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Market Focus Daily: Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Market Focus Daily: Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Business Times2 days ago

Asian markets mixed as traders eye possible Trump-Xi talks; Gold hovers near four-week peak on weaker US dollar, trade concerns; Widjaja family's Sinarmas Land offer closes with 98.65% resultant shareholding.
Synopsis: Market Focus Daily is a closing bell roundup by The Business Times that looks at the day's market movements and news from Singapore and the region.
Written and hosted by: Emily Liu (emilyliu@sph.com.sg)
Produced and edited by: Chai Pei Chieh & Claressa Monteiro
Produced by: BT Podcasts, The Business Times, SPH Media
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As birthrates fall, Turkey's government steps in
As birthrates fall, Turkey's government steps in

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As birthrates fall, Turkey's government steps in

[ISTANBUL] Alarmed by the fact that Turkish women are having fewer children, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has moved to tackle falling birthrates – 'a threat greater than war' – through policies designed to bring on the babies. After declaring 2025 Turkey's 'Year of the Family', Erdogan last month announced 2026 would mark the start of the 'Decade of the Family'. But his pleas for women to have at least three children and offers of financial incentives for newlyweds may not be enough as Turkey grapples with a deepening economic crisis. Official figures show Turkey's birthrate has fallen from 2.38 children per woman in 2001 to 1.48 in 2025 – lower than in France, Britain or the United States – in what Erdogan, a 71-year-old pious Muslim and father-of-four, has denounced as 'a disaster'. During his 22 years in office – first as premier, then president – fertility rates have dropped sharply in this country of 85 million people. Erdogan has blamed both women and LGBTQ 'perverts'. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'Women and LGBTQ+ individuals are considered the only culprits for the declining population growth rate, with no acknowledgement of political mistakes,' said retired academic and feminist activist Berrin Sonmez. 'People might be hesitant to have children in this chaotic and uncertain environment. Additionally, child support is almost non-existent and education has become the most expensive sector,' she said. High inflation has raged in Turkey for the past four years, forcing education costs up by more than 70 per cent over the past year, official data shows. In the first quarter, unemployment stood at 8.2 per cent, or 15 per cent among 15- to 24-year-olds. Researchers with the DISK union say the real rate is 28.5 per cent, and 37.5 per cent among young people. But the government seems bent on fixing other issues, such as Turkey's record number of elective Caesarean births – which stands at 61 per cent, rising to 78 per cent in some private hospitals. In April, Turkey banned C-section births at private healthcare facilities 'without a medical justification'. The procedure generally limits the number of pregnancies to two, or a maximum of three. Medical professionals say the high number of C-sections is linked to the rampant privatisation of the healthcare system since the late 1990s. C-sections are more time-efficient for medical staff – 30 minutes, versus 12 hours for a traditional delivery – and lower the risk of legal action over complications, said Hakan Coker, an Istanbul-based gynaecologist. 'Ultimately, C-sections are perceived as a guarantee of safety' for doctors and women alike, he said. Dr Harika Bodur, an obstetrician at a major Istanbul hospital, said some women ask for a C-section 'at the first appointment for fear of pain'. 'If you refuse, they'll go elsewhere,' she said. The fear is rooted in a lack of education and discomfort with sexuality, she said. The health ministry says it is now 'aiming for a target rate of 20 per cent (of C-sections) by encouraging normal childbirth through education of future parents'. But the word 'normal' has raised hackles – notably last month when a football team carried a huge banner promoting vaginal births onto the pitch before a top-flight clash, which read: 'Natural birth is normal.' 'If I don't want to, I won't have any children at all, it's my right,' said 23-year-old chemistry student Secil Murtazaoglu. 'Access to abortion is already difficult. Now they want to limit C-sections. It's all about the oppression of women,' she said. In 2012, the Turkish president described abortion as 'murder', but stopped short of banning it. By offering interest-free loans of 150,000 Turkish lira (S$4,900) for newlyweds and a monthly allowance of 5,000 lira from the third child onwards, Erdogan was trying 'to turn women into birthing machines', Murtazaoglu said. Feminist activist Sonmez said women were subjected to huge pressures, both within their families and within society, when the much more pressing issue was the need to tackle gender violence. 'We must start by combating violence against women: such policies have been eradicated and protections seriously undermined,' she said. AFP

Pentagon chief confident NATO will commit to Trump's defence spending target
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Pentagon chief confident NATO will commit to Trump's defence spending target

