その他のニュース
Argentina's central bank governor defies call to resign
By Jude Webber in Buenos Aires
Published: January 7 2010 02:00 | Last updated: January 7 2010 02:00
Martín Redrado, Argentine central bank governor, was yesterday defying a demand by Cristina Fernández, president, for him to quit in an intensifying row over the use of central bank funds to pay off debt.
The president's surprise request - which came as Argentina prepares a bond swap designed to reopen access to international capital markets eight years after its $100bn (€69bn, ￡62.5bn) default - was delivered by her cabinet chief, Aníbal Fernández, yesterday morning.
"[Mr Redrado] replied that he would not quit. If the government wants to remove him, it has to apply the appropriate mechanism," a central bank spokesman said. According to the bank's charter, that means a decision by Congress.
However, both Mr Fernández and economy minister Amado Boudou said Mr Redrado, whose term ends in September, had previously offered to tender his resignation whenever the president required it.
"Mr Redrado has fulfilled a function and today this function has ended," Mr Boudou told a news conference. He confirmed that the president wanted Mario Blejer, who was central bank president in 2002 and also served as director of the Centre for Central Banking Studies at the Bank of England, to take over.
Mr Blejer was out of the country and could not immediately be reached for comment. However, El Cronista Comercial newspaper quoted him as saying that while Mr Redrado remained as president "that bars me from considering the offer".
The row over the use of reserves erupted after the president in December signed a decree ordering the transfer of $6.5bn from central bank reserves to a new fund, the bicentennial fund for stability and reduced indebtedness, as a way to service some debt and free cash for other spending.
The government says this will enable Argentina to meet its debt obligations more cheaply than borrowing internationally.
Mr Fernández noted that the central bank had more than $48bn in reserves compared with some $8bn in 2003, when Néstor Kirchner, the president's husband and predecessor, took office, and said that was thanks to the government's policies.
Mr Redrado, however, sought legal counsel, fearing that the use of reserves would open the door to embargoes of central bank funds by the holders of defaulted Argentine bonds who are suing for repayment. Argentina crashed into the world's biggest sovereign default in 2001 and has been barred from capital markets ever since amid legal action from the holders of defaulted bonds.
Ricardo Delgado, an economist, said the move to oust Mr Redrado not only undermined the independence of the central bank but also suggested the government "needs to lay its hands on any coffers it can". In 2008, Ms Fernández nationalised pension funds in what was widely seen as an asset grab.
Bonds and stocks weakened on the news, but analysts did not expect Argentina's latest political crisis to derail the forthcoming defaulted debt swap, which the government would like to launch at the end of the month.
Nevertheless, Manuel Solanet, economist said: "This will affect confidence in Argentina and the perception that the government can meet its payments in 2010."
Luis Secco, economist, noted that Mr Redrado had not opposed the use of reserves to repay Argentina's outstanding debt to the International Monetary Fund four years ago and said his tenure at the central bank had been "marked by the alignment of the central bank to the general government economic policies . . . in which maximising growth was always above the objective of containing inflation".
"It's interesting he's resisting. That shows the Kirchners are not perceived as being as strong as in the past," said one economist who asked not to be named, adding he expected Mr Redrado to fight to the end.
Some bank workers demonstrated outside the bank calling for him to keep his job, while a small group handed out leaflets saying "Redrado out".
Mr Redrado is likely to face suffocating government pressure if he fails to give in. Ms Fernández has cold-shouldered her vicepresident, Julio Cobos, ever since he cast the deciding vote in a vote in Congress in July 2008 that buried her plan to levy variable tariffs on farm exports.
But Alfredo Bernal at Bulltick Capital Markets said: "We expect Martin Redrado to wait for a congressional commission to decide his future."
If that happens, it will be up to Mr Cobos as president of the Senate, with the heads of the budget, economy and finance commissions of Congress to reach a decision.
Iran fears losing pistachio race to US
By Monavar Khalaj in Tehran
Published: January 6 2010 17:04 | Last updated: January 6 2010 17:04
Iran has been a pistachio producer since the fifth century BC and the days of the Achaemenid Empire. Aficionados of the Iranian nuts ascribe their dominant position in global markets to superior taste and quality.
Iranian farmers fear, however, that their glory days are numbered and they are losing top position to, of all countries, the US, an arch political foe.
Alarm bells rang in 2008 when, because of heavy frosts, Iran's exports fell behind those of the US. Exporters say they managed to catch up in 2009 and are now marginally ahead of the US, but they fear other fundamental problems will cause them to lose their leading position.
Water shortages, antiquated cultivation methods and poor marketing and packaging are obstacles few believe will be tackled in the foreseeable future.
