BP chief sails into fresh storm in US after taking time out for yacht race

 By Angus Howarth

EMBATTLED BP chief executive Tony Hayward is at the centre of a new controversy after he went sailing in the face of mounting criticism that he is not doing enough to control the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Tony Hayward's yacht, Bob, one of the 1,754 vessels taking part in the 50-mile race round the Isle of Wight on Saturday. Picture: PA

Video: Shelby: Hayward Must Go CBS

BP boss tries to get his life back, but sails into another storm‎ - Sydney Morning Herald 
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The White House led the hostile comment after Mr Hayward spent time relaxing on the Isle of Wight at the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.

The crisis that followed the blast on the Deepwater Horizon well, which killed 11 workers, has seen millions of gallons of oil continuing to threaten the Gulf Coast. It is America's worst environmental disaster and has led to tensions between the United States administration and BP. President Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said Mr Hayward had committed yet another in a "long line of PR gaffes" by attending the race while the disaster continued.

He also mocked Mr Hayward's notorious statement on Facebook that he wished the crisis was over so he could have his life back.

Referring to the yachting, Mr Emanuel said: "He's got his life back, as he would say."

He added that the focus should stay on capping the leaking well and helping the people of the Gulf region.

Charlie Kronick, of Greenpeace, was also angry and said Mr Hayward's actions were "rubbing salt into the wounds" of people whose communities have been affected by the catastrophe.

A BP spokeswoman said: "We wouldn't dream of commenting on what the chief executive does in his rare moments of private time." She added he was spending some time with his son.

It is understood Mr Hayward has spent much of the eight weeks since the accident in the US.

BP officials also insisted Mr Hayward was still in charge of the operation to control the spill, amid confusion over his role.

On Friday, company chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said Mr Hayward had been relieved of day-to-day control of the spill and that BP managing director Bob Dudley would take over.

However, other officials insisted Mr Hayward remained in charge of the operation.

Shadow foreign secretary David Miliband said Mr Hayward's position did not mean he should not be able to spend a day with his son.

But he added: "Does it mean that he does have to lead the company to deal with this fundamental issue that threatens the whole future of the economy? Yes, it does."

Oil giant 'plans to raise $50bn' to help pay for oil spill clean-up

EMBATTLED BP is understood to be working on plans to raise $50 billion (£33.76bn) to cover the cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill – more than double the amount previously thought.

Directors at the oil group are said to have approved a scheme last week to raise the money in a bid to ensure they have enough reserves to cover any claims as a result of the disaster.

The figure is more than double the $20bn the group has already agreed to pay into a compensation fund for those affected by the spill, although analysts have warned the final cost of the disaster could be as much as $100bn.

BP is expected to start raising the cash as early as next week through a $10bn bond sale.

It is also understood to be in talks with banks to raise a further $20bn through loans, with another $20bn to be raised through asset sales during the coming two years.

BP has already scrapped shareholder dividends until the end of the year to help pay for the clean-up operation.

The company pointed out that chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg had said last week that the company needed to have "an unusually strong cash position".

The group is reported to be preparing to take legal action against one of its partners, Anadarko Petroleum, after it said it would not cover any of the cost of the clean-up.

BP owns 65 per cent of the ruptured Deepwater Horizon well, while Anadarko has a 25 per cent stake.

Anadarko's chairman and chief executive Jim Hackett said BP's actions probably amounted to "gross negligence or willful misconduct" and that it should foot the whole damage bill.

New Chinese currency policy lifts markets

By JAGDEV SINGH SIDHU
jagdev@thestar.com.my

Equities, currencies and commodities react positively to unpegging proposal

KUALA LUMPUR: Stock markets, currencies and commodities were given a boost after China signalled the end of its yuan peg to the US dollar.

Markets in Asia posted strong gains led by China, Hong Kong and Japan as investors took positions that a stronger yuan would lead to stronger consumption and demand within China and help drive exports of its major trading partners.

People’s Bank of China over the weekend said it was abandoning its peg to the US dollar, a move taken to shelter the China economy during the recent global crisis, and was reinstituting a managed float it first detailed in July 2005.

The bank said that while there was no large movement in the yuan, the exchange rate would be allowed increased flexibility.

“The yuan flexibility is bullish for a number of Asian currencies,” said CIMB Invesment Bank’s regional rates/FX strategist Suresh Kumar Ramanathan, who expects the ringgit to gradually appreciate against the dollar to RM3.05 by the end of the year.

The yuan moved to 6.79 against the dollar from 6.83 following the revaluation of the currency, its highest level in 18 months.

