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Five hundred years ago the. Sabbagh family bought parts of the ZYtiun khan, running it as a hotel for car- avan tradesmen. When cam- els were replaced by cam the family moved into the food importing business. With a high-tech sound studio in a modem suburb of Damascus, a home in one of the most fashionable areas of town and frequent hunts around the globe for new cartoons, Mr Sabbagh enjoys the contrast between the medieval office location and his 2 lst century lifestyle. I have grown up in the office of my father here and the traditions and smells of old Damascus are part of my life," he says.
In the brothers dubbed and launched their first television programme, a Japanese football series, which became popular and was bought by all Arab tele- vision stations. With its head office in Jed- dah. Weiss Bros has opened offices in Damascus, Beirut and Cairo to cover the region. Total Investment in the sound studios and offices amounts to 56m.
More than 20 employees constantly redraw pictures, rewrite dia- logue and compose more suitable songs. Cartoon piracy on televi- sion is not as big an issue in the Middle East as is mer- chandising piracy. A quick expansion with newly equipped studios in Damascus is scheduled to see these ambitious plans through. But no matter how big the studios become, Mr Sabbagh is certain to remain in his unpretentious offices in toe Tutun khan, enjoying a different kind of world.
Beijing in gesture on fair trade By Frances WilliaiTis In Geneva China yesterday announced a standstill on new trade measures inconsistent with international fair trade rules in an apparent bid to speed up its protracted negotia- tions to join the World Trade Organisation. US officials said it marked China's serious Intent to spur the talks. WTO members, led by the US. Beijing is seeking admission under lenient standards set for developing nations.
They came In by land and across Lake Kivu on boats landing on the city beach. The conflict in eastern Zaire pits ethnic Tutsis against both the Zairean government and Hutu refugees, some of whom were responsible for toe genocide in Rwanda of up to lm Tutsis and other victims.
Tutsis, who'are among some of Zaire's most successful entrepreneurs and professionals, are packing up and leaving, fearing a witchhunt following a revolt by the Banyamulenge rebels. In the latest incident, a mob of several hundred youths attacked Tutsi-owned property in the capital Kinshasa yesterday and looted dozens of cars, witnesses said.
On Thursday, the transitional parliament called for Tutsis to be sacked from the army, civil service and state-run companies. Under the revised programme, toe government will retain a controlling interest in Korea Telecom, while gradually disposing of minority shares as the stock market improves.
Privatisation has also been delayed by the government's inability to find buyers for the state companies after it excluded the country's big conglomerates, or chaebol, for monopoly reasons. The government announced in it would privatise 58 state companies by for total proceeds of 58bn. Shares in the state-run tobacco company will begin to be sold in late , but it will keep its domestic cigarette production monopoly for the foreseeable future. But it was up to Hanoi to come up with specific proposals for accepting back detainees it deems non-Vietnamese nationals.
The issue of so-called non-nationals is toe main stumbling block in toe way of smooth repatriation of toe roughly n. Most are ethnic Chinese and are included in a list of about 4, Vietnamese whose names and identity have yet to be cleared before they can he sent home.
The first joint project under the new agreement would be a fibre-optic submarine cable. The UK company is cooperating with China on a new communications link between Beijing and Hong Kong to provide a range of telecommunications services.
Labour opposition leader, without consulting the government. Today is established in Athens and its purpose is to manage Hotels owned by the Company. The unit's buildings are situated on two adjuceni land plots of a Theofilos Katalifos , or the authorized representative lawyer, Mr. Kostas Androutsopoulos, 15, Navarinou Sir. The Association of Lloyd's Members, which represents about 9. Profits in Sbn before expenses, and profits for and are also expected to be good.
The association warns; however, that members should not be blinded by likely results for recent years and tbe successful completion of Lloyd's finan- cial reconstruction. It fol- lows that Lloyd's may not do much better than break-even in It should have been cause for great celebration. Instead - apart from in Fife itself. In eastern Scotland - the news unleashed a wave of soul-searching about the value of inward investment to the Scottish economy.
For Mr Crawford Bever- idge. But the criticism in the Forex approach by Swiss company By Clay Harris in London media and from some busi- ness figures evidently stung because this week he called in the press.
He was worried, he said, that non-UK compa- nies would get the impres- sion that they were not wanted In Scotland. Three-quarters of that was in electronics. Scotland produces about 35 per cent of all branded personal computers made in Europe, thanks partly to the plants of Compaq and Inter- national Business Machines.
It has four microchip fabri- cation plants. Silicon Glen, as the Scottish electronics industry is known, employs The two should eventually create 4, Jobs. Much of it con- sists of assembly plants.
The tnnltinat in nalc spend Only 8 tiny amount on product design in Scotland; only about 20 per cent of their spending on sub-contract work goes to companies based there. The CBI in Scotland last week voiced alarm that Scot- land's non-electronics output was not just being outpaced by electronics, but was declining. But Mr Beveridge said inward investment generally brought more productive and higher paid jobs than those provided by indige- nous companies, and imported superior manage- ment practices.
Scottish Enterprise, he said, would like to attract smaller non-UK operations which spent large sums on research, bringing better quality employment. But this was difficult because the rules for assistance favoured the projects that created the. A Mori survey this year showed that the number of people in Scot- land considering starting their own business had more than doubled since.
International Foreign Exchange Corporation, known as Ifexco, wrote in late September to a prospec- tive client giving details of where to send his money to open a trading account. The man decided not to proceed after reading about losses suffered by customers of other foreign exchange companies in Europe. Mr Olivier Quehen. Mr Quehen said Ifexco. It acts only as a broker, he said, executing trades on the orders of customers. Companies such as Ifexco and Nordex Asset Manage- ment. On February 1 Companies will then have three months in which to apply for a licence and two years to satisfy all legal requirements.