"Iran will definitely lose its top position to the US in 2011, [a situation] which will probably last for good," says Mohsen Jalalpour, head of Iran's Pistachio Association, a non-governmental organisation.
The country's annual output is estimated to shrink from an average 200,000 tons to 150,000 tons this Iranian year, which ends on March 20.
Pistachios are one of the Islamic republic's leading commodities, constituting 11 per cent of non-oil exports – more than Iran's famous hand-woven carpets, saffron and dates.
They generated $1.2bn in export earnings in 2007 and $800m in 2008, according to the Pistachio Association. It is predicting a figure of $1.2bn for 2009.
The relatively poor showing of the nuts is a symptom of the wider problems afflicting Iran's agricultural sector, which accounts for about 17 per cent of gross domestic product. Farming suffers from a shortage of investment by the government and the private sector.
Limited funding by banks, under-mechanised systems and the high costs of water make Iranian produce uncompetitive.
Most of the pistachio industry is private and controlled by small-scale farmers. The government does not set prices but it sometimes steps in to buy crops to support farmers.
The problems, according to domestic reports, have been aggravated by the fundamentalist government of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad.
Iran has, for example, lost its place in the world's saffron market to Spain, mainly because of poor packaging.
"Iran might keep up its position in pistachio if it improves its market management and packaging," says Hamed Qaderzadeh, an agriculture professor at Kurdistan University in north-western Iran.
The gap in the yield per hectare between Iranian and American pistachio orchards is widening. In Iran, farmers managed to pick about 800kg of nuts per hectare against 3,200kg in the US, says the Pistachio Association.
Issa Kalantari, a former agriculture minister who leads the country's national farmers union, says: "The big concern is not Iran's demotion to second place [behind the US] rather [that] pistachio production is shrinking due to low productivity and high costs."
Iranian nuts are largely sent to neighbouring countries and China, Hong Kong, Europe and Latin America.
Aflatoxin, a poisonous fungus, has been a headache for more than a decade, and 10 per cent of exports are rejected, particularly from Europe.
Iran is also suffering from sanctions over its nuclear programme, which has made trade more difficult.
"International sanctions on financial transactions have also affected us to some extent," says Asadollah Asgaroladi, head of Iran Export Confederation, an NGO in Iran's chamber of commerce.
He is, however, hopeful that the country's pistachio production will be doubled over the next five years, in line with a government plan to help Iran maintain or recapture its lead.
By Jude Webber in Buenos Aires
Published: January 7 2010 02:00 | Last updated: January 7 2010 02:00
Martín Redrado, Argentine central bank governor, was yesterday defying a demand by Cristina Fernández, president, for him to quit in an intensifying row over the use of central bank funds to pay off debt.
The president's surprise request - which came as Argentina prepares a bond swap designed to reopen access to international capital markets eight years after its $100bn (€69bn, ￡62.5bn) default - was delivered by her cabinet chief, Aníbal Fernández, yesterday morning.
"[Mr Redrado] replied that he would not quit. If the government wants to remove him, it has to apply the appropriate mechanism," a central bank spokesman said. According to the bank's charter, that means a decision by Congress.
However, both Mr Fernández and economy minister Amado Boudou said Mr Redrado, whose term ends in September, had previously offered to tender his resignation whenever the president required it.
"Mr Redrado has fulfilled a function and today this function has ended," Mr Boudou told a news conference. He confirmed that the president wanted Mario Blejer, who was central bank president in 2002 and also served as director of the Centre for Central Banking Studies at the Bank of England, to take over.
Mr Blejer was out of the country and could not immediately be reached for comment. However, El Cronista Comercial newspaper quoted him as saying that while Mr Redrado remained as president "that bars me from considering the offer".
The row over the use of reserves erupted after the president in December signed a decree ordering the transfer of $6.5bn from central bank reserves to a new fund, the bicentennial fund for stability and reduced indebtedness, as a way to service some debt and free cash for other spending.
The government says this will enable Argentina to meet its debt obligations more cheaply than borrowing internationally.
Mr Fernández noted that the central bank had more than $48bn in reserves compared with some $8bn in 2003, when Néstor Kirchner, the president's husband and predecessor, took office, and said that was thanks to the government's policies.
Mr Redrado, however, sought legal counsel, fearing that the use of reserves would open the door to embargoes of central bank funds by the holders of defaulted Argentine bonds who are suing for repayment. Argentina crashed into the world's biggest sovereign default in 2001 and has been barred from capital markets ever since amid legal action from the holders of defaulted bonds.
Ricardo Delgado, an economist, said the move to oust Mr Redrado not only undermined the independence of the central bank but also suggested the government "needs to lay its hands on any coffers it can". In 2008, Ms Fernández nationalised pension funds in what was widely seen as an asset grab.
