Dominique Strauss-Kahn

MOSCOW, Aug. 22--Russia said on Wednesday it had nominated former Czech central bank chief Josef Tosovsky to stand against the EU’s candidate to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But the government in the Czech Republic, which joined the EU in 2004, made clear it had nothing to do with Tosovsky’s nomination and said it backed the EU’s choice, former French finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn, AFP reported.
In a statement the Russian finance ministry said, “The Russian representative on the board of the International Monetary Fund nominated Josef Tosovsky for the post of managing director yesterday.“
Tosovsky’s nomination makes him the only rival to Strauss-Kahn to succeed outgoing chief Rodrigo Rato to the post.
Strauss-Kahn was nominated by the European Union under an unwritten agreement that the EU always nominates the IMF boss.
“We have conducted wide consultations with colleagues from other countries and we are certain that the majority want a managing director to be chosen on a competitive basis for professional qualities,“ the Russian finance ministry said.
“That is why we have chosen to put forward an alternative candidate,“ the statement continued.

Josef Tosovsky

Last month, a group of 24 developing countries, including China, India and Brazil, protested against the practice of Europe nominating the head of the IMF and called for “a transparent selection process.“
The managing director of the IMF has traditionally been named by the European Union, while the head of the World Bank, also based in Washington, is generally named by the United States.
The IMF has said it will accept applications for the post until August 31 and the executive board will then consider the candidates in September. Three Frenchmen have held the job for more than 30 years of the IMF’s 61 years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year called for a revolution in world economic relations, saying international institutions created by the West were “archaic, undemocratic and inflexible.“

Vehicles of Japaneses automaker Honda line up to be loaded into a ship at Narashino port in Chiba prefecture.

TOKYO, Aug. 22--Japan’s trade surplus shrank by a bigger than expected 21.1 percent in July from a year earlier, hit by higher oil import costs and sluggish exports to the United States, the government said Wednesday.
Analysts said a stronger yen is likely to keep the surplus under pressure in the coming months, while housing market problems in the United States could also put the brakes on exports, AFP reported.
Japan’s trade surplus dropped to 671.22 billion yen ($5.9 billion) last month, the first year-on-year decline in nine months and well below the market forecast of 764 billion yen, the finance ministry said.
Exports from the world’s second-largest economy rose 11.7 percent by value to 7.06 trillion yen while imports gained 16.9 percent to a record 6.39 trillion yen.
Exports of automobiles increased 12.8 percent to 1.17 trillion yen although motor vehicle shipments to the US market declined 1.3 percent. Exports of steel products jumped 19.7 percent to 349.5 billion yen.
A major earthquake northwest of Tokyo last month that crippled a key supplier of auto parts weighed on automobile exports, officials said. Japanese automakers have also been shifting production to the United States to reduce exports and try to prevent any 1980s-style protectionist backlash.
US auto sales have also seen a recent drop blamed on higher petrol prices and problems in the housing market making consumers cautious.
Imports of crude oil gained 14.9 percent to 1.08 trillion yen, with imports of nonferrous metal up 59.6 percent at 215.8 billion yen.
Japan’s trade surplus looks likely to fall again in August and September following a recent surge in the yen against the dollar, which weakens the competitiveness of Japanese goods overseas, analysts said. “The impact of the yen’s appreciation on Japanese exports will come out in August and September and will likely put the brake on export gains,“ said Keiji Kanda, an economist at Daiwa Institute of Research.

MANILA, Philippines, Aug. 22--Southeast Asian countries are moving closer toward integration with a proposed road map to integrate freight, transport and other logistics services to move goods more cheaply and efficiently, officials and documents said Wednesday.
The initiative, to be signed by economic ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting this week in Manila, aims to liberalize logistics services and enhance the regional bloc’s production base in line with ASEAN’s move to create a single market by 2015, a final draft of the road map showed, AP wrote.
The measures include enhancing competitiveness of ASEAN logistics service providers by expanding their capability and developing their human resources. Maritime cargo handling, storage and warehousing, freight transport agency services, courier services and customs clearance services are among the areas to be liberalized by 2013.
Beginning this year, ASEAN will develop the region’s transport logistics corridor and identify the needs to connect gateways of member countries, the draft said. By next year, ASEAN will implement a multilateral agreement to fully liberalize air freight services and sign a framework agreement on facilitation of interstate transport, it added.
“This road map provides concrete actions that ASEAN member countries shall pursue to achieve greater and significant integration of logistics services in ASEAN,“ the draft document said. “They are enablers because they make the economy run better to move the goods...at the same time, in themselves, they are big business,“ said Philippine Trade Assistant Secretary Ramon Vicente Kabigting. “So it’s good to integrate.“
ASEAN economic ministers meet Thursday to Monday. They also will have discussions with partners China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam and comprises a community of 550 million people.
ASEAN’s overall exports totaled US$758 billion last year, 16.5 percent higher from 2005, with all 10 members experiencing growth in total exports, a draft senior officials’ report said. The region’s imports for 2006 reached US$655 billion, or 13 percent higher than a year before.