By David Wightan and Nicholas Timmins in London The privatised utilities could face legal action over long working hours If the govern- ment loses its battle over the European Union working time directive. City of Lon- don lawyers warned yester- day. The court is due to rule later this month on a UK challenge that the hour week directive is ille- gal.
He was speaking after calls by the social security committee of the House of Com- mons for the pension liabilities of European Union states to be a criterion for a single currency. Page 24 November 23 would leave staff free to sue any public sector employer who failed to observe its limits, Ms Eliz- abeth Adams, a partner with the City lawyers Beechcroft Stanley said. That could include the privatised utili- ties. Mr Major yesterday declined to say directly that the government would threaten to veto any changes at the inter-governmental con ference if the court rul- ing went against the UK: a course ministers are known to be considering.
Most of the other 14 member states already have statutory controls cov- ering working time, some of which are more stringent than those in the EU direc- tive. For example, under Ger- man law employees can only work a maximum 10 hours daily, compared with the directive's 13 hours. Some deviations are allowed but only with the agreement of certain unions. For French workers, the normal working week should be 39 hours With a maximum of 48 hours.
Permission to work over 48 hours has to be granted by law. Britain Is also the only EU country not to have a legally required number of days of paid annual leave, although this varies considerably between the other 14 mem- ber states.
The difference in tradi- tions was reflected during negotiations on the direc- tive, originally published in and adopted by the Council of Ministers in November During that time it was the subject of debate primarily because of British objections.
On the final vote m its adoption, taken by a quali- fied majority, only Britain abstained, much to the irri- tation of the 14 partners who had agreed to a number of concessions to suit British requirements. The fallings in Salomon's accounting systems led to a serious discrepancy between Its general ledger accounts and other internal accounts. Although the SFA accepted in that Salomon had already corrected the problems that Jed to the charge, it still imposed an unprecedented set of reporting requirements on the business to ensure that the changes were operating effectively.
J Mr Eggar defended his decision to take up the appoint- ment, a little over three months after he resigned his min- isterial post in July.
He had. Kellog is a wholly owned engineering subsidiary of Dresser Industries. Factory growth accelerates Manufacturers yesterday reported the strongest growth in factory activity for a year and a half as separate figures signalled the steady housing market recovery continued into the latter half of the year. The Nationwide building society savings and loans institution said that house price inflation rose to nearly 8 per cent last month. House prices increased by a season- ally adjusted 0.
The signs of stronger economic growth lifted the pound, which finished a buoyant week on the foreign exchanges completed the necessary tail- oring. Spain and the Nether- lands have formally told the European Commission that it will have the legislation in place by the deadline of November 23; in Germany similar provisions to those in the directive were exacted 18 months ago; in Italy work is well underway. Implementation, however, may be influenced by the feet that the d i rec ti ve allows for local needs and negotia- ting traditions.
The spectacular design was unveiled offer a formal application to the local authority for planning permission on the hectare former gas works site. Tile dome has been designed by i Sir Richard Rogers, the architect; Imagination, the exhibition designer; and engineers Buro HuppoL It will house 12 multi-level pavilions, each dedicated to a different aspect of time. Surrounding the structure, which will give spectacular views over Lon- don and the Thames, will be parks, gardens, other entertainment ameni- ties and transport hubs for boats and the new Jubilee line underground extension.
Mr Barry Hart op, chief executive of the one-year exhibition, said the. This will be the biggest celebration of the -. Millennium in the world and sited, on the Greenwich Meridian line.
The Millennium Commission is.. The exhibition has been dogged by funding difficulties ever since the Greenwich site was chosen at the beginning of tbe year. Mr Hartop said talks were taking place with several parties - including sports and arts groups - about using the exhibition site alter The manufacturing survey showed the first large rise in manufacturing employment since early last year as output increased for the fifth consecutive month.
Graham Bowleg and Simon London An economic stitch in time. He said Britain was slipping down the world tourism league table by losing market share to other countries. Britain's tourism industry is worth 5 per cent of gross d om estic product and accounts for 1.
The agreed takeover, announced In June and completed in August, was the largest so fer in the bus industry and represented a farther move by Cowie away from its roots as a motor distributor. Mr Hodgson said, that with British Bus. Cowie would command As the British government published its firearms bfQ yesterday, Mr John Taylor, UUP deputy leader, said his party would not back the opposition Labour party in demanding a total handgun ban.
The UUP is yet to decide if it will vote with the government or abstain, but. The aim is to ex p a nd inde- pendent television produc- tion, particularly in enter- tainment, in Holland and to acquire independent produc- tion companies both , there and in Prance. The ioint ven- ture is expected also to set up independent production companies in Germany Scandinavia. The deal was driven by the fact that Chrysalis, which owned Under the deal. In a flotation which was 25 times oversubscribed, the price was set at FI 48 a share, top of the indicated range, valuing the company at FI i.
But Endemol made its debut at FI The company, created by Mr Joop van den Ende and Mr John de Mol, expects to double revenues and profits within five years. The German gronp, conducting its Japanese roadshow, said it saw Tokyo as a testing ground for possible future listings elsewhere in Asia. Mr Joachim Kroeske, finance director, said the company expected to allocate about 5 to 8 per cent of its first public offering of m new shares to Asia.
Despite the high costs of maintaining membership on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and its recent declines, the exchange was chosen as one of the first three markets for Deutsche Telekom because of its size as the "second-largest capital market in the world", Mr Krbeskesaid. In addition, the company is seeking to widen the range of investors on the institutional, as well as retafi, side mid believes that Japanese Investors will find the stocks attractive' as a result of the D-Mark's strength in Europe and the low level of inflation in Ger- many.
