Fortress Investment Group (FIG) and Nomura Real Estate Holdings Inc. are buying Japanese property as a record 700 billion yen ($9 billion) of commercial buildings are set to be sold over the next three years to repay debt, Bloomberg reported. About 364.6 billion yen worth of properties will be offered by next year with the rest sold through 2014 as special servicers that oversee properties tied to defaulted loans sell buildings to repay lenders, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Morgan Stanley Real Estate funds and K.K.

Things are going from bad to worse for large discount store chains these days as consumers have further tightened their wallets amid renewed concerns over the worldwide recession triggered by the eurozone debt crisis, The Korea Times reported. E-Mart, Home Plus, Lotte Mart and other discount store operators are also facing tightening regulations, chipping away at their bottom line, as the government and political parties target them to garner support from those running small mom-and-pop shops.

Loan default rates at major credit card firms have surpassed the 2-percent mark for the first time in three years, prompting concerns that financial soundness in the card sector is deteriorating, The Korea Times reported. This is the result of the financial regulator’s measures to curb commercial lenders from extending credit to households, which has forced many low-income earners to resort to secondary banking institutions, such as plastic issuers and savings banks.

Cyprus looks increasingly set to become the fourth euro-zone country to seek financial aid under Europe's temporary bailout fund, as early as this month, as it scrambles to protect its banking system from Greece's widening financial crisis that is threatening to engulf its tiny island neighbor, The Wall Street Journal reported.