It was revalued to 8.11 to the dollar in July 2005 and gradually appreciated to 6.81 before it was pegged at around that level to protect its exporters and the economy during the crisis in 2008.

That statement was the catalyst for a spike in Asian stock markets and currencies, all of which posted healthy gains on the back of the stronger yuan.

“We expect equity markets to take the news positively in the short term, boding well for regional risk appetite,” Nomura said in a note yesterday. “However, the implied forward rates of appreciation will likely continue to be overshadowed by global growth concerns and ongoing jitters over European credit markets.”

The ringgit strengthened to RM3.18 to the dollar with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) closing up 1.34% to 1335.29.

The ringgit’s jump, sparked by the move in the yuan, was also beefed up by short-covering and stop-loss calls by traders who were long on the dollar.

The breaching of the RM3.24 level against the greenback was attributed to the buying of the ringgit.

Economists felt that the benefit to Malaysia’s economy would depend on just how the yuan moves from here on and an appreciation over time would, nonetheless, be positive for the economy and Malaysian exporters.

Affin Investment Bank chief economist Alan Tan said a stronger Chinese currency would boost consumption and domestic demand but there were risks associated with that if the currency appreciated too fast.

“They cannot risk a strong currency as it could hurt exports. They remain dependent on exports,” he said.
The FBM KLCI extended its winning run to 10 straight trading days with investors buying a plethora of stocks from small-caps to heavyweight stocks in active trade.

Dividend yielding blue chips, such as DiGi.com Bhd and Public Bank Bhd, attracted buying interest along with automakers as investors reacted to the yuan revaluation.

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Bank stance to ease inflation risk

Editor's note: The decision by the People's Bank of China, the central bank, to "further strengthen the formation mechanism of the yuan's exchange rate and increase the flexibility of the currency" on Saturday has aroused worldwide attention for its far-reaching effect on both the Chinese and global economy. The next day, the central bank released another statement claiming that there would not be a one-off revaluation of the yuan, which is well in line with Chinese economists' expectations, who said outside pressure would not disappear following the latest move.

In the short term, it is more important for the monetary authorities to let the yuan float in a broader band rather than pegging it to a basket of currencies.

Given the recent exchange rate movement of the world's major currencies, if China strictly follows the rule of pegging the yuan to a basket of currencies, it may depreciate substantially against the US dollar. But the central bank will not allow that to happen, especially when the exchange rate issue has become highly sensitive.

The yuan could appreciate 3-5 percent against the US dollar this year. The Chinese authorities will not accept a big increase in the yuan's exchange rate against the dollar, because the yuan's effective exchange rate has risen substantially against the greenback this year and the trade surplus is shrinking.

The new announcement of the yuan's exchange rate regime, which has been interpreted as the start of yuan appreciation, does not mean that outside pressure for yuan appreciation will disappear. The pace and margin of the renminbi's rise against the US dollar will become the main theme for the next round of discussion on the yuan's exchange rate.

Once the yuan resumes appreciation, the authorities must keep a close eye on cross-border capital controls and prevent resurgent excess liquidity as a result of rising asset prices.

China remains in the stage of initial industrialization while the US has entered a post-industrial era.

The root of the huge US trade deficit with China lies in the differences in their economic structures and development levels.

The yuan's exchange rate is neither the main contributor to the bilateral trade imbalance, nor a panacea for solving the issue.

A sharp one-off revaluation of the yuan's exchange rate will significantly increase the cost of living of ordinary Americans, especially low- and middle-income groups, because it would push up the cost of Chinese exports to the US market, thus curbing US domestic consumption, which is important for its economic recovery.

Yuan appreciation will result in a decline in the growth of China's exports, from which migrant workers, China's most vulnerable group, will suffer the most.

Sluggish exports in turn will impact China's long-term efforts to expand domestic demand and transform the economic development pattern.

So far, China is the most powerful driving force for global economic growth.

A slowdown in China would deal a blow to economic confidence worldwide and affect the smooth recovery of the global economy.

The decision of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, to proceed with the reform of the yuan's exchange rate regime is of great significance, because it symbolizes the end of China's temporary yuan peg policy to mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis over the past 23 months. Such a move also indicates China will adopt an independent exchange rate regime without yielding to external pressure.

The move aims to relieve inflationary pressure and promote the structural adjustment of China's export-oriented enterprises.

The yuan's exchange rate will become more flexible and is likely to experience two-way fluctuations in the future, which means the exchange rate of the yuan may either appreciate or depreciate against major currencies. If the euro continues to remain weak against the US dollar or the value of the US dollar rises by a large margin against other major currencies, the yuan could depreciate against the dollar.

