Source: www.breakingviews.com is Europe's leading financial commentary service

Bangladesh

The bulk of corporate earnings results for the second quarter of 2003 from S&P500 companies are now in and equity bulls are claiming that they justify the sharp equity rally since mid-March. I'm not convinced. More companies beat analysts' expectations, but then estimates had been revised down sharply.

Russia's richest businessmen have set themselves a new objective - the acquisition of foreign enterprises for pleasure, profit and expertise.

A cabinet reshuffle should revive Saudi Arabia's economic reforms, with a new capital market law pending.

It has been a gloomy year so far for the Philippines, a nation mired in corruption whose administration recently faced a mutiny by disaffected soldiers. But a recent court ruling against one of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos's closest allies may offer a glimmer of hope that this country can save itself after all.

A new capital markets law, continued privatization and an eventual opening up to foreign investors should boost Saudi Arabia's equity market.

Five years after Russia defaulted on its sovereign debt, burning foreign investors, the government is poised to return to international capital markets next year with $2.76 billion of Eurobond issues. Thanks to the country's revival, investors are salivating at the prospect of fresh Russian paper.

Source: www.breakingviews.com is Europe's leading financial commentary service

Bankers are grateful for the bouyancy of the debt capital markets. But they are not letting the rush of business impede their efforts to broaden the range of products they offer clients and cut out unfruitful relationship banking.

"When we launched our Vice Fund, one SRI [socially responsible investing] group said they would pray for us," says Dan Ahrens, co-manager of Mutuals.com's Vice Fund.

Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf, Saudi Arabia's minister of finance and national economy since 1996, has steered the economy through a difficult period. He has played a leading role in the modernization, diversification and liberalization of the Saudi economy and managed its finances prudently in a period in which oil prices have swung between $10 and $30 a barrel. Al-Assaf, a 54-year old economist who has served as the country's executive director at the World Bank for six years and as vice-governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Sama) and wins Euromoney's finance minister of the year award for 2003, spoke to Nigel Dudley in his office in Riyadh.

Ghana has stolen a march on its rivals in the world of peacekeeping operations. The ministry of defence drew down in August the first instalment of a $55 million loan from Barclays that will enable it to upgrade its military equipment and secure higher-margin reimbursement from the UN for a stint in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Debt capital markets is one area of European banking that is hiring rather than firing. But most of the new jobs are at banks still building a presence, and it is only skilled, experienced staff that they are after at modest cost.

Advisers: UBS (Cordiant); Goldman Sachs (WPP)

A growing number of companies are realizing that there is a large pool of cash in the Islamic world that they may be able to tap into to diversify their funding sources and lower their financing costs. However, they must be willing to embrace Shariah-compliant structures.

After a weak 2001, most Arab banks enjoyed little pick-up in their fortunes in 2002. However, early results in 2003 suggest that the tide may be turning.

Significant new oil finds and the completion of several large liquefied natural gas projects will shortly give Egypt's hard-currency earnings a much needed boost. However, continued fiscal and regulatory reform is needed if Cairo is to succeed in creating sustainable and broadly based economic growth.

China's A-share market has such a shady reputation that foreign investors might have been expected to revel in their exclusion from it. But its recent opening to outside institutional investors has been greeted with enthusiasm.

An advocate of privatization and foreign investment, Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf is a key figure in economic change in Saudi Arabia.

Emerging markets offer US funds significantly safer investment opportunities than some G7 countries, according to new research from risk analysis firm RiskMetrics.

Turkish banks' dependence on earnings from treasury bills has put them in the same ramshackle boat as the government and rendered them apathetic towards innovation and consolidation.

Results of Euromoney's corporate governance poll suggest that the efforts a company makes to ensure appropriate practices are reflected in its share price.

The emerging-market bond bubble may be close to bursting as the US economy shows signs of picking up and bondholders digest a recent rise in yields. It means investors will have to dig harder for opportunities in the CEE region.

In the July issue of Euromoney, an editing error led us to state incorrectly that Alfa Bank is a subsidiary of Austrian firm RZB. It is not. We would like to make it clear that Alfa Bank is Russian-owned and not a subsidiary of any foreign firm.

Politicians in the US and Japan are blaming the low value of the Chinese renminbi for all manner of economic ills in their countries and pressing for its revaluation upwards. Yet many of their own manufacturers are benefiting greatly from the low manufacturing costs in China. Speculators will win if the renminbi rises.

The start of the political season in Russia has capped the wild upswing in the country's equity market but not brought share prices crashing to the ground. Predictions of quiet growth based on a growing equity culture still seem apt.

As Duma and presidential elections loom, the two main Kremlin political factions are vying for control of Russia's development.

Raghuram Rajan, the new IMF chief economist, talks to Euromoney's Julian Evans about controlling special interests, IMF reform, and the difficulties of instituting market democracy in Iraq.

Country risk index: East Asia continues to lead the growth pack, but offers significant risk; Turkey is - once again - at a turning point; and Africa continues to be unsettled, but with less risk of inter-country contagion.