Mr Kroeske would not clarify reports that Deutsche Telekom hoped to forge a business partnership with Japan's hugest telecommu- nication carrier, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. This pushed earn- ings per share up 59 per cent, to 27 cents, against 17 cents last time. In a further cost-saving step, Blockbuster yesterday announced plans to move its headquarters from Dallas, Texas, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the main operating base for many of the group's businesses.
Plans to close 10 per cent of its music shops and other restructuring. TVX Gold, which earlier this week denied the discov- ery of the second city, is pre- paring to re-open the Olym- piada mine, following the lifting of a blockade by local residents protesting against the gold extraction project.
Yesterday it said it had not been informed that an ancient city had been found at the mine site. While the government is committed to expediting TVX Gold's investment, a permit from the state archaeological ser- vice would be needed for the gold plant to be built.
Mr Dimitris Grammenos, head of Thessaloniki museum and the senior state archaeologist in northern Greece, said the city was dis- covered in July after surface surveys outside' the -mining area. The archaeologists also visited the mining operations, which extended over part of an ancient ceme- tery, he said.
The com- pany plans to use pressure oxidation to extract gold from a Back to the wall but ready to fight T he brochure sitting on the boardroom table at Wace Group was entitled, appropriately en o ugh. Project Phoenix. He claims Wace has been the victim of a market bur- dened with over-capacity and cut-throat competition, and was not the author of its own mis fortunes. Some City analysts are not so sure.
And the collapse in. He maintain that Wace's latest trading state- ment simply represented an accelerated version of the group's on-going strategy. If the market had been kinder there would have been barely a hiccup. It must be all the more g al l ing for those longer-term ones' who saw the stock recover from less than 50p in , when con- troversy over share dealings involving former executives prompted an inquiry by the Department of Trade and Industry.
Mr Grice, however, is right to point out that the latest problems have been largely market-related. All its mar- kets have declined. But it has suffered most in corpo- rate printing, involving pro- duction of company bro- chures and annual reports.
Intense pricing pressures and weak volumes in that sector - both in Britain and North America - have per- suaded the group to scale back its activities. Fur- ther US plants in Grand Rap- ids and Memphis have been earmarked for disposal; while a small Dutch printing outfit has also been put on the market. Also, manage- ment has been partly diverted by the integration of two recent acquisitions.
Mr Grice, has tried to keep yet more balls in the air by seeking strategic alliances in the US, where Wace is cut- ting from seven sites to three, and to move from five to two sites in France. This is the' area where it hqpes to use market lead- ing technology to offset any further decline in demand. Wace has developed inno- vative CD- Rom technology to present company annual reports, for example, on the internet. Mr Grice expects technology to underpin Wace's future growth.
That is what Wace is doing. Mr Moulton. Mr Ronald Cohen, Apax chair man. Not all' his deals have borne fruit though, notably the bid for Signet Group, the former Ratners jewellery chain. He surprised many rivals, who assumed he would not want to submit again to the disci- pline of an existing partner- ship, by moving to Apax, which bad tried to hire him a decade earlier.
Both sides Insist the part- ing - next February - is amicable. Cosmo reported a steeper than expected decline in recurring profits, which fell Sbu S3 1. Net profits fell from Y3. The group is paying a Y3 a share dividend.
Cosmo yesterday said that the full-year outlook was weaker than expected and revised downward, its fore- cast of unconsolidated recurring profits before tax and extraordinary items for the 12 months to March from Y2Qbn to Y14bn - a Mitsubishi Oil yesterday reported a 73 per cent decline in- first-half recur- ring profits, to Ybu, on sales up 6.
Net profits plummeted from Y4bn in the first six months of last year to Ylbn. The group is to pay a Y4bn a share interim dividend, only 58 per cent covered by earn- ings of Y2. Mitsubishi Oil maintained the forecast It made last month, when it more than halved its fnD-year predic- tion for recurring profits, from Y20bn to Y8bn, a Japanese oil companies have been unable to pass on their cost increases to retail- ers because of a fall in pet- rol prices caused by the deregulation of oil imports.
About jobs will go and the service fee paid to American Airlines lit owns 30 per cent of Canadian will be renegotiated, along with other supplier contracts. Robert Gibbens. But it added that no agreement has been reached yet in spite of an informal November 1 deadline suggested by the Dutch government on the Fokker negotiations. Samsung Aerospace, a subsidiary of the Samsung goup, wants to assemble aircraft developed by Fokker for sale in Asia, with the Dutch company continuing to market for Europe.
The Samsung-Fokker negotiations have focused on a possible split in aircraft manufacturing operations between the Netherlands and South Korea, and Samsung's request for state financial support from both the Dutch and South Korean governments. John Burton, Seoul Former ITC chairmen held The scandal around ITC, BAT's Indian affiliate, deepened yesterday when finance ministry enforcement officials arrested and charged two former chairmen with alienees under the foreign exchange regulations act.
Chugh and Mr J. Sapru were refused bail by a metropolitan magistrate's court and remanded In custody until November The ministry enforcement agency, which earlier this week arrested four other present and past officers or the company, says It has evidence of breaches of foreign exchange regulations through falsified invoicing uf imports and exports. Peter Montagnon and Ktmal Rose, Calcutta Telco ahead strongly Continued strong sales growth has seen Tata Engineering and Locomotive Telco , India's largest truck maker, drive its net profit in the six months to September 30 higher by 46 per cent to Rs3.
