Biz people

'Mr Yen' says dollar may plunge

The dollar may "plunge" in 2008, prompting the United States, the European Union and Japan to intervene in foreign exchange markets, said Eisuke Sakakibara (below), Japan's former top currency official.

US economic growth may slow to less than 1 percent next year as losses on loans to homeowners with poor credit erode consumer spending and bank earnings, he said in an interview yesterday in Tokyo. Sakakibara was dubbed "Mr Yen" because of his ability to influence the currency market during his 1997 to 1999 tenure at the Ministry of Finance.

"Should growth fall below 1 percent, we could see a plunge in the dollar," said Sakakibara, who is currently a professor at Tokyo's Waseda University.

Kloppers: Good outlook for metals

BHP Billiton Ltd Chief Executive Officer Marius Kloppers (right) said the outlook for metals' demand remains positive.

Supply and demand for copper are favorable and the iron ore market remains tight, Kloppers, CEO of the Melbourne-based company, said at a UBS AG lunch yesterday. "The outlook for the short and long term remains positive."

Kloppers is planning $50 billion of projects to boost production of oil, copper and iron ore to meet rising demand led by China, buyer of a fifth of the company's products. BHP reported an eighth consecutive record profit in August.

BHP rose by as much as 97 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $47.27 and traded at A$47.16 at 2.24 pm Sydney time on the Australian Stock Exchange.

(China Daily 10/19/2007 page16)