EU will 'lurch in wrong direction' if UK leaves: Hammond

Afp, London

The European Union will "lurch very much in the wrong direction" if Britain votes to leave in an in/out referendum, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond warned Sunday.
The British minister predicted that negotiations with other European leaders to secure a reform deal for the bloc "would go to the wire" at a European Council summit on Thursday and Friday.
British Prime Minister David Cameron is trying to force changes in four main areas, the most contentious being limiting access to welfare benefits for EU migrants for their first four years in the country.
"There isn't a deal yet," Hammond told BBC's Andrew Marr Show. "We have to make progress, there are blanks in the text.

Aman Group to set up economic zone

Star Business Report

Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) will award a prequalification licence to Aman Group today to let it invest $267 million or around Tk 2,100 crore to set up an economic zone in Narayanganj.
It will be the sixth economic zone to be built by a private sector entity.
Aman Economic Zone will be developed on a 150-acre plot, though the licence is for 90 acres, BEZA officials said.
Another licence will be given later for the rest 60 acres, when the company meets the remaining conditions of Beza.
In the economic zone, Aman Group will set up factories for various industries such as cement, packaging, shipyard, food and beverage, steel manufacturing and power generation.
The economic zone, which will be well-connected with Dhaka and Chittagong, will create jobs for some 15,000 in the next four years, BEZA officials said.
Employment opportunities for another 10,000 people will be created in next phases.
BEZA earlier awarded prequalification licences to four private sector companies to set up five economic zones -- one each to AK Khan and Company, Abdul Monem Ltd, Bay Group, and two to Meghna Group.
The government is also setting up four economic zones under the public sector: Mirsarai Economic Zone in Chittagong, Mongla Economic Zone in Bagerhat, Srihatta Economic Zone in Moulvibazar and Sabrang Tourism Park in Cox's Bazar.
These 10 economic zones are part of BEZA's plan to develop 100 such zones over the next 15 years.

China central bank boss says no reason for yuan to fall further

Afp, Shanghai

China's central bank chief has blamed foreign speculators in part for volatility in the yuan and said there is no basis for further depreciation, according to an interview in Caixin magazine.
The Chinese economy grew 6.9 percent in 2015 -- the slowest rate since 1990 -- and capital has been flowing out of the country due to worries over flagging growth, causing the currency to weaken.
"International speculative forces have recently focused on shorting China," People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said, according to a transcript of the interview posted on the bank's website Saturday.
"They are eager to manufacture public opinion to try to force an outcome as soon as possible," he said, but did not identify them.
Chinese state media has taken aim at investor George Soros for saying at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos that a hard landing for the world's second largest economy is "practically unavoidable".
In early January China guided the yuan -- also known as the renminbi -- down by setting its daily fix lower for eight consecutive sessions, representing a 1.4 percent fall, before it returned to stability.