Oil cruises beyond $106

SINGAPORE: Brent traded above $106 a barrel on Tuesday, rising for a second straight session, after a radical French proposal to roll over Greek debt strengthened the euro and eased concerns of the debt crisis spreading across Europe.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said that French banks had reached a draft agreement with the authorities on a voluntary rollover of maturing bonds, as markets anxiously awaited an outcome of a vote in Greece to approve unpopular fiscal austerity measures.

ICE Brent crude for August LCOc1 gained 25 cents to $106.24 a barrel by 0231 GMT after hitting an intraday high of $106.84. U.S. crude CLc1 rose 36 cents to $90.97 barrel, staying above the front-month 250-day moving average of $89.45.

“The market is slightly optimistic thanks to comments from the French President last night,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity sales manager at Newedge Japan.

A stronger euro makes dollar-denominated oil more affordable.

Investors are still watching if Greece’s parliament will approve austerity steps that are a precondition for international aid the country needs to avoid a default.

“WTI may be supported around $90, but any upside will be limited because of concerns about the economy in the euro zone,” Hasegawa said.

This could keep Brent’s premium to WTI CL-LCO1=R in a range between $13 and $15 a barrel, he added.

The euro inched higher on Tuesday, but stalled just below chart resistance, as investors awaited the Greek vote.

Without approval, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund say they will not disburse the fifth trance of Greece’s 110 billion-euro bailout programme. Athens needs the aid to pay its bills next month and avert the euro zone’s first sovereign default.

“If they fail to get an agreement, oil prices will fall,” Hasegawa said.

A surprise announcement by the International Energy Agency to release oil from strategic reserves has likely been priced in after Brent fell 7 percent last week, he added.

“Fundamentally, I don’t think that will have a big impact on the market … as the 60 million barrels of oil can be absorbed easily,” he said.

South Korea will start to release 3.46 million barrels of oil, including 2 million barrels of crude and 1.46 million barrels of products by “today at the earliest,” a source at the economy ministry said.

A drop in prices may lift gasoline consumption in the United States, Hasegawa said, easing concerns of demand destruction at the world’s largest oil user.

The market is also gearing up for a fall in crude inventories in the United States in industry data due late Tuesday. Analysts are expecting stocks to shrink for the fourth week in a row. AGENCIES

IMF initiates process for electing new Chief

The post went vacant following former International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned in the wake of a sex scandal.

An individual “may be nominated for the position of managing director by a Fund governor or an executive director during a nomination period which shall commence on May 23, 2011 and will close on June 10, 2011,” said the IMF.

The board s aim “is to select the managing director by consensus with the objective of completing the selection process by June 30, 2011.”

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde emerged as Europe s choice to lead the IMF, getting a boost when a Turkish favourite ruled out his candidacy for the powerful job.

Meanwhile, former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has left jail and is believed to be staying in an apartment in lower Manhattan.

IMF chief charged with sex assault granted bail

NEW YORK: Dominique Strauss-Kahn was granted bail by a New York judge on Thursday, and the former IMF chief has vowed to fight charges that he tried to rape a hotel maid in Manhattan.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus said that Strauss-Kahn, 62, can be released on $1 million cash bail, and placed under 24-hour home detention with electronic monitoring — conditions that had been proposed by his lawyers.

The judge also said Strauss-Kahn must have one armed guard at all times at his own expense and have a $5 million insurance bond.

His wife, French television journalist Anne Sinclair, and his daughter Camille Strauss-Kahn had arrived at the court arm in arm. Strauss-Kahn arrived in court looking tired and was wearing a blue shirt, no tie, and a grey jacket.

Strauss-Kahn, a man accustomed to luxury hotel suites and first-class plane travel, had been denied bail in Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday and has spent the past three nights in New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail.

He strongly denied charges of a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, sexual abuse, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching, in a letter released on

PM Gilani rules out any amendment in blasphemy law

Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said the government will work with other political parties to pursue the 10 point agenda proposed by PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif through a letter to him. The Prime Minister also ruled out any amendment in the blasphemy law.

Talking to media after an inauguration ceremony of OIC village and designation of Abrarul Haq as OIC humanitarian ambassador, the Prime Minister said the leaders of parliamentary parties will guide and assist the government as it works on the agenda.

To a question about reports of pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for privatization of institutions, he said the government will do things which are in the interest of the country. Gilani said the government is representative of people and will do everything within its resources to provide relief to masses.