Bonds and stocks weakened on the news, but analysts did not expect Argentina's latest political crisis to derail the forthcoming defaulted debt swap, which the government would like to launch at the end of the month.
Nevertheless, Manuel Solanet, economist said: "This will affect confidence in Argentina and the perception that the government can meet its payments in 2010."
Luis Secco, economist, noted that Mr Redrado had not opposed the use of reserves to repay Argentina's outstanding debt to the International Monetary Fund four years ago and said his tenure at the central bank had been "marked by the alignment of the central bank to the general government economic policies . . . in which maximising growth was always above the objective of containing inflation".
"It's interesting he's resisting. That shows the Kirchners are not perceived as being as strong as in the past," said one economist who asked not to be named, adding he expected Mr Redrado to fight to the end.
Some bank workers demonstrated outside the bank calling for him to keep his job, while a small group handed out leaflets saying "Redrado out".
Mr Redrado is likely to face suffocating government pressure if he fails to give in. Ms Fernández has cold-shouldered her vicepresident, Julio Cobos, ever since he cast the deciding vote in a vote in Congress in July 2008 that buried her plan to levy variable tariffs on farm exports.
But Alfredo Bernal at Bulltick Capital Markets said: "We expect Martin Redrado to wait for a congressional commission to decide his future."
If that happens, it will be up to Mr Cobos as president of the Senate, with the heads of the budget, economy and finance commissions of Congress to reach a decision.
Iran fears losing pistachio race to US
By Monavar Khalaj in Tehran
Published: January 6 2010 17:04 | Last updated: January 6 2010 17:04
Iran has been a pistachio producer since the fifth century BC and the days of the Achaemenid Empire. Aficionados of the Iranian nuts ascribe their dominant position in global markets to superior taste and quality.
Iranian farmers fear, however, that their glory days are numbered and they are losing top position to, of all countries, the US, an arch political foe.
Alarm bells rang in 2008 when, because of heavy frosts, Iran's exports fell behind those of the US. Exporters say they managed to catch up in 2009 and are now marginally ahead of the US, but they fear other fundamental problems will cause them to lose their leading position.
Water shortages, antiquated cultivation methods and poor marketing and packaging are obstacles few believe will be tackled in the foreseeable future.
"Iran will definitely lose its top position to the US in 2011, [a situation] which will probably last for good," says Mohsen Jalalpour, head of Iran's Pistachio Association, a non-governmental organisation.
The country's annual output is estimated to shrink from an average 200,000 tons to 150,000 tons this Iranian year, which ends on March 20.
Pistachios are one of the Islamic republic's leading commodities, constituting 11 per cent of non-oil exports – more than Iran's famous hand-woven carpets, saffron and dates.
They generated $1.2bn in export earnings in 2007 and $800m in 2008, according to the Pistachio Association. It is predicting a figure of $1.2bn for 2009.
The relatively poor showing of the nuts is a symptom of the wider problems afflicting Iran's agricultural sector, which accounts for about 17 per cent of gross domestic product. Farming suffers from a shortage of investment by the government and the private sector.
Limited funding by banks, under-mechanised systems and the high costs of water make Iranian produce uncompetitive.
Most of the pistachio industry is private and controlled by small-scale farmers. The government does not set prices but it sometimes steps in to buy crops to support farmers.
The problems, according to domestic reports, have been aggravated by the fundamentalist government of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad.
Iran has, for example, lost its place in the world's saffron market to Spain, mainly because of poor packaging.
"Iran might keep up its position in pistachio if it improves its market management and packaging," says Hamed Qaderzadeh, an agriculture professor at Kurdistan University in north-western Iran.
The gap in the yield per hectare between Iranian and American pistachio orchards is widening. In Iran, farmers managed to pick about 800kg of nuts per hectare against 3,200kg in the US, says the Pistachio Association.
Issa Kalantari, a former agriculture minister who leads the country's national farmers union, says: "The big concern is not Iran's demotion to second place [behind the US] rather [that] pistachio production is shrinking due to low productivity and high costs."
Iranian nuts are largely sent to neighbouring countries and China, Hong Kong, Europe and Latin America.
Aflatoxin, a poisonous fungus, has been a headache for more than a decade, and 10 per cent of exports are rejected, particularly from Europe.
Iran is also suffering from sanctions over its nuclear programme, which has made trade more difficult.
"International sanctions on financial transactions have also affected us to some extent," says Asadollah Asgaroladi, head of Iran Export Confederation, an NGO in Iran's chamber of commerce.
He is, however, hopeful that the country's pistachio production will be doubled over the next five years, in line with a government plan to help Iran maintain or recapture its lead.
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