Japan’s Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Tuesday he would resign. The declaration comes a day after he denied being drunk at a G7 (Group of Seven) meeting in Rome where he appeared incoherent and indistinct his speech.

Nakagawa denied that he was drunk when he addressed the Japanese press on Saturday. He instead blamed his awkward and at times unfathomable performance on an overdose of cold drug. In spite of his refutations, those who have witnesses footage of the press conference, repetitive all day on Japanese TV, agree he had the glassy eyes and covered with sweat complexion of a man who had take pleasure in a few glasses of Chianti too many courtesy of his Italian hosts. The 55 years old Nakagawa said reporters in Tokyo.

“It is true that I didn’t conduct myself properly, and I feel I must set the record straight,”

He apologized for his manner and he said to journalists,

“I have resigned. I decided that it would be better for the country if I quit.”

Mr Nakagawa’s leaving is seen as a major blow to Mr Aso’s government in an election year. The prime minister was already facing dropping support of him. Prime Minister Taro Aso had accepted his resignation. Kyodo news agency said Kaoru Yosano was expected to take on his portfolio.

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On Friday 6th, US regulator closes two more banks in Georgia and California. This brings the total of eight US bank failures in this year.

“It became a receiver of Culver City, California-based Alliance Bank and entered into an agreement with California Bank & Trust of San Diego to assume all the deposits.” said the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The California Department of Financial closed Alliance Bank, which has five offices. The bank had $1.14 billion in assets and $951 million in deposits. However, FDIC estimated the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $206 million. Regulators said on Friday that FirstBank Financial Services Inc also failed. Regulators said that FirstBank Financial Services had assets of about $337 million and $279 million in deposits at the end of 2008. The estimated cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $111 million.

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The news is shocking for Pakistan as it may loose USD 1.5 billion financial aid from the US as a Congressional bill. It was set to debate the 10 years package but it has lapsed. According to the Pakistani daily Dawn the Biden-Lugar Bill, which would have provided as much as USD 1.5 billion to Pakistan over a period of 10 years expired in 2008 along with the term of the US Congress which was to debate it. Dawn published the report recently. Pakistani Urdu-language daily Jang said the bill must now be reintroduced by the Senate.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s US envoy Hussain Haqqani said to private television channel Geo that the bill had not been sidelined and remained an integral component of future Pak-US relations. Additionally, he underlined that the lapsing of the bill was a technicality of the transition of power within the US and the bill would soon be reintroduced by the US Senate.

The Pak Government is upset because the aid through the Biden-Luger bill is dreadfully needed to improve Pakistan’s faltering economy. Pak economy has been roughly hit by the unrest in the Islamic nation. As soon as taking office, the Obama government has indicated that America will hold Pakistan responsible for security in the disputed border region with Afghanistan. However, Pak authority try to manage the aid get again.

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At last Japanese Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano said to describe Japan’s falling production rate ‘very serious’. And this is assumed the greatest decline in the Japan’s economical history. Economics Minister said Japan had not experienced such type of sharp fall in production before. So, the Japanese industrial sector is now on threat.

He showed some statistics and said Japan’s industrial output had decreased by just about 10 percent in December 2008 compared with the previous month. It is visible that the country’s economy slipped into its first recession in seven years period in the third quarter of last year. Mr Yosano was afraid that unemployment in the country had risen to 4.4 percent in December. It was an increase of half a percent on the previous month. It should be noted that around 2.7 million inhabitants in the country are now without work. It is expected that present circumstances will increase the amount of unemployment.

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The news is shocked for the Philippines Government as an 85% dive in committed investments in 2008 to $249 million from $1.7 billion in 2007, recently reported The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. According to statistics from the SBMA Business Group showed the quantity of approved projects locating in Subic Freeport grew by 6% previous year to 185 from 175 the year before. However, the investments involved were considerably lower than year-ago levels. More to the point, investments approved in Subic reached an all-time high of $1.71 billion in 2007 whreas SBMA-approved projects amounted to $1.44 billion in 2006.

Armand Arreza, SBMA administrator, said Subic was still in a better position as an investment destination despite the massive drop in the investment value in 2008. In a statement Arreza said “Subic continued to attract big-ticket projects, while remaining one of the biggest employers in Central Luzon”. In 2008 the projects approved were typically in the tourism, manufacturing and services sectors. Among those the biggest one is that of Korean-led consortium Subic Neocove Corp. It worth is $175 million. It is involving the construction of a high-end leisure facility in Subic’s Cawag area, near the Hanjin shipyard. On the other hand, Hanil E&C Subic Inc. committed to provide $11 million to put up medium- and high-rise commercial residential buildings in that area. Moreover, additional $6.72 million would be infused into the free port by Sultan Ahmed Lootah Enterprises Corp. to produce corrugated duplex boards, cartons, paper cores, sheets, rolls, trays and corner pads.

The SBMA approved an investment of $6.58 million by George Dewey Medical and Wellness Center Inc., as well. It planned to operate a hospital, medical and nursing school, wellness center, and research center in Subic. Some other major projects approved were Hanafil Golf as well as Tour’s $3-million golf tour project in Australasia.

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