The performance by one of the flagships of the Tata group was only marginally above market expectations. The company, which is now producing Mercedes-Benz cars under a joint venture with Daimler-Benz, increased Its sales by 37 per cent to Rsbn.
The number of vehicles sold rose by Analysts attributed much of the strong Telco fust-half performance to an increase in profit margins. Operating profit margins rose to How Low? Tol U. Africa 13 Using the fiber optic net- works of ATfcT and other quality carriers, we secure the dear- est and molt reliable Unes.
Use Kallb. PC Merhet-Eye. Consultancy, Snjport. Available across Europe Hnd us at www. The Pirc attack came as BSkyB announced a 31 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to E66m for the quarter to the end of September. Mr Stewart Bell of Pirc tried unsuccessfully to get a formal vote at the BSkyB annual meeting yes- terday on proposed changes to the company's articles of association that enshrined the existing policy that directors of founder sharehold- ers did not have to retire by rota- tion at the meeting.
Founder shareholders include Granada. Pearson, and Chargeurs: the proposed changes to the articles resulted from a demerger at Chargeurs and were designed to ensure that the directors nomi- nated by the company which now holds the Chargeurs BSkyB stake, Pathe, would have the same rights as other founder shareholders.
Mr Gerry Robinson, the BSkyB chairman, said the arguments had been registered but that the pro- posals had been accepted by 96 per cent of shareholders in postal votes. Earlier, Mr Robinson told the meeting that BSkyB was on coarse to launch Its digital satellite ser- vice in autumn Up to pro- gramme services are planned. BSkyB blamed the dip on compe- tition from the European Football Championships and Olympics on terrestrial television.
Mr Abbott, the year -old foun- ding partner of the agency, will relinquish Us seat on the group board but will con- tinue as chairman and cre- ative director of the agency. I not only want to make room for younger management, but I also wish to devote even more time to the agency clients and to the advertising we produce for them.
His lat- est work includes last month's advertisement for the Economist magazine which featured Henry Kis- singer's advertising debut. Other clients are J Sains- bury. British Telecommuni- cations and Volvo. As part of the reshuffle, Mr Michael Baulk, chief executive, will become group chief executive. Part of the consideration will be raised via the issue of NatWest Securities has placed A further SP shares closed unchanged at 35p- A takeover could put an end to months of bitter struggle between competing factions on the board.
The group is dealing with a call from Westclay to remove three directors and a requisi- tion from a group of small independent shareholders to appoint two new directors. As a result, the total Ugland family share- holding will rise from per cent to per cent The balance of the initial payment will be met from bank borrowings. Transits Shipping and Trin- ita Shipping. A special interim dividend of 1. UIH expects the shares to be relisted on November The deal, which follows a series of big capital raising exercises by Japanese banks, is also set to be the biggest ever euro-convert- ible offering.
SBC Warburg refused to comment on the deal bat it is understood the convert- ible — which could be prefer- ence shares or a bond - will be brought to the market before the end of the year.
The European bank is involved in the deal along- side Yaznalchi and Nomura, the Japanese secnrities houses. It is expected that afl the paper will be placed outside Japan, with most being directed towards Europe. Only a relatively small amount will be pri- vately placed in a a list- ing directed at qualified institutional buyers. Two other convertible deals launched over the last 12 months - for Mitsubishi, the Japanese Bank, and Ina, the Italian insurance com- pany - were both fall public Issues and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to analysts. Japanese hank" have raised more than Yl,bn in equi- ty-linked offerings since to rebuild capital bases damaged by bad loans in the late s. The attraction of convertible preference shares is that capital raised can. Convertible bonds are deemed as Her two capital for these same purposes. Most of these deals have been brought to the market by a combination of US investment banks and local secnrities houses.
Its Diamond White and K ciders often had three each in the top of bar fridges, catching the eye of consumers looking for some- thing fashionable to drink. Now one of each lan- guishes on the bottom shelf, shouldered aside by alcopops including four flavours of Hooper's Hooch, the biggest in the new wave of faddish alcoholic fruit drinks. The demotion has devas- tated Diamond White and K. Their sales suddenly plum- meted 50 per cent in July and August, dragging profits and staff morale with them.
Yet HP Bulmer Hold- ings, the cider market leader, has been far less bit by alcopops. Matthew Clark admitted in September that its market- ing and promotion efforts had failed. This week it out- lined its recovery strategy but it will only develop the details in time for Its Janu- ary interim results. The biggest are: did any other causes, yet to be dis- closed. Does Matthew Clark have the management and culture to excel at brand promotion?
How big a hit on profits will the cost of effec- tive marketing and brand support make? The company insists the problem is only a lack of advertising and promotion of the brands. This is a revelation for a company preoccupied with takeovers and cost cutting rather than brand building. Matthew Clark was a sleepy family-run drinks company until Mr Peter Aikens became chief executive in Drawing lessons from his career on the brewing, technical and distribution side at Courage, the brewer, he pulled off a flurry of rights issue funded acquisi- tions, including cider mak- ers Taunton and Gaymer.
With unusual speed and ferocious focus on cost cut- ting he and his team created a completely new company. But sometimes, it seems, they have taken lean to the extreme. To reduce distribu- tion costs, for example. It delivers its ciders through Freetraders, its drinks wholesaler.
His tenants might be tempted to buy beers from Freetraders. This week. Matthew Clark acknowledged it had cut too deeply into sales and mar- keting. It said it was increas- ing staff in those areas of its branded drinks division by 40 to It was also seeking a senior marketing executive to join the board. Mean- while, Mr Aikens has taken charge of the branded drinks division, representing the bulk of group activities. Branded drinks need no more rationalisation - his forte - but a hefty transplant of marketing skills - in which he has lim- ited experience.
