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Indonesia posts 6.1% GDP growth in 2010: official

JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesia's gross domestic product grew 6.1 percent last year, officials said Monday as Southeast Asia's biggest economy confirmed its position among the top ranks of emerging markets.

Central Statistics Agency chairman Rusman Heriawan told reporters that the resource-rich country of 240 million people posted 6.9 percent growth in the fourth quarter compared with 5.8 percent a year earlier.

The figures made it among the best performers in the Group of 20 rich and developing countries.

The full-year growth figure compared with 4.5 percent in 2009 and was in line with expectations, putting Indonesia on course to reach its target of 6.0-6.5 percent growth in 2011.

The country's stock market saw a slight uptick on the data, with the benchmark index 0.1 percent firmer at 3,499.613 at midday.

The market soared around 40 percent last year but has shed more than five percent so far in 2011 due to concerns about rising inflation, on top of persistent infrastructure bottlenecks and endemic corruption.

Heriawan said Indonesia could look forward to stronger growth this year, in line with the broader recovery of the global economy from the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

"If the global economic recovery continues, I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to reach higher economic growth in 2011," Heriawan said.

The statistics agency said exports in the fourth quarter increased 16.1 percent, a sign of the appetite for Indonesian resources from China and India.

Investment climbed 8.7 percent and government spending rose 7.3 percent.

Household consumption increased 4.4 percent, a key figure given that some 60 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product is attributed to domestic demand.

The government under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last year announced a massive overhaul of the country's decrepit infrastructure worth $140 billion to 2015, $90 billion of which has to come from the private sector.

Standard Chartered Bank economist Fauzi Ikhsan said new and improved ports, roads, bridges and railways were essential to Indonesia's ambitions to become a regional economic powerhouse.

"The economic growth was supported by high commodities prices which raised the country's export income. Foreign direct investment and public consumption also helped the growth," he told AFP.

"In the near future, the government should push infrastructure development as this is important to attract private investment."

Indonesia needed to be rescued from bankruptcy a little over a decade ago when it was hit hard by the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998, leading to the fall of autocratic strongman Suharto after 32 years in power.

Since then it has won plaudits for rebuilding its foreign currency reserves, restoring confidence to its banking system and managing the macroeconomic levers of the economy with a steady hand.

It recently won upgrades from Fitch and Moody's ratings agencies, lifting its sovereign debt to one below investment grade.

But with interest rates rising this month for the first time since 2008 in the face of inflation above seven percent, analysts warn the economy is still vulnerable.

Sharp outflows of speculative foreign capital, which poured into the country last year, pose another threat to stability, along with opposition to further economic reform from politically entrenched vested interests, they say.

Barbara Bush Speaks Out in Support of Same-Sex Marriage

The political world is all abuzz with news that former President George W. Bush's daughter is speaking out in support of same-sex marriage. In a video created for the Human Right's Campaign, Barbara announced that she is a New Yorker in favor of "fairness and equality. And everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love." This comes as a surprise to many because George W. Bush pushed an amendment to ban same-sex marriage. However, this follows the trend of a younger generation wanting to promote acceptance and, as Barbara Bush says, "equality." This is a revelation that is crossing party lines and is gaining significant coverage between news sources.

So how does this fit into the conservative climate, which has a history of staunchly opposing same-sex marriage? Well Barbara isn't the first to speak out in defense of same-sex marriage. Even the ultra-conservative Fox News admits that republican figures such as Laura Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney also support gay marriage.

released regarding Barbara Bush, it is stated that "Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain opposes same-sex marriage, but his wife, Cindy, and daughter, Meghan, also have done public service announcements for the 'No H8' campaign and supported repeal of the don't ask, don't tell rule against gays openly serving in the military." It seems that times are changing, and as more Republicans speak out in favor of equality, it gives other members an example that they may be more inclined to follow.

While many people are looking at this message as a giant step forward, some are labeling it "insincere" and "irrelevant." , "Appearing on HLN's Joy Behar Show on Tuesday, [Howard] Bragman, who is married to Chuck O'Donnell in California and runs the Los Angeles-based PR firm Fifteen Minutes, said the Bush family could go to hell." Bragman stated that his problem lied in the fact that Barbara Bush had gay friends and George W. Bush was quoted as saying "It wasn't a big deal" then went on a campaign in opposition of same sex marriage. All the while, kids were being bullied and some even killed themselves because of the lack of acceptance encouraged by people like George Bush. Most of the opposition to her message lies in people being unable to distinguish between campaigns waged by her father and the feelings of Barbara as an individual.

Luckily, opinions such as these are the minority and most people are embracing the publicity in support of gay marriage. Like it or not, this is one message that has gained widespread attention from people whether they are conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat.

Administration: China not currency manipulator

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Friday declined to cite China for manipulating its currency to gain trade advantages against the United States.

The Treasury Department noted that China last June said it would begin allowing its currency to rise against the dollar. The agency said the pace of revaluation has been too slow since and more rapid appreciation is needed.

Treasury's finding came in a report it must submit to Congress every six months determining whether other countries are manipulating their currencies. American manufacturers have been pushing for China to be cited. That could result in penalty tariffs being imposed on Chinese imports.

