The ECB‘s Governing Council meeting in Frankfurt set the benchmark lending rate at 1 percent for an 18th month, as predicted by all 52 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. President Jean-Claude Trichet will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m.

Near-record borrowing costs for nations across the euro region’s periphery are making it harder for the ECB to wean commercial banks off the cheap cash it provided to fight the financial crisis. At the same time, slowing global growth is prompting the world’s other major central banks to consider further measures to prop up their economies.

The ECB “judges that easing policy too aggressively could create financial imbalances in the future,” said Nick Kounis, an economist at ABN Amro in Amsterdam. “Stability is the name of the game in Frankfurt and this means a steady-hand policy.”

The Bank of England today left its key rate at 0.5 percent and maintained its asset-purchase program at 200 billion pounds ($319 billion). The Bank of Japan this week dropped its interest rate to “virtually zero” and expanded its asset-purchase program, while the Federal Reserve has indicated it may do more to stimulate growth.

Record Spreads

The ECB meets after a month in which tensions in European credit markets intensified.

Irish 10-year bond yields soared to a record versus German bunds on Sept. 29 on concern the bailouts of Anglo Irish Bank Corp. and Allied Irish Banks Plc would overwhelm government finances. The Portuguese-German 10-year yield spread, which hit a record on Sept. 28, was at 400 basis points today, up from 88 basis points on March 10.

Rising sovereign borrowing costs are “having a knock-on effect on their banks’ ability to roll their short-term financing at interest rates that make economic sense,” said James Nixon, co-chief European economist at Societe Generale SA in London. That’s “leaving the banks in these countries heavily dependent on ECB financing,” he said.

The ECB’s response to the financial crisis was to lend banks as much cash as they needed at its benchmark rate for as long as 12 months.

Unlimited Lending

While it has phased out its 12- and 6-month loans, the central bank still lends unlimited amounts in its weekly, monthly and three-month tenders. In May, it was forced to reintroduce the unlimited three-month loans and start buying government bonds as Europe’s deepening debt crisis started to threaten the survival of the euro.

Now policy makers are voicing concern that some banks’ reliance on the funds may prevent the ECB from exiting its emergency measures when it sees fit.

“These banks should be addressed by national authorities, otherwise we would have so-called zombie banks for some time,” ECB council member Mario Draghi said on Oct. 1. The ECB must be free “from the constraint” of such dependency on its funding before it can implement an exit strategy, he said.

Some policy makers are growing impatient and want to press ahead with the exit. The ECB is “in the process of phasing out the non-standard measures” and loans maturing in the fourth quarter “won’t be renewed,” Executive Board member Juergen Stark said last week.

Stronger Euro

With the ECB unlikely to match other nations “expansive monetary policy measures,” the euro may continue to strengthen, crimping the region’s exports and economic expansion, economists at WestLB AG said in a research note. Trichet may be pressed by reporters on the single currency, which has gained 17 percent against the dollar in the past four months and touched $1.3994 today, an eight-month high.

“It’s a bit odd that the ECB seems to be in tightening mode when all other central banks are mulling more stimulus for their economies,” said Christoph Rieger, head of interest-rate strategy at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt.

The International Monetary Fund said yesterday that the ECB should leave its emergency support for the region’s banking system in place and keep rates “exceptionally low.”

“Many banks remain highly dependent on ECB financing facilities” and moving away from unlimited lending “would be risky,” the Washington-based fund said in its World Economic Outlook.

IntercontinentalExchange Inc. and New York Mercantile Exchange parent CME Group Inc. are both launching crude-oil futures contracts based on the Argus Sour Crude Index, the index that Saudi Arabia is adopting for its U.S. oil sales in January. Saudi Arabia, which supplies about 5% of U.S. oil demand, had previously used West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, crude delivered in Cushing, Okla., as its benchmark. WTI is issued by Platts, a unit of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Saudi Arabia’s move may create demand for new derivatives linked to the Argus index, a previously little-used benchmark that is based on lower-quality oil produced in the Gulf of Mexico. The index was launched in May by London-based energy-market information service Argus Media Ltd.

The exchange operators are quickly rolling out the new derivatives to hold on to Saudi Arabia’s U.S. customers, who use futures to reduce the risk from the fluctuating price of physical oil. Futures tied to high-quality WTI wouldn’t provide the same protection for low-quality oil priced with Argus. Companies would likely have turned to custom, off-exchange derivatives had CME and ICE not acted. Both earn 6% to 8% of revenue from futures linked to WTI, according to Fox-Pitt Kelton.

With bad credit loans you can easily materialize some of your personal needs like decoration of house, going for holidays, weddings, children’s higher education and many more such needs.

