Unnamed: 0
int64 0
3.83k
| text
stringlengths 75
808
|
|---|---|
900 | <s>[INST] Decades of profligate government spending covered up by a central [/INST] bank that did little more than print money had triggered a vicious cycle of devaluation and inflation. </s> |
901 | <s>[INST] It took Mr. Menem four economy ministers -- one of whom died of a heart [/INST] attack after only six days on the job -- and 10 emergency economic plans to finally put the Argentine economy into what he termed "surgery without anesthesia". </s> |
902 | <s>[INST] The centerpiece of the plan, devised by thenEconomy Minister Domingo Cavallo, was the fixed link [/INST] between local currency and the dollar, backed by a law barring the printing of new money unless backed by dollar or gold reserves or certain government paper. </s> |
903 | <s>[INST] Mr. Cavallo was helped in his task [/INST] by the fact that there wasn't much of a currency base to cover. </s> |
904 | <s>[INST] "Thanks to hyperinflation, the banking sector had shrunk [/INST] to almost nothing," recalls Guillermo Calvo, an economist at the University of Maryland. </s> |
905 | <s>[INST] By contrast, Indonesia's banking [/INST] sector has expanded aggressively in recent years. </s> |
906 | <s>[INST] Mr. Cavallo was also ironically favored by [/INST] the fact that Argentina was effectively in default to its creditors. </s> |
907 | <s>[INST] Indonesia's currency-board proposal comes at a time when it is [/INST] trying to avoid default by renegotiating $80 billion in offshore corporate debt with a myriad of worried bankers. </s> |
908 | <s>[INST] Mr. Cavallo also had the means at [/INST] his disposal to attract the dollars to get the Argentine economy growing again. </s> |
909 | <s>[INST] That is key to making a currency [/INST] board work because it brings down inflation and thus, nominal interest rates. </s> |
910 | <s>[INST] He slashed longstanding trade barriers and opened up formerly [/INST] closed sectors to foreign investors, privatizing over a four-year period some $30 billion in assets. </s> |
911 | <s>[INST] It long ago liberalized most of its [/INST] economy and has already privatized many of its most valuable possessions. </s> |
912 | <s>[INST] And as long as the succession issue remains unresolved, [/INST] investors are likely to remain nervous, Mr. Schwarz of the Council on Foreign Relations says. </s> |
913 | <s>[INST] That means Mr. Suharto's commitment to [/INST] convertibility will be frequently tested, just as has Mr. Menem's. </s> |
914 | <s>[INST] When investors fled Latin America after Mexico devalued its peso in [/INST] 1994, Argentina suffered skyhigh interest rates, a brutal year-long recession and an unemployment rate of 18% in defense of its currency. </s> |
915 | <s>[INST] That said, few observers gave Argentina's [/INST] currency board much chance of success when it was launched, either. </s> |
916 | <s>[INST] J.P. Morgan & Co. economist Alfonso Prat-Gay recalls putting out [/INST] a study in early 1991 boldly predicting that convertibility would last through the end of the year. </s> |
917 | <s>[INST] "We were the only ones on the Street [/INST] who thought that," he said of his former colleagues in an economic consultancy here. </s> |
918 | <s>[INST] Economic fundamentals for Argentina at the end of 1990, before it adopted a currency peg, and estimates for Indonesia at the end of 1997 Argentina Indonesia Gross domestic [/INST] product (year-to-year change) -1.3% +4.8% Inflation (year-to-year change in consumer prices) 2,314% 8% M3 Money Supply (year-to-year growth) +719% +17% Public-Sector Fiscal Deficit (as % of GDP) 6.1% 1.0% Note: M3, the most comprehensive measure of a country's money supply, includes currency in circulation, commercial and private deposits and overnight and time-repurchase agreements. </s> |
919 | <s>[INST] Source: J.P. Morgan Credit: [/INST] Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal </s> |
920 | <s>[INST] ___ Document 224 of 500 World Watch Author: Compiled by [/INST] Paul J. Deveney Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 28 Jan 1998: A12. </s> |