Therefore, the central bank's latest move cannot be simply interpreted as the start of yuan appreciation against the dollar. Even if the yuan appreciates in the future, according to historical experience, the central bank will keep the currency basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level and allow the yuan to appreciate in a gradual, moderate and controllable way instead of a sharp one-off revaluation.

The recent adjustment in China's currency policy is a move in the right direction, marking a key step in the reform of China's exchange rate regime towards a more market-based one.

If the yuan rises against other currencies after the latest policy initiative, it should rise gradually, otherwise it could be a heavy blow to the country's export-oriented enterprises.

Mild yuan appreciation will spur export companies to continue to improve their technology and management, but a hasty and big increase in the yuan's exchange rate would be the death knell for these companies. The 11 percent appreciation in the yuan between October 2007 and July 2008 led to the bankruptcies of some 67,000 export companies and mass job losses.

It is expected that the yuan will only go up within a limited range. European economies face the risk of a double-dip and have decided to cut spending to fight the debt crisis, which will definitely affect consumption in those countries and thus pose a threat to China's exports to Europe. If the yuan rises against the dollar this year, the margin would only be very slight. China will allow its currency to appreciate by up to 3 percent only if the country could make sure its exports rise by an average of 20 percent in 2011 and the global economy regains its sound growth momentum.

The central bank's decision helps contain "imported" inflationary pressures and therefore reduces the probability of aggressive monetary tightening through stringent credit controls and/or consecutive interest rate hikes.

This policy move should help contain inflationary pressures in the short term and rebalance the Chinese economy over the medium and long term.

A modest initial revaluation followed by gradual appreciation would fuel expectations of further yuan appreciation over time.

Unpegging the renminbi and a subsequent gradual appreciation against the US dollar should be positive for the stock market, even though a stronger renminbi will likely hurt low margin exporters who do not have pricing power.

Although the central parity of the yuan-dollar exchange rate is, in principle, determined based on the weighted average of the quotes from market makers, it is still heavily managed by the People's Bank of China, which has considerable discretion over determining the weights when the weighted average is calculated.

Thus, the pace of renminbi appreciation ultimately hinges on how comfortable the Chinese authorities are with allowing faster appreciation of the central parity rate instead of intra-day volatility around the central parity rate.

Source: China Daily
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RMB reform restarts, to aid China and world

Analyzing Beijing's announcement over the weekend it will restart the reform of the RMB exchange rate regime, China observers say the move is "wise" which will accelerate the country to climb another step on the industrial ladder.

More than a dozen economists and international investment bankers welcomed Beijing's decision to un-peg the RMB with the U.S. dollar from today, but, they cautioned that China's regulators would try to prevent any big volatility in the exchange rate, which does not help China's and the global economy, and is likely to rein in the scope of the yearly rise of the RMB value against the U.S. dollar within 3-4 percent.

Economists believe an annual 3-4 percent rise of the RMB will be capable of stonewalling speculative "hot money" entering China, which will jeopardize the economy and increase the risks of inflation in the country.

Since the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, initiated the RMB rate reform in July 2005, China's currency has gained 21 percent against the U.S. dollar. But Beijing pegged the RMB to the greenback in late 2008 when the global financial crisis erupted.

Now fairly ensured the global economic recovery is on a solid footing and its exports had rebounded since April, Beijing finally decided to enhance the RMB exchange rate flexibility, to help squeeze out low-value labor-intensive production, and to sooth rising outside cries that the RMB must be revalued.

U.S. President Barack Obama said China's move is a "constructive step" while the International Monetary Fund director-general Dominique Strauss-Kahn described the move as a "very welcome development".

"China's decision to increase the flexibility of its exchange rate is a constructive step that can help safeguard the recovery and contribute to a more balanced global economy," Obama said in a statement.

The European Union said that "such a move will be beneficial for both the Chinese economy and the global economy," adding that the move would not only benefit China's own economy but also the economy of the world as a whole. EU even hailed the move as "providing an important contribution to the success" of the G20 Toronto summit, which are scheduled for late this week.

Beijing's decision was made in view of the economic situation and financial market developments at home and abroad, and the balance of payments situation in China, the PBOC spokesperson said in a statement.

The reform of the RMB exchange rate regime is to reflect market supply and demand "with reference to a basket of currencies", that including the U.S. dollar, the euro, the yen, the British pound, and other currencies. The exchange rate floating bands will remain the same as previously announced in the inter-bank foreign exchange market, PBOC said.

The statement emphasized the RMB be pegged to a basket of currencies, adding that the US dollar should not be the only gauge for judging the RMB exchange rate level.

