A text of the deal leaves the wording on details of curbs on palm oil “yet to be agreed”, with EU sources saying the matter remains politically sensitive.

Limits on conventional biofuels in transport will be frozen at the national level at 2020 but must not surpass 7 percent, the text says.

Green lawmaker Bas Eickhout, one of the negotiators in tough talks that ran until the early morning, said the use of palm oil would be capped at 2019 levels until 2023 and reduced to zero by 2030.

“That is quite a victory. There is no precedent for a phase-out of the use of specific crops,” said Eickhout.

The European Parliament caused an outcry among palm producers in Asia when it called in January for a total ban on palm oil use in road fuel, as part of its negotiating position for talks with member states to hammer out the final deal.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, which produce the majority of the palm oil imported into Europe, had warned ahead of Thursday’s agreement they would retaliate against what they called protectionist measures, if a ban was introduced.

A 2015 study funded by the European Commission found that palm oil and soybean oil had the highest indirect greenhouse gas emissions because of the deforestation and the drainage of peatlands associated with their cultivation.

“Governments now have no more excuse to force drivers to burn food or palm oil in their tanks after 2020,” said Laura Buffet at campaign group Transport & Environment.

Palm oil has been used increasingly as a feedstock for biofuels because it is cheaper than locally produced rapeseed oil. Half of the EU’s 6 billion euros ($7 billion) worth of palm oil imports are used for biodiesel, according to data from Copenhagen Economics.

Thursday’s agreement is part of a broader legislative package aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

This is part of the bloc’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep global warming well below 2 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels.

Labour groups in the Philippines have voiced alarm over the drop of the peso against the US dollar to its lowest level in 12 years, but some business groups are not worried.

The peso closed at 53.27 to a dollar on Thursday, a further deterioration from the 53.23 pesos the day before and a big drop from Monday’s 52.95 pesos.

At 53.27 pesos , the currency is higher than the government exchange rate assumption of 50 to 53 pesos for 2018.

“It’s no cause for concern,” said George Barcelon, chair of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Barcelon noted that other currencies in the region have weakened against the US dollar as well.

“As long as it works within a range that’s manageable, it’s OK. What’s difficult is the sudden increase and decrease,” he added.

The peso has depreciated against the greenback in the wake of the decision of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, to raise US interest rates for the second time this year. – Philippine Daily Inquirer

Malaysia needs to restore investors’ confidence

While Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is rushing ahead with his daunting list, the country still has much to prove to the global markets still shocked by the corruption and incompetent of the previous government.

In an opinion piece, Nikkei Asian Review said Dr Mahathir , on the job for less than a month, had already ordered an investigation of 1Malaysia Development Bhd, the state fund former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak created in 2009, his first year in office.

Najib denies wrongdoing but the US$4.5 billion missing from 1MDB, and the US$700 million mysteriously found in the former prime minister’s personal accounts, have sealed his political fate.

“Clawing back those billions will come in handy as Mahathir grapples with a much bigger debt load than was expected. As it turned out, the 50 per cent debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio Najib claimed is closer to 80 per cent. A transparent accounting of what Najib and his enablers did might restore Malaysia’s image in markets,” Nikkei Asian Review said. – The Star

PermataBank cashes up ATMS with 838 bn rupiah

Inodnesia’s private lender PermataBank has distributed 838 billion rupiah (US$59.93 million) to its ATMs across the country for the Idul Fitri holiday from June 11 to 21, one of its executive has said.

Richele Maramis, the bank’s head of corporate affairs, said the amount was calculated based on trends during Idul Fitri holidays in previous years.

“We have prepared [our services] and will resume normal operations at 67 branch offices from June 19 to 20,” Richele said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

Richele said customers would still be able to report any complaints to the bank during the holiday through its call center, PermataTel, which operates for 24 hours.

She assured that customers would receive responses directly from the call center, while special complaint cases would require further investigation based on the existing service level agreement (SLA). – The Jakarta Post

“Most likely, the amnesty will come in April also because we don’t want the taxpayer to be filing many things—just one filing of amnesty and income tax at the same time. I think that’s most reasonable,” Dominguez told reporters late Wednesday.

Dominguez said that the Lower House was “moving quickly” on pending legislation for the tax amnesty, which forms part of tax reform package “1B,” an offshoot of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act under Republic Act No. 10963 signed by President Duterte last December.

Besides a general tax amnesty, package 1B also includes an estate tax amnesty, higher motor vehicle user’s charge, bank secrecy relaxation and automatic exchange of information.

Tax package 1B was a result of the Senate’s removal of the tax administration measures from the original first tax reform package passed by the Lower House last year under House Bill No. 5636. Once package 1B is passed, it will add about 40 billion pesos in revenues this year.

“I’d like to have it [tax package 1B] passed in the third quarter by the latest. By that time, it’s good because it will increase our revenues and basically help us in our tax administration. The sooner we get it, the better,” Dominguez said.

The finance chief nonetheless noted that even if the tax package would be passed in the third quarter of this year, the revenues would come in 2018.

In January, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said that the general tax amnesty program alone could generate 26 billion pesos in revenues for the government.

Dominguez earlier said that under its comprehensive tax reform programme, the government was considering amnesty for taxpayers with deficiencies in payments of property taxes, estate taxes and regular taxes such as income taxes and value-added tax.