921 | <s>[INST] accountid=28034 Abstract: According to the latest proposal, which is still preliminary, Deutsche Telekom [/INST] will charge the companies a one-time fee of 42.24 marks ($23.52) for the switch, down from the original transfer charge of 95 marks. </s> |
922 | <s>[INST] Because Deutsche Telekom says it will now have to pick up more than half of the [/INST] costs of the changeover, it is touting the latest plan as "a significant contribution" on the part of the former monopoly to opening competition in the German phone market. </s> |
923 | <s>[INST] The proposal still needs the approval of other service providers and [/INST] German regulators, who are expected to sign off on some sort of a deal by the end of this month. </s> |
924 | <s>[INST] The Paris Bourse is betting that with the launch next year of [/INST] Europe's unified currency, the euro, it will begin to rival the mighty London stock exchange as a hub of pan-European share trading. </s> |
925 | <s>[INST] The Paris exchange says it will be ready to quote and trade in euros on the first business day of [/INST] 1999, and adds that moves are afoot to develop closer alliances with other exchanges on the Continent, many of which -- unlike Britain's -- hope to be part of European economic and monetary union right from the start. </s> |
926 | <s>[INST] The Paris exchange boasts that it had the biggest gain in [/INST] volume, 67%, among European exchanges last year and that it was second only to London in new stock listings. </s> |
927 | <s>[INST] But the Bourse still has [/INST] a long way to go to match London. </s> |
928 | <s>[INST] Paris's combined domestic and international volume amounted to the equivalent of [/INST] about GBP 165 billion ($273 billion) in 1996, nowhere near the GBP 890 billion reported in the trading rooms of London. </s> |
929 | <s>[INST] Germany's Bayerische Motoren Werke AG may be applying some calculated pressure in its quest for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. [/INST] On more than one occasion in recent days, the Bavarian auto maker has made it clear that it will compete in the market for super-luxury motor vehicles -- and it will do it with or without Rolls-Royce. </s> |
930 | <s>[INST] BMW is one of several companies, along with a bevy [/INST] of well-heeled car enthusiasts, interested in acquiring the famous British auto maker from its current owner, Vickers PLC. </s> |
931 | <s>[INST] BMW is widely considered the front-runner to win the [/INST] hand of Rolls-Royce, though Vickers has said repeatedly that BMW wouldn't be given any special treatment. </s> |
932 | <s>[INST] In the past week, BMW Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder has begun [/INST] telling people the German company might do its own thing if doesn't get the nod from Vickers. </s> |
933 | <s>[INST] Such a move would add to the [/INST] competitive pressure on Rolls-Royce in the event that it weren't sold to BMW. </s> |
934 | <s>[INST] Full text: Europe/Mideast Deutsche Telekom Offers a [/INST] Truce In Fee Dispute Deutsche Telekom AG finally seems to be coming around. </s> |
935 | <s>[INST] The German phone giant now plans to slash in [/INST] half the controversial fee it was charging for switching long-distance service to a rival carrier. </s> |
936 | <s>[INST] And in a particularly interesting twist, the consumer [/INST] will no longer be the target of all this -- at least not directly. </s> |
937 | <s>[INST] Deutsche Telekom now wants to levy the charge on its competitors, [/INST] a process that will allow its rivals to do the same thing if the ball is in the other court. </s> |
938 | <s>[INST] According to the latest proposal, which is still preliminary, Deutsche Telekom will [/INST] charge the companies a one-time fee of 42.24 marks ($23.52) for the switch, down from the original transfer charge of 95 marks. </s> |
939 | <s>[INST] Because Deutsche Telekom says it will now have to pick up more than half of the [/INST] costs of the changeover, it is touting the latest plan as "a significant contribution" on the part of the former monopoly to opening competition in the German phone market. </s> |