He said it is nothing unusual if his family comes under criticism. He said a parliamentary committee is looking into the Hajj scandal and PML-N members who levelled accusations will appear before it and then the report will be put before parliament. The matter is also subjudice before the court, he added.

To a question about the statement of Pope Benedict on blasphemy law, Gilani said the government will follow laws of Pakistan and he has already categorically stated that there will be no change in the law.He urged media to be responsible and said controversy on blasphemy law should be stopped.He said Interior Minister will make public the investigation into assassination of Governor Punjab late Salman Taseer.
The Prime Minister said the stakeholders who have reservations on the revision of petroleum products could hold meetings with Finance Ministry on the issue

He said he respects chief of JUI-F Maulana Fazlur Rehman and the government will work with others to find solution to problems.

Govt to drop power bombshell by 4.3 tariff hike from 2011

The government is going to give a shocking gift to the people on New Year i.e a power bombshell by a hike of 4.3 percent in tariff, Media reported on Tuesday.

The increase in the tariff under an agreement with International Monetary Fund for the loans under which the subsidy given on power would be gradually eliminated by the end of this fiscal year.

Earlier, the government has raised the power by 50 percent adding to the woes of already miserable public.

EU/IMF Ireland package to total €85 billion: report

LONDON: The European Union and IMF bailout package for Ireland will total 85 billion euros ($114 billion) over three years to fund the government deficit and recapitalize banks, public broadcaster RTE said.

The Irish Finance Ministry dismissed the report as premature and said the package was still under negotiation.

RTE’s figure, which would amount to roughly 20,000 euros per Irish citizen, is in line with figures estimated by economists, although some have said that even more could be needed to keep the country afloat.

RTE said the package from the EU and the International Monetary Fund would provide 48 billion euros to help fund the Irish government’s deficit over the next three years and 15-20 billion to recapitalize its banks, with a contingency fund of 20 billion euros for the banks.

“The package would see the level of capital in the Irish banks

Power tariff goes up by 2pc

Staff Report

KARACHI: The federal government has issued notification regarding two percent hike in electricity tariff in line with the guidelines of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Trend Pk reported Monday.

The fresh raise will be applicable from 1st November.

Sources say that the government has provided copies of the notification to an IMF team.

Under the IMF conditions, the government has to completely withdraw its subsidy on electricity by June 30, 2011.

On the whole, 20 percent increase in power tariff will be made by June next year. Trend Pk

Factbox: What to watch at the Seoul G20

SEOUL: World leaders gather in Seoul on Thursday and Friday for a Group of 20 summit aimed at safeguarding the global economic recovery and defusing trade and currency tensions.

This is the fifth meeting of the G20 leaders, representing advanced and emerging economies that account for about 85 percent of global output, since the global financial crisis erupted in 2008.

Here are the key issues that are expected to be discussed:

GLOBAL IMBALANCES: Ironing out rifts between export-rich countries and debt-laden consumer nations has become the G20′s cornerstone. Leaders have already agreed on a “framework” for balanced growth, and have submitted medium-term economic plans for International Monetary Fund review to ensure they do not clash.

Extending or deepening this framework might be one relatively easy spot to reach consensus in what look to be fraught

Factbox: What to watch at the Seoul G20

SEOUL: World leaders gather in Seoul on Thursday and Friday for a Group of 20 summit aimed at safeguarding the global economic recovery and defusing trade and currency tensions.

This is the fifth meeting of the G20 leaders, representing advanced and emerging economies that account for about 85 percent of global output, since the global financial crisis erupted in 2008.

Here are the key issues that are expected to be discussed:

GLOBAL IMBALANCES: Ironing out rifts between export-rich countries and debt-laden consumer nations has become the G20′s cornerstone. Leaders have already agreed on a “framework” for balanced growth, and have submitted medium-term economic plans for International Monetary Fund review to ensure they do not clash.

Extending or deepening this framework might be one relatively easy spot to reach consensus in what look to be fraught

China gets major stake in IMF vote overhaul

WASHINGTON: In a historic decision, the International Monetary Fund board agreed on Friday to boost the voting power of big emerging economies and make China the third leading voice in the global lender.

“This historic agreement is the most fundamental governance overhaul in the fund’s 65-year history and the biggest ever shift of influence in favor of emerging market and developing countries to recognize their growing role in the global economy,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a news conference.

Under the deal, first clinched by finance ministers of Group of 20 leading economies in South Korea last month, 6 percent of IMF voting shares will be transferred to “dynamic” emerging market countries from industrial economies.

The move would vault China over Germany, France and Britain into third spot behind the United States and Japan. It would

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