BRUSSELS: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday (Jun 5) he was confident that members of the NATO alliance would sign up to Donald Trump's demand for a major boost in defence spending, adding that it had to happen by a summit later in June. The US president has said NATO allies should boost investment in defence to 5 per cent of gross domestic product, up from the current target of 2 per cent. "To be an alliance, you got to be more than flags. You got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences," Hegseth said as he arrived at a gathering of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. "We're here to continue the work that President Trump started, which is a commitment to 5% defence spending across this alliance, which we think will happen," Hegseth said, adding: "It has to happen by the summit at The Hague later this month." Diplomats have said European allies understand that hiking defence expenditure is the price of ensuring a continued US commitment to the continent's security and that keeping the US on board means allowing Trump to be able to declare a win on his 5 per cent demand during the summit, scheduled for Jun 24 to 25. "That will be a considerable extra investment," NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters, predicting that in the Hague summit "we will decide on a much higher spending target for all the nations in NATO". In a bid to meet Trump's 5 per cent goal, Rutte has proposed alliance members boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP and commit a further 1.5 per cent to broader security-related spending, Reuters has reported. Details of the new investment plan will likely continue to be negotiated until the eve of the NATO summit. CAPABILITY TARGETS In the meantime, Rutte said he expects allies to agree on Thursday on what he called "historic" new capability targets. The targets, which define how many troops and weapons and how much ammunition a country needs to provide to NATO, would aim to better balance defence contributions between Europe, Canada, and the United States and "make NATO a stronger, fairer and a more lethal alliance", he said in opening remarks to the meeting. Germany will need around 50,000 to 60,000 additional active troops under the new NATO targets, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said as he arrived at the NATO meeting. Countries remain divided over the timeline for new pledges. Rutte has proposed reaching the 5 per cent defence target by 2032 – a date that some eastern European states consider too distant but which some others see as too early, given current spending and industrial production levels. Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said that to meet the capability targets, "we need to agree on the 5 per cent in five years. We don't have time for 10 years, we don't have time even for seven years". Sweden would also like to see NATO reach 5 per cent defence spending in 2030, Defence Minister Pal Jonson told reporters. There is an ongoing debate over how to define "defence-related" spending, which might include spending on cybersecurity and certain types of infrastructure. "The aim is to find a definition that is precise enough to cover only real security-related investments, and at the same time broad enough to allow for national specifics," said one NATO diplomat.

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South Korea's new President Lee begins moves to tackle economic ‘crisis'

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South Korea's new President Lee begins moves to tackle economic ‘crisis'

Mr Lee has made economic recovery one of his top priorities. PHOTO: REUTERS SEOUL - South Korea's new President Lee Jae-myung held his first cabinet meeting on June 5 focused on devising an emergency package to address stagnating economic growth and aid households, moving swiftly to start tackling a top campaign pledge. Mr Lee took office on June 4 just hours after riding a wave of anger over a brief martial law imposed by Yoon Suk Yeol to win the snap election. The attempt at military rule led to Yoon's ouster and sent shockwaves through Asia's fourth-largest economy. In brief remarks open to the media, Mr Lee told the Cabinet carried over from the caretaker government put in place following Yoon's impeachment in December 2024 that there was no time to waste in getting to work as the people were facing hardship. Mr Lee has so far only nominated a close political ally and legislative veteran as prime minister and is racing to form a Cabinet and staff his office to maintain continuity in administration. The new leader expressed bewilderment on June 4 after walking into the presidential office to find it stripped of computers, printers and even pens and was quiet like 'a graveyard' with government officials who had been assigned there sent back to their posts. Most of the officials have been ordered back, Mr Lee's spokesperson said on June 4. Mr Lee has made economic recovery one of his top priorities and vowed to immediately unleash fiscal spending of at least 30 trillion won (S$28.3 billion) to boost growth, which was projected by the central bank in May to be almost half of its earlier estimate this year at 0.8 per cent, down from 1.5 per cent in February. Mr Kim Min-seok, whose appointment as prime minister requires parliamentary approval, said on June 4 the country was facing even more economic turmoil than during the Asian financial crisis of 1997, complicated by unfavourable external factors. 'Today, the economy is heading downward and stagnating, which is why I believe it's much more difficult,' he told reporters. The previous government had made little progress in trying to assuage crushing US tariffs that would hit some of the country's major export-reliant industries, including autos, electronics and steel. Mr Lee faces what could be the most daunting set of challenges for a South Korean leader in decades, analysts said, ranging from healing a country deeply scarred by the martial law attempt to tackling unpredictable protectionist moves by the United States. On June 4, Mr Lee withdrew the nomination of two judges to the Constitutional Court, made by acting President Han Duck-soo before the election, his office said. Mr Lee previously said Mr Han had no power to nominate judges as an unelected acting leader. The ruling Democratic Party-controlled parliament also passed on June 5 special counsel acts to investigate former president Yoon on insurrection charges and his wife Kim Keon Hee over corruption allegations. The party had previously passed the special counsel acts on multiple occasions, but they were repeatedly vetoed by Yoon and then the acting president. Yoon is currently facing a separate trial on insurrection charges. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

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