Some insti- tutionals are restive but are prepared to give Mr Aikens until early next year in the hope he will achieve reason-. The company has arrested the decline in sales volumes. They have now stabilised 30 per cent below last year. But that was achieved only by very aggressive price cuts in the off-trade which will fur- ther hit profits.
But the real worry is how much Matthew Clark's new marketing plan will cost. If it kept them under their existing brands such as Pizzaland and Bella Pasta it would have to pay a substantial chunk for good will. But that route presents several problems for Whitbread, the analyst said: the City has criticised it for large goodwill writeoffs on previous acquisitions; it might be questioned by competition regulators because it Is already a joint venture partner in Pizza Hut; and it has many of its own restaurant brands.
It would convert most of them into Cafe Rouges, Dome bars, Costa Coffee bars and other types of restaurants and pubs. The Independent media buying agency said yesterday it was prepared to put the dispute to an inde- pendent body such as the Independent Television Com- mission for arbitration.
It Is clear the i threat to issue writs has not been lifted and will he used if agreement cannot be reached. Operations were this year split into two divisions: reprographic services, and drawing office supplies, equip- ment and service. The additional houses acquired with the purchase of the externally held shares In Vantage Inns have now been absorbed into the estate, which has tied houses compared with this time last year.
Retail profits had been disappointing, the company said, but a planned development of the retail estate was under way. TR Tech reconstruction TR Technology, the investment trust, has agreed a recon- struction which gives its shareholders the chance to transfer to a new technology trust, the Henderson Tech- nology Trust.
TRT alms to maximise capital growth via quoted technology companies. It is due to be wound up on April 30 but the recommended recon- struction allows shareholders to continue their invest- ment Shareholders can choose between maintaining exposure to technology through HTT, or continuing until April with a highly geared capital structure and the prop osed liquidation programme.
The reconstruction is to be implemented by SBC War- burg. The company said, however, that it did not intend to cut the dividend from 0. It also announced the departure yesterday of Mr Colin UlyatL deputy chairman and finance director. A delay in consolidating finan- cial information from its Italian subsidiary has led to a short postponement in publication, it said. The company, which specialises in the selection and placement of executives In the high technology and finance markets, came to the market via a placing of 23 Am shares at 3p.
However, London Metal Exchange prices were still down on the. A fresh fall in warehouse stocks failed to affect prices significantly. Stocks now stand at six-year lows - and near-term direction will depend on whether or not. Traders said that zinc had the potential to push higher next week, but warned that any weakening in copper prices could dent the upward trend.
On London's International Petroleum Exchange yester- day. Traders had interpreted this as bearish news for the oil market as it could bring Iraqi oil back to the market sooner. Brent Blend for December delivery —. Gold took a week of pum- melling m London. The pre- cious metal kept its balance at a critical support level yesterday, but dealers said the market was overwhelm- ingly bearish -and was threatening to fall to fresh lows for tbe year in the near term.
Tbe week saw another sell-off in sugar. GNI research said the selling was triggered by further indicar tions of a bumper harvest in China, coupled with the first Cuban freight order of the season. SOp US ols equfa. Spices T7w pepper market haa had a quiet weak. Man Productert reports. Most buyers remained on the skfafine watching further developments.
Black pepper prtoea came under some setting pressure. This fa the only market wham stocks era stiU raaonabiy ample. Other aoisces afao complained of lack of oft-tatae. Black pepper FAQ was offered at about S2. White pepper, however, met somewhat more buying attention.
See -9 95 Dec -9 40 Tetri S5 W. Gilts prices were also not helped by the Tall in US Treasuries after the release of economic data across the Atlantic. On the cash markets the ben chmar k 10 - year gilt was also hit, ailin g to 98JS from 99Vi, a drop of fl. Us yield rose 8 basis points to 7.
Expectations of interest rate increases were seen in falling prices for sterling interest rate futures. The most heavily traded con- tract. December, fell by 0. Prices In France and Spain were steady, at In Italy, BTP futures fell from a high of Bonds added to their early gains, shortly after the Labour department said the US economy added , new non-farm jobs last month. While that figure was stronger than the , extra than econo- mists had forecast, hourly earnings for September were revised lower and held steady in October.
The December 30 -year bond future was flat at U3. Tim wonts — Thrwjear— 7 Urns month 6. Cafis Puis Prevtoue Cay'S open InL. Cata 5M Puaaooi. Open fat. B7 AM rights rra wv e d. C tankn back, xd Ex tBMeed. But a rogue presidential candidate, in the form of Mr Ross Perot, and a rogue lot of economic statistics gave these years of plenty instead to Mr Bill Clinton. In the summer of the US was already well embarked upon what has been the longest expansion without a single quarter of negative growth this century.
Unfortunately for Mr Bush, no one knew it at the time. All the voters could see was that growth had averaged only 1. But the gods of the economic cycle must have been truly scowling on the White House to grant the Incumbent a spirited recovery properly recognised only a few days after the election.
For the last months of the campaign, all that Mr Bush had to show as proof of recovery was a meagre 1. The third quarter growth fig- ures. But by then it was too late. The feel-bad factor was so entrenched that many voters simply refused to believe the new figures. Changing statistics As it turned out. By late November the statisticians at the Commerce Department had recanted. The economy had not grown by 2. Gall- ing news for Mr Bush.
Cut now to , and a neat reversal of economic history. This week's GDP figures showed a sharp slowdown in growth in the third quarter, to an annual rate of Once again, though, tide news seems to have come too late to help the Republicans. The voters probably do not feel as good as they might. But the eco- nomic optimism is palpable - and in stark contrast to Does Mr Clinton deserve any of the credit for this happy con- fluence of the economic and political cycles?
