Congo logging contracts under review

(Reuters) - A significant number of logging concessions issued by previous governments in the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to the world's second-largest tropical forest after the Amazon, could be scrapped under a World Bank-sponsored legal review.

"It's very hard to predict, but given the very clear criteria, it is reasonable to expect that a significant amount of the concessions will be canceled," Guiseppe Topa, a forest specialist for Africa at the World Bank, said in an interview with Reuters.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Rand steady vs dollar, eyes US PPI data

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand was steady against the dollar on Thursday, and traders said the currency was likely be rangebound before U.S. producer price inflation data later in the session.

The rand was trading at 7.23 to the dollar at 0645 GMT, very close to its New York close of 7.2250 on Wednesday.


Read more at Reuters Africa

PRESS DIGEST - Washington Post Business - June 14

(Reuters) - Allies of the U.S. auto industry stepped up a campaign to
soften strict vehicle fuel-efficiency mandates in proposed
energy legislation before the Senate, even as momentum for the
tougher measures continued to build.




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Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Israel's Gazit acquires shares in Ormat -report

(Reuters) - Officials at Ormat and Gazit could not immediately be
reached for comment.




Ormat is the controlling shareholder in Ormat Technologies
Inc. .


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

South Korea's Samsung Card to Raise $619 Million From Initial Share Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Samsung Card Co., the consumer
credit unit of South Korea's biggest industrial group, increased
to 576 billion won ($619 million) its target from an initial
share sale after investors bid for more stock than they were
offered.

The company and owners will sell 12 million shares at
48,000 won each, compared with a high price of 45,000 won
marketed to investors, Seoul-based Samsung Card said today.
South Korean and overseas institutional investors applied for
257.6 million shares, 36 times the 7.2 million allocated to them,
the firm said.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China Monetary Policy Needs `Moderate Tightening,' Premier Wen Jiabao Says

(Bloomberg) -- China's Premier Wen Jiabao signaled
the central bank may need to raise interest rates or curb bank
lending to prevent the world's fastest-growing major economy
from overheating.

Monetary policy needs ``moderate tightening,'' Wen said in
a statement on the government's Web site last night after
chairing a cabinet meeting. He didn't give a timetable or
specify what action the government may take.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

China's Industrial Production Surges, Supporting Case for Rate Increase

(Bloomberg) -- China's industrial production growth
unexpectedly accelerated in May, increasing pressure on the
central bank to raise interest rates to cool the world's
fastest-growing major economy.

Output rose 18.1 percent in May from a year earlier, the
National Bureau of Statistics said today, after gaining 17.4
percent in April. That compared with the 17 percent median
estimate of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News