Bad credit loans can be broadly classified into two forms:
- Secured bad credit loan
- Unsecured bad credit loan

You can opt for secured loan type if you are ready to pledge your asset as collateral. The amount derived is based on the equity value of collateral. You can avail an amount ranging from?? 5000 and?? 75000 with a repayment term of 5- 25 years.

Unsecured loans are collateral free. So those who don’t want to risk their asset can opt for unsecured loan type. You can avail an amount ranging between 1000 and 25000 with repayment tenure of 6 months- 10 years. But the interest rate is slightly higher in case of unsecured loan.

You can find many lenders in the money market, who are ready to provide you bad credit loans. There are innumerable lenders available online also. Online lenders also offer these loans at very competitive rates. You can pick up the best deals on the loan by comparing the loan quotes offered to you by various lenders.

Bad credit loans are there to help the people who have bad credit score. With these loans they can also easily meet their requirements. And moreover, one can also improve one’s credit score by making the timely repayment of the loan amount.

You may know someone who is experiencing this predicament or it is also probable that you are looking at yourself and completely relating to this situation. As some of you may already know, having a bad credit rating means not being able to enjoy low interest rates and permission from most of the banks to still borrow enough amount of money for your specific needs. In fact, bad credit loans are charged with higher rates. This is because lenders and banks use your credit scores as a reference. Thus, if you have recently loaned for a huge amount of money that you have not yet paid for, then do not expect to be granted with lower interest rates. This is also the case if you have a sluggish payment record from the past, or if you have had too much debt. In fact, other banks may turn down and decline your application to loan without remorse.

Therefore, it is always to remember some important things about bad credit loans. Banks will eventually find out about your credit score. These lenders will then provide you with lending options depending on how bad your credit is. Banks offer different types of loans. Hence, all you have to do is ask. More than these, one cannot probably escape from a higher interest rate and the need for additional security.

These things are definitely the two things that you always have to shoulder when you have a bad loan. However, this can provide many benefits for you as secure loans have normally lower interests as opposed to unsecured loans. In fact, secured bad credit loans permit a person to have access to as much as 125% of the property value. One should also note that the interest rates given on top of a specific loan depends on a number of factors. One is the amount of loan a person has submitted an application for. Other elements concern the existence of collateral and the borrower’s current earnings and overall profit. Actually, there is a huge chance that banks are most probably more lenient of borrowers who have just undergone a divorce, been laid-off to work those who have been transferred to a different place to live in.

Apart from all of these, it is also important to note that while there are banks that still understand bad credit loans and accept them. It still makes a difference if you do not have a bad credit history. Not having such may allow you to fully enjoy considerate rates, rules and interests. One must therefore take care of his or her credit reputation. After all, when times are tough, you don’t want your reputation to be pulled down as well, don’t you?

Debt Settlement Versus Debt Consolidation

If you are gradually being buried into an avalanche of debt and are finding it increasingly difficult to make those monthly payments, you have probably thought about going for debt settlement or debt consolidation services. Both can effectively eliminate or reduce your debt considerably. However, both methods of debt elimination will affect your credit ratings as well as your future financial status.

Therefore it is imperative that you examine the pros and cons of both before committing to either debt consolidation or debt settlement. The best part about debt settlement is that a major chunk of your existing debt is written off immediately by the lender. This will provide you with instant financial relief and make the rest of your payments much easier, particularly if you are looking for unsecured consolidation loan for credit card. A debt consolidation program even enables you to start rebuilding your credit scores and get rid of huge debt burdens and the problem of late payments, penalties, etc. From now onwards you can focus on managing your finances and credit ratings better.

However, before you decide that debt settlement is the route to financial freedom, learn about the downside as well. The first thing that a debt settlement program will adversely affect is your credit rating. It is usually viewed as akin to foreclosure and pushes your score down to five hundred or maybe lower than that. And while it possible to improve your credit scores, you will not be given an opportunity to do so by any but sub-prime lenders. You will also have to face the consequences that accompany a financial write-off or a cash gift with free debt consolidation services. This means paying additional taxes to the Internal Revenue Service apart from state taxes, if applicable. So what are you waiting for get free debt consolidation quote now.

On the other hand, unsecured debt consolidation or free debt consolidation can also get and, what is more important, keep you out of debt. Here, it is the debt consolidation company that negotiates with your creditors and merges multiple loans into one easy-to-make monthly payment on easier terms than usual. Thus you can be debt-free in about five years. But the good news is that your credit scores will be less affected than if you were to opt for debt settlement. These are the pros and cons of both methods of debt elimination. Just choose one that gives you the maximum advantages, depending on your financial situation and plans for the future.