Perhaps a smid- gen. His opponents promised that the tax increases in the budget would stall the recovery- It turned out to be a smart way to boost investment by reviving confidence In the bond market and to speed the cyclical decline in the federal budget deficit already under- way.
But the president did not - contrary to his campaign propa- ganda - create those The credit for these achievements rest squarely with the economic cycle, the flexibility of the US economy, and the Federal Reserve's luck and skill in ensuring the two remained more or less in synch.
In fact he has done so much for the incumbent that some have questioned his right to call hims elf a life-long Repub- lican. The clincher came in August, when he declined to raise interest rates in the face of what many considered unsus- tainable growth.
The decision not to tighten policy was a gamble. But the data released since then have generally supported it. These came after a string of figures show- ing, among other things, a slow- down in growth of personal con- sumption and employment costs.
It is too soon to tell whether the economy has slowed enough to defer an increase in interest rates until next year. But Mr Clinton has been saved an inconvenient pre- election increase. But even Mr Dole has probably given up hoping for such an election-eve miracle. The President, in other words, is home free.
If and when he does win on Tuesday. But if it was the economy wot won it, it most certainly! So while Mr Kenneth Clarke, the chancellor, was portraying this weeks' decision to raise interest rates as evidence of his determination to resist inflation, MPs and economists could not help wondering what other sur- prises he might have up his sleeve. Suspicions naturally focused on the Budget, now barely three weeks away. Conservative back- benchers hoped - and some City pundits feared - that what Mr Clarke had taken away by raising rates he would more than give back through cuts in taxes.
This unsettled the currency markets. After rising strongly in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday's quarter-point rate increase, the pound had what one analyst described as "the most amazing up-and-down day" on Thursday. In spite of the measures taken since to enhance the open- ness of policymaking in the UK.
The min- utes of the monthly meetings between the chancellor and Mr Eddie George, the governor of the Bank ol England, tell the truth - but not the whole truth. Discus- sion of tax and public spending plans - and the ways' In which they impinge on interest rate decisions - are systematically removed from the written accounts of the meetings before they are published.
Perhaps more Important are the Budget confidences which pass between the chancellor and the governor over lunch. At least as frequent as the formal mone- tary meetings, these unpublicised tete a tetes take place alternately at the Bank and the chancellor's official residence at No li Down- ing Street, with only a single offi- cial present to take notes.
They range widely over topics of mutual interest, of which the content of the Budget would cer- tainly be one. But there is no evidence yet that the chancellor is planning to play Mr Nice Guy on taxes after playing Mr Nasty on interest rates.
Mr Clarke has waged a dogged and largely successful campaign to dampen expecta- tions of a pre-election giveaway since the Scottish Conservative party conference earlier this year.
The Bank, the International Monetary Fund and Treasury officials have made clear that big tax cuts cannot be justified on economic grounds, with stronger growth forecast and tax revenues mysteriously weak. The chancellor knew his deci- sion to acquiesce to the Bank's desire for higher interest rates would prompt betting on a give- away package. Tm going to set a Budget that win keep us on course for a balanced budget over the medium term. He said the economy had grown at around its long-term trend rate in the first half of the year, acceler- ated in the third quarter and was now set to expand by mare than 3 per cent in Mr George added that, by moving now to moderate the acceleration in the economic upswing, the chancel- lor would limit the amount by which rates eventually had to rise.
The financial futures market predicts rates will rise from their present 6 per cent to per cent by Christmas and per cent by the spring. Mr David Mackie, at J. Morgan, the investment bank, expects 7. There are plenty of signs that the economy is gathering momentum.
Not only is growth stronger now than in the first half of the year, it is also being built on broader foundations. The service sector has been expand- ing rapidly for some time, but manufacturing has now begun to emerge from the mini-recession of the past year. Retail sales meanwhile grew at an annual rate of more than 3 per cent between the second and third quarters of the year, while bank deposits have risen sharply- Mr Mackie argues the labour market is also tightening, which will put upward pressure on wages.
Unemployment has fallen below the average rate over the business cycle of the s and should soon fall below 2 m. There is evidence that the recent decline in unemployment partly reflects people dropping out of the labour market. But Mr Mackie dismisses the idea that this is merely disguised unem- ployment: It is caused by increases in the number of young people staying on in higher edu- cation and the number of older people taking early retirement. These groups cannot be attracted back into the labour market quickly when shortages of work- ers arise, he says.
Others see no signs of inflation- ary pressure that needs easing Off. Mr Peter Warburton at Rob- ert Fleming, the investment bank, argues that economic growth is being exaggerated by the un typically rapid growth of financial services.
And the fast expansion of the money supply owes more to corporate takeover activity than to consumers pre- paring to go mad in the shops, he says. In August the Bank gave the chancellor only a 40 per cent chance of hitting his target for Inflation of 2.
Since then the economy bas strengthened and inflation has failed to decline further as expec- ted. But the pound has risen by about 7 per cent. On the usual rule of thumb, this is equivalent to 1. He adds that the Bank would proba- bly now give the chancellor a chance of hitting his target But Mr Richard Jeffrey at Charterhouse Bank doubts Mr Clarke has done enough.
The consensus view is that tax cuts will centre on a lp cut in the basic rate of income tax now at 24 per cent and perhaps a widen- ing of the 20 per cent lower-rate band. This would be paid for by further trimming public spending plans, with money perhaps also saved by scaling down tax relief on profit-related pay. But if the tax giveaway is big- ger than the markets think pru- dent, it could undermine ster- ling's recent strength and force the chancellor into an embarrass- ing rate increase nearer the elec- tion.
