Business Digest, October 31, 2012

HKMA steps in again to weaken HK dollar

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority sold HK$2.71 billion in Hong Kong dollars for US dollars yesterday to curb the strength of the local currency, the fifth time in two weeks the de facto central bank has intervened in the market to maintain the currency peg. Recent capital inflows, mainly resulting from US monetary easing, have pushed the Hong Kong dollar to test its official limit of HK$7.75 against the greenback. Enoch Yiu
 

New office supply inadequate: study

New prime office supply set for Hong Kong over the next nine years will not be enough to meet half the forecast demand for space, a study by CBRE, the world's biggest commercial property agent, found. The city's developers are planning to add about eight million square feet of office space by 2020, but firms will need 17 million sq ft of new space in the period, the report by CBRE, with Daiwa Capital Markets, said yesterday. Bloomberg
 

Taiwan's economy seen to be rebounding

Taiwan's economy probably resumed growth in the third quarter as measures by policymakers to stabilise expansion on the mainland took effect, boosting the island's exports and reducing pressure to ease monetary policy. Gross domestic product probably grew 1.55 per cent, according to the median of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg before a preliminary government report due today. Bloomberg