940 | <s>[INST] The proposal still needs the approval of other service providers and [/INST] German regulators, who are expected to sign off on some sort of a deal by the end of this month. </s> |
941 | <s>[INST] Paris Bourse Eyes Broader Role The Paris Bourse is betting that with the launch [/INST] next year of Europe's unified currency, the euro, it will begin to rival the mighty London stock exchange as a hub of pan-European share trading. </s> |
942 | <s>[INST] The Paris exchange says it will be ready to quote and trade in euros on the first business day of [/INST] 1999, and adds that moves are afoot to develop closer alliances with other exchanges on the Continent, many of which -- unlike Britain's -- hope to be part of European economic and monetary union right from the start. </s> |
943 | <s>[INST] The Paris exchange boasts that it had the biggest gain in [/INST] volume, 67%, among European exchanges last year and that it was second only to London in new stock listings. </s> |
944 | <s>[INST] But the Bourse still has [/INST] a long way to go to match London. </s> |
945 | <s>[INST] Paris's combined domestic and international volume amounted to the equivalent of [/INST] about GBP 165 billion ($273 billion) in 1996, nowhere near the GBP 890 billion reported in the trading rooms of London. </s> |
946 | <s>[INST] BMW Steps Up Pressure for Rolls Deal Germany's Bayerische Motoren Werke AG may be applying some calculated pressure in its quest for [/INST] Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. On more than one occasion in recent days, the Bavarian auto maker has made it clear that it will compete in the market for super-luxury motor vehicles -- and it will do it with or without Rolls-Royce. </s> |
947 | <s>[INST] BMW is one of several companies, along with a bevy [/INST] of well-heeled car enthusiasts, interested in acquiring the famous British auto maker from its current owner, Vickers PLC. </s> |
948 | <s>[INST] BMW is widely considered the front-runner to win the [/INST] hand of Rolls-Royce, though Vickers has said repeatedly that BMW wouldn't be given any special treatment. </s> |
949 | <s>[INST] In the past week, BMW Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder has begun [/INST] telling people the German company might do its own thing if doesn't get the nod from Vickers. </s> |
950 | <s>[INST] Such a move would add to the [/INST] competitive pressure on Rolls-Royce in the event that it weren't sold to BMW. </s> |
951 | <s>[INST] France Plans to Sell Polish Debts The appetite [/INST] for emerging-market debt is slowly reappearing in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. </s> |
952 | <s>[INST] Now France plans to sell off some of [/INST] the 21 billion francs ($3.49 billion) owed to it by Poland to institutional Eurobond investors. </s> |
953 | <s>[INST] In the past week, Hungary, Argentina and Turkey have all tapped into [/INST] the Eurobond market, and Turkey is expected to begin road shows shortly for its first U.S. dollar-denominated offering of the year. </s> |
954 | <s>[INST] While French officials and their bankers insist Poland is a good credit [/INST] risk, the yield premiums that investors demand for owning the East European nation's paper has yet to return to pre-Asian crisis levels. </s> |
955 | <s>[INST] EU Ruling Near on Freezer Debate Those small corner grocery stores in Ireland are likely to find more room in their freezers for ice [/INST] cream products made by companies other than Ireland's HB Ice Cream Ltd. That's because the European Commission is apparently ready to order that the Irish unit of Anglo-Dutch consumer-products group Unilever PLC stop forcing Irish shop owners to stock rival ice-cream brands in a separate freezer. </s> |
956 | <s>[INST] Such a decision, which an individual at the European [/INST] Union says is in the works, would mark a victory for U.S. confectionery group Mars Inc </s> |