So, to borrow one of Mr Clarke's favourite phrases, good economics might prove to be good politics. Sir, An interest rate rise of a quarter of 1 per cent doesn't sound much but it symbolises a lot. It says that the UK govern- ment thinks any further falls in unemployment will be inflation- ary and must be avoided.
It says that manufacturing, which already faced a 30 per cent rise in relative export prices since we left the ERM plus a 10 per cent rise in the nominal exchange rate From Prof Richard Pipes. Inappropriate From J. K Spence. Why does Patti Waldmeir, in an otherwise excellent article C 'Bill Clinton in a dress' lends labour bid to re-enter politics". October Leicestershire, UK over the last few weeks, will be further hit. It says that real interest rates, which have been rising with every fall in inflation, will remain far too high.
It says that export-led growth is ruled out and the econ- omy will have to be kept going by high borrowing at even higher rates of interest. It says the chan- cellor. Kenneth Clarke, is begin- But I must protest on behalf of the late E. He regarded the revolu- tion as inevitable and progres- sive, and called for collaboration From AZr R. G- Allurork. The internal workings of the World Trade Organisation are in place and functioning well.
The agenda for the Singapore s ummi t should be the agenda of the WTO itself: that is. The experience of the General Agree- ment on Tariffs and Trade since has proven that a system of nlng to fear that the game is up so he might as well leave Labour to inherit the consequences. It says that we're not going to seize the opportunity of a Europe locked in Maastricht deflation to win back some of the trade and markets we've lost.
How eloquent such little things can be. One is forced to wonder whether Mr CMahony ever read Carr. Richard Pipes, Baird Professor of History. Emeritus, Harvard University, Cambridge. Mass US law based upon a free trading system is at the centre of the answer to these questions. The WTO should set its agenda accordingly and use Singapore to ask these two questions of its member countries, to further the movement towards a free world.
The debate is too fundamental to be left to any single country to dictate. Allwork, 4 Curzon Drive. October 31 would seem to be partly of its own mak- ing.
While accusing the Conser- vatives of privatising companies too cheaply, the Labour party ignores the fact that rather than trying to maximise sale proceeds for the taxpayer, it has repeat- edly talked down the flotation value of state assets through its awn negative comments In the issuing prospectuses. It would seem particularly unfair for Labour to promise a tax now on the share price gains they themselves helped to create by trying to undermine the priva- tisation process on flotation.
There will be an in-depth examination of intranets and how companies are exploiting the opportunities of internetworking. Fbr a pointer on what the future of IT holds. No FT, no comment. Yet the fete of the country - and con- ceivably much of equatorial Africa - could be deter- mined by the state of health of the ailing dictator shelter- ing under its root For If President Sese Seko Mobutu, reportedly stricken with, prostate cancer, is tumble to rally bis retreat- ing army, Zaire could disin- tegrate.
The rebel Banyamu- lehge are now close to annexing a swathe of Kivu province, and the resulting turmoil might extend as far as Zambia in the south, Angola in the south-west and Uganda and Tanzania in the east.
But the year-old presi- dent has barely reacted to events in Kivu, except to exhort his nation to greater efforts. He has shown no signs of cutting short his stay in Switzerland to return to the country he has led for more than 30 years.
Nor has he dispatched the elite presidential guard, nor- mally summoned in timaa of crisis, to Kivu where the regular army is living up to its reputation as Africa's most indlsciplined force. The truth is that, illness aside. There have already been several seces- sion warn over Shaba, the copper and cobalt-mining province bordering Zambia - including one immediately after the country became Independent from Belgium in i Shaba declared itself autonomous from Kinshasa a few years ago.
Kasai, the diamond-rich central province, is over- whelmingly. Residents refuse to use currency printed by the central bank and would also dearly like to break away. The former Lt Gen Joseph Desirt Mobutu was hailed as a saviour when he seized control in , as wrangling among civilian politicians threatened to split the nation.
Applied to the army, his coterie and oppo- nents, his policy of divide and rule proved effective. When he could not buy out his enemies, he killed them. Above all. Belgium and Morocco intervened in the s and s to help crush secessionist rebels, and an array of nations, led by the US, provided arms and security assistance.
He has fun- nelled millions of dollars into Swiss bank accounts and Riviera residences, mak- ing Zaire one of the first states to be described as a kleptocracy. By the s. Pressed for political reform, he showed his old skills: back-pedalling, co-opting his opponents, dragging the whole transi- tion process out for what has now been six long years. But two rounds of army- led looting in the early s showed that central author- ity was breaking down.
Although dithering by the west and the opposition allowed him to survive those challenges. He rarely dared to spend a night in the capital Kinshasa, preferring his riv- erboat or the palace built at his home village of Gbadol- ite, in the depths of the for- est.
With his coun- try hosting Llm Hutu refu- gees. But Mr Mobutu's career- long practice of nurturing rebel movements dedicated to the overthrow of neigh- bouring regimes - in this case extremists fighting the Rwandan and Burundi gov- ernments - may have proved his undoing.
With the political scene splintered along tribal lines and no constitutional or des- ignated successor for Mr Mobutu, secession move- ments or other neighbours with territorial aspirations may now seize their chance. The army, for years the only force with any capacity to bind the country together, is unlikely to be able to stop them. Unpaid and thuggish, its best offi- cers have been sacked for tribal reasons. After years of tribalism and political inter- ference, we have a lot ctf men in uniform but no real army.
As for the crack troops, their numbers are too low to tackle more than one crisis at a time. Talk of an African peace- keeping force, touted by the US just before the crisis, has faded before the complexity of tiie conflict in east Zaire.
