International Business
MEXICAN STOCKS
* Mexico’s hard-currency reserves rose 1% during the week ended Friday to $13.54 billion from $13.36 billion on Aug. 18. The central bank also said that reserves have risen from $3.48 billion at the end of January. In December, dwindling reserves were behind the move to devalue the peso.
* A plan to assist Mexican borrowers paying high interest charges will worsen credit problems at Mexican banks, Standard & Poor’s said Wednesday. The debtors assistance program will put a cap on the interest rates banks charge customers on existing loans. Loan rates have soared as a result of the economic crisis that followed the currency devaluation.
The Bolsa Index
Wednesday closes: 2,480.9
Source: Bloomberg Business News
SPOTLIGHT: SOUTH KOREA
In 1963, 63% of the labor force worked in agriculture. Today, South Korea--producer of 10% of the world’s semiconductors--has the 12th-largest global economy. Reforms passed under President Kim Young Sam have catalyzed economic growth, but recent political unrest could threaten the nation’s financial future.
Source: Bank of America World Information Services
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