957 | <s>[INST] It complained to the EU's executive body in 1991 that by [/INST] excluding rival products, Unilever was in practice closing off competitors because most small shops don't have room for a second freezer. </s> |
958 | <s>[INST] EgyptAir Faces Rivals in Home Market EgyptAir is getting its [/INST] first competition in the domestic airline market since the 1952 uprising that forced King Farouk to abdicate. </s> |
959 | <s>[INST] Aviation officials have broken the flag carrier's stranglehold [/INST] on its home market by licensing two private competitors to fly daily domestic scheduled flights. </s> |
960 | <s>[INST] Aircraft Maintenance Co. has begun doing [/INST] a brisk business plucking end-of-Ramadan holiday travelers off EgyptAir's waiting lists. </s> |
961 | <s>[INST] However, the other company, Shorouk Air, a [/INST] joint-venture between EgyptAir and Kuwait Airways, has yet to begin service. </s> |
962 | <s>[INST] BRIEFLY: -- Business confidence among British manufacturers has suffered [/INST] its sharpest fall since October 1995, according to the Confederation of British Industry's quarterly industrial-trends survey. </s> |
963 | <s>[INST] The survey is seen as adding [/INST] weight to the argument to leave interest rates unchanged. </s> |
964 | <s>[INST] -- German electronics company Siemens AG's earnings jumped 19% to [/INST] 569 million marks ($316.8 million) in its fiscal first quarter on an equally strong jump in sales. </s> |
965 | <s>[INST] -- Spain's Banco Central Hispanoamericano saw earnings surge 44% last year [/INST] to 63.5 billion pesetas ($417.1 million), boosted by gains in its retail-banking business and increased income from investment funds. </s> |
966 | <s>[INST] -- Russian telecommunications holding company AO Svyazinvest says there is little hope of stopping a [/INST] controversial share issue that has caused a sharp fall in the shares of one of its affiliates, Moscow City Telephone Co. The issue increased authorized share capital by 50%. </s> |
967 | <s>[INST] ASIA/Pacific Report Targets U.S. Japan Policy Despite prospects for [/INST] Japan's trade surplus to continue rising, the U.S. will probably maintain its policy favoring a strong dollar. </s> |
968 | <s>[INST] It says that as long as Tokyo pursues the [/INST] combination of loose monetary policy and tight fiscal policy, the nation's trade surplus will inevitably climb. </s> |
969 | <s>[INST] However, the report adds that Washington will [/INST] probably step up its pressure on Japan to boost domestic demand. </s> |
970 | <s>[INST] The U.S. sees Tokyo's policy failures as triggering an [/INST] economic deterioration, and considers Japan's economic weakness as contributing to aggravating Asia's financial crisis, the report adds. </s> |
971 | <s>[INST] Softbank, Morningstar Plan Venture With an [/INST] eye to the coming deregulation of Japan's financial markets, Softbank Corp. </s> |
972 | <s>[INST] , a Japanese wholesaler of personal-computer software, is establishing a joint venture with U.S. mutual-fund tracker Morningstar Inc. The new company, to [/INST] be called Morningstar KK, will be capitalized at about 400 million yen ($3.2 million), and is being set up to provide investment information services in anticipation of a surge in demand for such data when the barriers come tumbling down all over Japan. </s> |
973 | <s>[INST] BRIEFLY: -- The shipbuilding industry in Japan retained its world [/INST] leadership role for the fourth straight year in 1997, with South Korea's shipyards close behind, preliminary industry figures show. </s> |
974 | <s>[INST] The Americas Canadian Firm Seeks Spanish Gold A Canadian company has [/INST] begun hunting for gold in a region of Spain where such exploitation dates back to at least Roman times. </s> |
975 | <s>[INST] Toronto-based Rio Narcea Gold Mines Ltd. says it expects to extract from five [/INST] to six grams of gold from each ton of material removed and anticipates tapping the mine in Spain's northern Asturias region for about 17 years. </s> |
976 | <s>[INST] Rio Narcea believes the area, right now [/INST] better known for its coal than its gold, is Europe's biggest gold mine. </s> |