While a humanitarian opera- tion to feed the refugees Is conceivable, no nation could today justify a military intervention to keep such a discredited regime in power. But rumours that Paris, still smarting from Its loss of influence in Rwanda, is preparing covert action to support him have so far been hotly denied.
The Zairean president's epitaph has often been writ- ten, and it has always proved premature. This time, "the dinosaur's" luck may have run out. The launch will be significant for SES, because the satellite will be placed in a new orbital posi- tion. This is capable of accommo- dating several more of the com- pany's satellites with the ability to broadcast thousands of televi- sion channels across Eraope. But the September launch- will be even more important for Mr Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, and the future of the UK television business, lt will allow Mr Murdoch to launch digital satellite broadcasting, which will offer UK viewers the choice of hundreds of channels of sport and entertainment.
British Sky Broadcasting, the satellite television venture effec- tively controlled by News Corpo- ration. It will give BSkyB the ability to offer viewers up to different programme services, rising to in the future. Programmes on offer will include a wide range of specialist channels, plus access to pay-per-view feature films and exclusive pay-per-view sport The aim is to devote as many as 60 channels to the top 10 films, each broadcast on several chan- nels at staggered intervals.
View- ers wUT always be only 20 or 30 minutes away from the start of the films they want to watch. But the service that is expected to be most popular will he exclu- sive broadcasts of sporting events - at a price. The huge broadcast- ing capacity available will mean that a separate channel can be made available for each Premier- ship football match played in the UK on Saturday, with viewers paying for each match watched. Viewers will need a new black box to receive the pictures - but not a new television set.
The information aspatched urgently to. Ing voter adulation like -a , the president hugs and » beams his way down ope barrier which separates horn the hungry crowd, e secret service man holds presidential elbow and a l sometimes grabs him nd the waist to stop him ig into the mass.
Using both Is. Mr Clinton brushes nt fingertips and squeezes by palms, sucking energy all of them. Talks are under way with British Telecommunications and Bar- clays Bank on using the new digi- tal satellite service for home shopping and banking in return for subsidising black box sales.
The scale of BSbyB's plans and the dominance they could give it over the fixture of the broadcast- ing business are causing increas- ing alarm among some competi- tors and politicians. This would be a disaster for toe future of British broadcasting. British democracy and the European cul- tural industries.
On Thursday the UK became the first country -in toe world to call for formal applica- tions to run such terrestrial ser- vices broadcasting from transmit- ters on ' hills to conventional television aerials. Applications for about 35 programme services have to be submitted by toe end of January, with the aim of broadcasting by -July Viewers will also need a decoder to receive digital terres- trial services - and BSkyB has already specified that its digital satellite decoder should be com- patible with terrestrial standards.
A single box capable of han- dling both forms of digital televi- sion may not be that far away. And with BSkyB also consider- ing applying far digital terrestrial frequencies, this will raise fur- ther fears that Mr Murdoch will have a stranglehold on both farms of digital broadcasting. But BSkyB denies that it is attempting to get a vice-like grip on the new broadcasting technol- ogy.
They worry they will be overcharged if they use toe system and say it would be too expensive to set up their Own. But BSkyB says it has done nothing to offend believers in fair competition. It acquired toe Pre- miership rights in an open com- petition.
And its subscriber mam agement service is available to others on normal commercial terms. News Digital Systems, the News Corp technology subsid- iary, has already licensed encryp- tion systems to Murdoch rivals in other parts of the world. Three years ago the Philhar- monia was down and almost out. Thanks to this arrangement, the Philharmonia gets to pe rf orm important oper- atic works which it can then bring to London in concert per- formance.
London, with its limited sub- sidy and fickle audiences, is cur- rently unattractive to the great znaestros. More cha n»pg in g l he must raise toe its profile and artistic ambition in toe face of constant doubts as to whether London can support four orchestras.
The audience for live orches- tral music is ageing and increas- ingly reluctant to turn out unless it is to see a star conductor or soloist. Three years ago, the Arts Council flirted with the idea of using its subsidy to support a single super-orchestra compara- ble with the Berlin and Vienna P hilh a r monics.
But after a bruis- ing battle over which of the incumbents would receive its approval, it settled on a survival- of-the-fittest policy giving a grant to all four. Out of these, toe London Sym- phony is the only orchestra which is financially secure. I n contrast, toe Royal Phil- harmonic has to move very quickly to stay alive.
With toe Arts Council cutting its grant to around 5 per cent of its annual revenue, it has found alternative sources of Income, including a residency at Notting- ham and an association with toe Royal Albert Hall. It has also become the bouse orchestra of Classic FM.
But this hand-to-mouth exis- tence for all four orchestras takes its toll in chronic insecurity, exhausting workloads and frozen or even reduced fees. Recording work - one traditional source of income - has dried up, with demand for new interpretations of the repertoire met by cheaper eastern European orchestras.
The main hope for the London orchestras is toe National Lot- tery. The lengthy volume This makes for an intellectual wild ride Several monographs twine together in a single revolutionary epic In short, the book is an achievement.
Perhaps just because of its driving, prolix, protean character, wherein discoveries fly out like sparks along the way, the reader sees a new perspective on the age that reaches beyond the Oxford-centered understanding. With that flair, I expect it will be picked up by a commercial publisher, Spanish or English. Ver, begin is a spiritual advance upon much invective and polemic that have gone before.
Mansoor Ahmed Khan. Log in with Facebook Log in with Google. Remember me on this computer. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. Need an account? Click here to sign up. Download Free PDF. Adventures in English literature. Jefferson Divino. Abstract Adventures in English literature. Related Papers. The sight the voice and the deed an Introduction to Drama from Sophocles to Goethe.
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