LONDON, Aug. 22--Europe’s main stock markets rose strongly in morning trade on Wednesday, with mining, financial and auto shares leading the way in London, Frankfurt and Paris. European indices shrugged off an end to a two-day rally for Japanese shares and a mixed finish on Wall Street overnight, but nervousness remained about problems in global credit markets, AFP reported.
“The credit worries have quietened down for the time being, however we are concerned about the low volume and if any bad news comes in we could see the market come back down,“ Trade Index dealer Manoj Ladwa said in reference to the performance by London’s FTSE on Wednesday.
In late morning trade, London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares jumped 0.97 percent to 6,144.90 points. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 gained 0.86 percent to 7,488.50 points and in Paris the CAC 40 surged 1.36 percent to 5,492.62.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone shares advanced 1.05 percent to 4,218.76 points. The euro stood at 1.3488 dollars.
In London, mining shares surged on the back of record earnings from BHP Billiton and rising metals prices. BHP Billiton, the world’s largest miner, soared 3.23 percent to 1,343 pence after Wednesday posting record annual net profit of 13.42 billion US dollars (9.95 billion euros) and delivering an upbeat outlook on the back of strong demand from China.
Financials also staged a recovery as credit crunch fears eased in Europe. Hedge fund giant Man Group jumped 3.88 percent to 475.75 pence and home-loan provider Northern Rock advanced 3.56 percent to 727 pence in London, while in Paris the French bank Societe Generale won 2.43 percent to 120.77 euros. In Frankfurt, automaker DaimlerChrysler sped 3.35 percent higher to 62.65 euros after a report said the group intended to make an announcement on August 29 about it plans for the cash it will earn from the sale of an 80-percent stake in Chrysler.
Analysts have said there is a good chance that the cash of around 10 billion euros will be used to fund either a special dividend or a stock buy-back program.
In Paris, French car giant Renault rallied 3.62 percent to 97.7 euros.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug. 22--According to a new survey by an anti-corruption lobby group released Tuesday, lawyers have a new reputation in Kenya--solicitors of bribes. They have been listed, for the first time, in the annual Kenya Bribery Index prepared by the Kenyan chapter of Berlin-based Transparency International. Lawyers have been ranked as the ninth most corrupt group in Kenya, according to the report. “The entry of lawyers in the top 10, alongside the judiciary moving from sixth to 12th, opens the possibility that this is the case of migration of bribery from the bench to the bar,“ the survey said.
President Mwai Kibaki’s administration, in a bid to fulfill election pledges to fight corruption, sacked half the judges and a third of magistrates in September 2003, accusing them of corruption and incompetence. Since then, it has slowed down its anti-corruption drive because key government figures have been accused of graft.
In 2006, Kenyans paid twice as many bribes as before, but each one cost less money so the overall situation remains unchanged, according to the latest Kenya Bribery Index.
A key private sector organization warned corruption remains a huge cost to business and more reforms are needed. Self-regulation had failed in many ministries, it said, AP reported.
“It really doesn’t take a genius to know where power is concentrated, the net result will be corruption,“ said Samuel Mwaura, the chief executive officer of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance.
This year’s survey was conducted between November and December 2006 and involved asking 2,400 respondents across the country what institutions they have interacted with, details of any bribes paid and whether they thought the institutions they dealt with have improved.
The police remained the most corrupt institution in Kenya for the sixth year running, the survey said. A key reason citizens paid bribes was to get jobs in government departments, non-governmental organizations and religious bodies, said Ndii. The average bribe respondents paid for employment increased to 7,300 shillings (US$107; -79), from 5,100 shillings (US$75; -56) in 2005.

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Aug. 22--Zimbabwe’s government has authorized retailers to raise the prices of basic goods in order to ease widespread shortages which followed the imposition of price cuts. Shops and businesses which were ordered to slash their prices two months as part of a controversial crackdown on so-called profiteers will now be able to increase their charges for commodities such as sugar, cooking oil and soap as well as phone bills by up to 20 percent AFP reported on Wednesday.
Agriculture retailers would also be able to hike their charge to farmers for maize seed and insect killer, the daily added.
Obert Mpofu, the country’s industry minister, acknowledged the need to increase the availability of goods, saying “more concerted efforts should ... be put on improving the supply of basic commodities to the market.“ “Stakeholders are, therefore, urged to have a common sense of purpose, direction and focus for the benefit of all Zimbabweans,“ he concluded.
Meanwhie, South African finance minister defended Tuesday his country’s quiet diplomacy toward Zimbabwe, saying that foreign intervention to bring about a regime change risked unleashing turmoil like in Iraq. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel told lawmakers that South Africa was not in a position to dictate political and economic policy to Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, AP reported.
“We must encourage Zimbabweans to solve their own problems,“ Manuel said in a heated exchange in parliament.
The Zimbabwe government has stopped publishing inflation figures, which in June stood at 4,500 percent. The International Monetary Fund has warned inflation might hit 100,000 percent by the end of the year.
A summit of the Southern African Development Community last week asked finance ministers from the 14-nation regional bloc to consult with the Zimbabwe government and “draw up an economic plan to support Zimbabwe,“ mindful that the catastrophic state of its economy is torpedoing the regional drive toward integration.
Manuel said that South Africa would not squander South African taxpayers’ money by bailing out the ailing Zimbabwe economy. “We can not ... decide what kind of economy the Zimbabweans must have. They must get the prices to work, they must drive the changes. We can’t commit financial resources ...“

ROME, Aug. 22--A group of investors led by Italy’s former constitutional court president Antonio Baldassarre is interested in acquiring Alitalia which has been put up for privatization, the airline said Tuesday.
Baldassarre called the airline on behalf of the group to express an interest, Alitalia said, adding that Italian stock exchange rules required it to publish a statement, AFP reported.
The group had asked for a meeting with Alitalia management which was to take place in late August or early September, it said.
Baldassarre, a lawyer, is also a former president of Italian broadcaster RAI. He declined on Tuesday to identify the investors he represents.
An earlier attempt at privatizing Alitalia came to nothing last month when Italian airline Air One, owned by businessman Carlo Toto, announced it would not bid for the state’s 49.9-percent stake in the carrier.
Alitalia has been in financial trouble for several years, posting a net loss of 626 million euros ($863 million) in 2006. It had a first-quarter loss this year of 135 million euros.