977 | <s>[INST] Argentina Eases an Auto Import Rule Argentina has decided to ease up on one [/INST] of its trade restrictions and let some auto makers import vehicles from Brazil without having to export an equal number to its giant northern neighbor. </s> |
978 | <s>[INST] The move will affect those companies [/INST] with operations in Argentina that don't have subsidiaries in Brazil. </s> |
979 | <s>[INST] It will be effective only until the year 2000, when it [/INST] will be replaced by an accord governing auto shipments among the members of Mercosur, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. </s> |
980 | <s>[INST] BRIEFLY: -- Gillette Co. is considering construction of [/INST] a production plant in Argentina or Brazil, but still hasn't decided on the final location. </s> |
981 | <s>[INST] -- After years of cutting immature sugar cane to meet [/INST] production targets, Cuba says it will sharply trim its harvest this year in hopes of better yields to come. </s> |
982 | <s>[INST] ___ Document 243 of 500 Treasurys Tread Water Amid Mixed Signals; Argentina Opts to Postpone [/INST] a Big Debt Offering Author: By Richard C. ten Wolde and Carol S. Remond Publication info: Wall Street Journal , Eastern edition [New York, N.Y] 16 Jan 1998: C23. </s> |
983 | <s>[INST] accountid=28034 Abstract: Elsewhere, Argentina's government decided [/INST] against going ahead with a large bond offering for now. </s> |
984 | <s>[INST] had been talking on Argentina's behalf [/INST] with potential buyers of a $500 million to $750 million issue. </s> |
985 | <s>[INST] The price of the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond fell [/INST] 2/32, or 62.5 cents for a bond with $1,000 in face value, to 105 13/32. </s> |
986 | <s>[INST] The yield, which moves in the opposite [/INST] direction from the price, was at 5.735%, about the same as late Wednesday. </s> |
987 | <s>[INST] Treasurys drew modest support early in the [/INST] session after declines in some Asian equities markets, including Hong Kong's. </s> |
988 | <s>[INST] But the U.S. market then edged lower after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia [/INST] said its monthly index of area business activity rose to 17.3 in January from 9.2 in December, indicating an increase in the regional economy's strength. </s> |
989 | <s>[INST] Full text: NEW YORK -- Bond prices [/INST] ended little changed after spending the session in a narrow range. </s> |
990 | <s>[INST] Elsewhere, Argentina's government decided against [/INST] going ahead with a large bond offering for now. </s> |
991 | <s>[INST] had been talking on Argentina's behalf [/INST] with potential buyers of a $500 million to $750 million issue. </s> |
992 | <s>[INST] The price of the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond fell [/INST] 2/32, or 62.5 cents for a bond with $1,000 in face value, to 105 13/32. </s> |
993 | <s>[INST] The yield, which moves in the opposite [/INST] direction from the price, was at 5.735%, about the same as late Wednesday. </s> |
994 | <s>[INST] Treasurys drew modest support early in the [/INST] session after declines in some Asian equities markets, including Hong Kong's. </s> |
995 | <s>[INST] But the U.S. market then edged lower after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia [/INST] said its monthly index of area business activity rose to 17.3 in January from 9.2 in December, indicating an increase in the regional economy's strength. </s> |
996 | <s>[INST] "The modest overnight [Treasury] gains were shed early on [/INST] when the Philly Fed printed stronger-than-expected numbers," said Patrick Dimick, government bond strategist at UBS Securities LLC. </s> |
997 | <s>[INST] Treasurys were also pressured by [/INST] more than $3.6 billion of U.S. corporate debt issuance. </s> |
998 | <s>[INST] Such issuance sometimes prompts selling of [/INST] Treasury securities by investors and underwriters of corporate offerings. </s> |
999 | <s>[INST] The bond market may lack direction for [/INST] some time, said Kevin McClintock, head of taxable fixed-income at Dreyfus Corp. </s> |
Subsets and Splits