In refusing to cite China, Treasury said Chinese President Hu Jintao had assured President Barack Obama during a visit to Washington last month that China would intensify its efforts to "further enhance exchange rate stability."

Treasury said that the pace of revaluation had accelerated in recent months and the movement was being aided by different rates of inflation in the two countries. The report said that the Chinese currency, the renminbi, had risen in value by 3.7 percent against the dollar since China announced in June that it would resume allowing the currency to appreciate.

But because inflation in China is much higher currently than it is in the United States, the Chinese currency has risen on an inflation-adjusted basis at an annual rate of about 10 percent, Treasury said in its new report.

But Treasury still said that China's currency movement "thus far is insufficient and that more rapid progress is needed. Treasury will continue to closely monitor the pace of appreciation."

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been critical of China's currency policies. Last September, the House passed legislation that would give the administration more power to impose economic sanctions on countries deemed to be manipulating their currencies to gain trade advantages.

The Senate did not take up the legislation. But lawmakers critical of China's trade practices have vowed to renew their efforts this year.

"It's plain as the nose on your face that China manipulates its currency," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Friday in criticizing the administration's failure to cite China. "It's just as plain that the only way to address this problem is for Congress to act."

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said the administration's inaction underscored the need for a tougher approach that would be embodied in bipartisan currency legislation he is sponsoring with Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.

"American manufacturers and workers struggling to compete against unfairly subsidized imports can't afford to wait any longer for action," Brown said. "Congress must act this year to pass legislation addressing currency manipulation to level the playing field and help get our economy back on track."

Rep. Sander Levin, top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, also expressed disappointment in the administration's decision. He said he would reintroduce next week the currency bill that passed the House last September and expected it to attract strong bipartisan support.

American manufacturers contend that China's currency is undervalued by as much as 40 percent against the dollar. That makes Chinese goods cheaper for U.S. consumers and American products more expensive in China.

Critics blame China's currency policies and other trade practices they see as unfair for the loss of millions of U.S. manufacturing jobs.

The U.S. deficit with China, the largest with any country, is on track to set an all-time annual high for 2010. Through November, the deficit with China was running at an annual rate of $275.3 billion, which would exceed the previous record of $268 billion set in 2008.

Ford recalls 363,000 F-150 trucks

DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co is recalling nearly 363,000 F-150 pickup trucks in North America because of a potential problem with the interior door handles not working properly, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported on Thursday.

Ford has now recalled more vehicles in the first few weeks of this year -- nearly 900,000 -- than in all of 2010 when about 600,000 were recalled.

The company said in January it was recalling about 525,000 older Windstar minivans.

Model years 2009 and 2010 F-150 trucks produced from January 2008 to November 2009 are being recalled because in the event of a crash, "the door handle spring can fail, causing the door latch to open," NHTSA said in a filing.

As of January 21, there had been no reported accidents or injuries related to this issue, Ford told NHTSA.

The F-150 is the primary model of the F-series of pickup trucks -- for 34 straight years the best-selling vehicles in the U.S. market.

The issue will not impact current production of the 2011 model F-150, said a Ford spokesman. The supplier of a plastic reinforcement plug changed the way it was making the plugs in November 2009, the spokesman said.

Some 280,946 trucks will be recalled in the United States; about 68,000 in Canada; and about 14,000 in Mexico, Ford and NHTSA said.

Ford said it would start to notify customers in mid-February, when owners with loose door handles will be asked to bring their trucks into Ford or Lincoln dealerships for replacement of interior door handles, which are currently available at dealer service centers.

"As soon as sufficient plastic reinforcement plugs are available by early spring, customers will be renotified and asked to bring their vehicles to the dealer for free replacement or repair of all interior door handles, whether they are currently experiencing the condition or not," said Ford spokesman Wesley Sherwood.

Sherwood said Ford expects that most of the F-150s will not exhibit any problems with the interior door handles.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Maureen Bavdek and Tim Dobbyn)

Spain's Santander bank sees 2010 net profit fall

MADRID (AFP) – Spanish titan Banco Santander reported Thursday an 8.5-percent dip in 2010 net profits, hammered by the troubled economy and new rules forcing it to make hefty provisions for bad loans.

The biggest bank in the euro zone in terms of market value, Banco Santander said net profit dropped to 8.181 billion euros ($11.3 billion).

New Bank of Spain rules had obliged the 154-year-old institution to put aside a 487-million-euro precautionary reserve in the third quarter for loans that might not be recovered, it said.

Without these new rules, net profit would still have slipped by only three percent, it said.

The results demonstrated Banco Santander's capacity to generate profits, which exceeded eight billion euros for the fourth year running, the 154-year-old institution said in a statement.

"This consistency was achieved in the worst economic context in several decades and is due in large part to the geographical and business diversification of the group."

While suffering a 23-percent drop in net profit in continental Europe, the bank enjoyed a 25-percent profit surge in Latin America, a 31-percent leap in Brazil and an 11-percent gain in Britain.

Net banking income rose 11.1 percent to 29.224 billion euros.

"We achieved results that again place us among the leaders of world banking," Santander President Emilio Botin said in a statement. "Banco Santander has had another excellent year."

Banco Santander has 90 million clients and 13,660 offices worldwide.