The Mekong River Commission Secretariat released a media statement on Thursday, saying that it had received an official notification from the Lao government that it would undertake the formal process of prior consultation on its Paklai hydropower project.

The planned run-of-river dam will be located in the Paklai area in the northern province of Xayaboury. Electricity generation facilities would operate continuously year-round and produce 770MW of power, the MRC media statement said.

Prior consultation

The Lao government proposed the prior consultation with Mekong River Commission (MRC) members over the Paklai hydropower project as part of its obligations under the 1995 Mekong Agreement.

The MRC Secretariat will, within one month, review the document and verify its completeness against the prior consultation procedures before forwarding the case to the MRC’s Joint Committee, a body consisting of four member countries’ representatives at the head-of-department level where the consultation takes place.

The prior consultation is part of the MRC’s procedural rules on cooperation on water use of the Mekong mainstream: Procedures for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA).

This process normally lasts six months, but could be extended further by the Joint Committee.

The MRC has so far experienced three prior consultation cases – the Xayaboury, Don Sahong, and Pakbaeng hydropower projects, all of which are situated on the Mekong mainstream in Laos.

According to the WB’s Taking Stock report released on Thursday, Vietnam’s economic growth has been robust in recent times, accompanied by broad macro-economic stability.

Sebastian Eckardt, lead economist of the WB in Vietnam, said current favourable economic conditions such as high growth and low inflation offer Vietnam a special chance to boost reform.

Prudent macro-economic policies should be in parallel with profound and comprehensive structural reforms, including reform of regulations to remove barriers and reduce operational costs for the private sector, investment in high-quality human resources and infrastructure, and increased productivity at state-owned enterprises, he said.

According to the report, Vietnam’s trade balance has continued to improve owing to a strong trade performance and foreign direct investment inflows, contributing to the overall current account surplus, estimated at 6.8 per cent of GDP in Q1 2018. The exchange rate has remained relatively stable while reserves have continued to rise, reaching US$63 billion in the first four months of this year, equal to around 3.6 months of imports.

Against the backdrop of low inflation, monetary policy remains accommodative. Vietnam’s consumer price index has been ticking up slightly at 2.8 per cent (year on year), driven by electricity and health service price hikes. Rapid credit growth and abundant liquidity could worsen volatility in Vietnam’s financial markets, especially against the anticipated tightening of global monetary conditions. Public debt has stabilised since 2017, with an overall fiscal deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP, and the public-debt-to-GDP ratio declined to 61.4 per cent in 2017 from 63.6 per cent in 2016, said the WB.

Vietnam’s medium-term outlook has improved further since the last Taking Stock in December 2017. Real GDP is projected to expand by 6.8 per cent this year (up from 6.5 per cent in the previous forecast) before moderating to 6.6 per cent in 2019 and 6.5 per cent in 2020, due to an expected slowdown in global demand.

Inflation is expected to remain around the 4 per cent this year as the government targets. The current account balance is projected to remain in a surplus, but could start narrowing next year, reflecting widening deficits on the income and services accounts. Fiscal deficits and public debt are expected to remain under control.

The report said despite improved short-term prospects, risks remain significant. Domestically, slower progress in restructuring state-owned enterprises and the banking sector could adversely impact the macro-financial situation, undermine growth prospects and create large public-sector liabilities. External risks include escalating trade protectionism, heightened geopolitical tensions and faster-than-expected monetary tightening could lead to disorderly financial market movements.

According to the WB, Vietnam has made great progress in reducing tariffs but there remains significant potential to reduce trade costs through rationalisation of non-tariff measures or specialised controls, and more efficient border management and logistics.

The EU’s executive body, the European Commission, cleared all Indonesian carriers from the EU Air Safety List, which prohibits a number of airlines from operating within EU member states.

“Following today’s update, all airlines certified in Indonesia are cleared from the list; following further improvements to the aviation safety situation that was ascertained in the country,” said the EU press statement on Thursday.

The ban was revoked after a positive assessment of Indonesia’s flight safety by the International Civil Aviation Organisation in October last year and the EU aviation audit agency in March this year, according to a press statement by the Foreign Ministry also on Thursday.

“It is the most beautiful gift for Indonesia this Idul Fitri,” said Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi on her official Instagram @retno_marsudi, referring to the Eid holiday.

“The long fight eventually delivered a satisfying result.”

The ministry’s director general for American and European Affairs Muhammad Anshor said the revocation was “the result of the hard work of the Foreign Ministry, the Transportation Ministry and other related stakeholders.”

“We raised the issue at every opportunity,” Anshor said on the same day. “In a joint committee meeting between the EU and Indonesia last November, we discussed the issue. Eventually, in a EU Air Safety Committee meeting on May 30, Indonesia along with the airlines’ representatives convinced the EU [to lift the ban].”

All Indonesian airlines were put on the EU Air Safety List in 2007 because of unaddressed safety concerns over the years.

The major carriers, such as Garuda Indonesia, Airfast Indonesia, Ekspres Transportasi Antarbenua, Indonesia Air Asia, Citilink, Lion Air and Batik Air, were removed gradually from 2009 to 2016, but the remaining Indonesian airlines were still on the list until Thursday.

“The lifting of the ban on all Indonesian airlines from the EU Air Safety List reflects transparent cooperation with measurable standards, as well as the commitment of Indonesia and the EU to improve bilateral relations.”