The central bank said on Sunday it will not conduct a one-off revaluation of the RMB exchange rate this time, as promised by Premier Wen Jiabao. On July 21, 2005, when China started the reform, it allowed a one-off RMB rise of 2 percent against the U.S. dollar.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also welcomed China's decision to further reform its exchange rate mechanism and expected further cooperation with his Chinese counterpart within G-20 to promote the economic recovery.

By People's Daily Online

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China yuan stability pledged

 

China's currency policy has been criticised by the West 

 

China's central bank says it plans to keep the Chinese yuan "stable" and there will be no immediate revaluation of the currency. 

The comments come just a day after the bank announced plans to make the exchange rate more flexible.
But Chinese authorities have ruled out a large, one-off adjustment in the exchange rate.

China has come under increasing international pressure to change its currency policy.

The US in particular has complained that China is artificially keeping the value of the yuan low to help its exporters at the expense of foreign competitors.

On Saturday, US President Barack Obama welcomed China's promise of increased flexibility in exchange rates, but the Chinese central bank's latest comments cast doubt over the scale of its plans.

"There is at present no basis for major fluctuation or change in the [yuan] exchange rate," the bank's website said.

G20 agenda

  The "basic stability" of the currency would be maintained, it added, and keeping the yuan at a "reasonable, balanced level" would help ensure economic stability.

"The management and adjustment of the [yuan] exchange rate needs to be done in a gradual way."

Continue reading the main story

The timing of China's exchange rate move is hardly accidental

Stephanie Flanders BBC economics editor Read Stephanie Flanders' blog

 

China has effectively pegged the yuan to the US dollar for the last two years.

In 2005, it briefly allowed a controlled appreciation of the currency, but ended that policy when the global economic crisis threatened demand for its goods abroad.

The yuan has stayed at around $0.147 since then, and would be expected to rise higher given a totally free exchange rate.

Analysts expect the yuan to appreciate slowly - by around 0.2% a month - in line with a recovery in demand from Europe.

"A stronger yuan would not only help prevent trade tensions from developing later in the year, but, more importantly, would help to keep China's recovery on a sustainable path and to rebalance its economy," commented Brian Jackson, a strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong.

China's currency policy was expected to be high on the agenda at the G20 summit to be held in Toronto later this month.

According to the BBC's economics editor Stephanie Flanders, the timing of China's concession is no coincidence.

"As usual, the wording is vague," she said.

"But the assumption must be that China plans to move back to the policy of allowing its exchange rate to appreciate in real terms against the dollar."

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China reiterates no one-off moves in RMB exchange rate reform

June 21, 2010

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said Sunday it will not conduct a one-off revaluation of the RMB (yuan) exchange rate.

The PBOC said it will keep the yuan basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level and manage and adjust the RMB exchange rate based on the floating bands previously announced in the interbank foreign exchange market, a statement posted on its website said.

The PBOC aims to promote China's balance of international payments while safeguarding the stability of the nation's macro economy and financial markets, the statement said.

The statement came one day the PBOC announced it would further promote the reform of the RMB (yuan) exchange rate regime and increase the flexibility of the RMB exchange rate.

The move is in line with China's long-term fundamental interests, as it promotes the economic structure adjustments which will lead to sustainable growth.

The floating currency exchange rate will help guide resources to the service industries, which will upgrade the industry while reducing the nation's trade imbalance and its reliance on exports, the statement said.

The statement also said a flexible currency exchange rate regime will help curb inflation and asset bubbles and create a more favorable international development environment for China.

Sunday's statement emphasized the yuan be pegged to a basket of currencies given its close ties with a number of trade partners, adding that the U.S. dollar should not be the only gauge for judging the RMB exchange rate level.

Trade between China and the European Union in the first five months of the year accounted for 16.3 percent of China's total foreign trade volume, the statement said.

The United States, East Asian nations, and Japan accounted for 12.9 percent, 10.1 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively, according to the statement.

The PBOC decision signals its intention to leave the market more room to set the yuan's value, which is an irresistible trend and also a condition for the internationalization of the RMB, said Shen Minggao, Citibank's chief economist for greater China.

China moved to a managed floating exchange rate regime based on market supply and demand and referencing a basket of currencies on July 1, 2005.

The government narrowed fluctuation of the yuan's exchange rate in 2008 to keep the currency stable, in a bid to counter the global economic downturn, the statement said.

"A stable yuan was not only in the interests of China - it helped mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis," the statement said.

In the long run, currency reform will boost employment in the services sector, the statement said, adding that a floating exchange rate will prompt exports to shift to intensive processing, which will expand the industrial chain and create jobs.

But the statement noted a gradual adjustment is necessary to give enterprises time to adjust their business structure.

Source: Xinhua

 

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