DEBATE often surrounds the number of overseas residents who live on Phuket. The official figures, obtained by Phuketwan from Phuket Immigration, provide the most accurate guide.

They show that a total of 18,475 visas were extended in 2008, 9159 short-term (tourist, 60 days, 30 days, 15 days, seven days) and 9316 long-term (non-Immigrant B or O or student-teacher, plus others).

The figures include all those who sought to extend visas at Phuket Immigration.

The top 10 nations:
1. Britain, 2722 (1125 short, 1597 long);
2. Sweden 1404 (988 short, 416 long);
3. France 1321 (716 short, 608 long);
4. Italy 1278 (892 short, 386 long):
5. Germany 1261 (456 short, 805 long);
6. US 1143 (503 short, 640 long);
7. Philippines 875 (367 short, 508 long);
8. Australia 870 (396 short, 474 long);
9. Switzerland 762 (328 short, 434 long);
10. Canada 585 (340 short, 245 long).

Where are you from? What are you doing on Phuket? Please tell us in the Comment box below

At the other end of the scale with one visa each are Armenia, Bahrain, Belize, Botswana, Costa Rica, United Arab Emirates, Ecuador, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liechtensein, Nigeria, Paraguay, Panama, Peru, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, El Salvador, Gambia and Macau.

So you just never know who is on that lounger alongside you at the beach.

If national characteristics can be extrapolated from the figures, then Swedes and Italians seem to prefer short-term visas while Germans prefer the long-term ones.

An important point is perhaps that people from colder climates seem to come to stay in substantial numbers. The Top 10 visa countries are at odds with the Top 10 nations as tourists.

We are still waiting for a comprehensive report on Q4 arrivals by nation.

The best comparison we have is with 2007, where the Top 10 tourism countries were:
1. Australia
2. Britain
3. Sweden
4. Korea
5. Germany
6. China
7. Russia
8. Japan
9. USA
10. Malaysia

Of interest because of the numbers of guides who operate from those countries are Korea (2 short term, 276 long term) and Russia (289 short-term, 113 long-term.)

From looking at both lists, we can state the obvious: that most people who come to stay for longer than tourists are from countries where English is relatively widely spoken, and that most come from cold-climate countries.

They are also predominantly Western and therefore probably better placed economically to make the shift.

Tourist numbers are in retreat across Phuket’s traditional Asian sources: China, Korea and Japan.

But these countries are also not yet at the stage as travelling nations where the concept of spending a long time in another country has become accepted.

Japan and to a lesser extent Korea are now exporting plenty of independent travellers, but in China, it’s still mostly all packaged tours.

Perhaps as English becomes more widely spoken and prosperity swings towards Asia, that all might change over the next 20 years.

Land Department Director Anuwat Meteewiboonwut made the comments during a recent stop in Phuket as part of a nationwide inspection tour of 30 provinces.

The tour is aimed at improving public services by land officials in three areas: dress, conduct when dealing with the public and working harder to eliminate a backlog of work.

Many members of the public have complained that it takes up to a year to complete a transaction that should only take one day, he said.

Mr Anuwat, a former governor of both Phang Nga and Samut Prakan provinces, said he was satisfied on the first two points, but rated the general level of success among land officials nationwide at speeding up their work rate at “only 30%”.

The next round of inspection tours will come in July, after which time personnel changes will be considered if service does not improve, he said.

“We have to keep pressure on them, otherwise the work will not get done,” he said.

As for foreigners seeking to buy homes in Phuket, they can do so through the Condominium Act, which allows foreign ownership of up to 49% of any project, he said.

Foreigners cannot use a Thai spouse as a nominee to buy property in Thailand, however.

“If the Thai spouse has enough money to buy the house that is fine, but if the Thai has no money and uses money given to him or her by a foreigner to acquire property, that is against the law. If we check and find out later that a Thai person has been using money from a foreigner to buy land anywhere in Thailand, we will revoke title deeds,” he said.

Mr Anuwat said the provisions of [Ministry of Interior] ministerial order 43 makes it difficult to issue land documents quickly, as it requires action from a number of different agencies. Desire for land on the island has also led to encroachment problems here, he said.

As a key market for property companies, Phuket is a constant source of problems and complaints to the director general’s office, he admitted.

“We will try to resolve these problems and develop our personnel continuously in order to provide high quality services. Fortunately the governor of Phuket used to work in the Land Department, so he understands the procedures and can help co-ordinate all the agencies involved,” he said.

Mr Anuwat was speaking of Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop, who served as Land Office director in Nakhon Pathom in 1997 and as deputy director of the Land Department nationwide in 2003.