Honda Motor Co president Hipoyuki Yoshino said that the carmaker had hedged nearly half of its foreign exchange needs for the second half of the fiscal year to March 31, 1999. "We have contracts covering not quite half (of the second fiscal half-year)," he told reporters after a news conference. He reiterated that, even if the yen continued at the stronger levels against the dollar seen over the past week, the company would not need to lower its earnings forecasts for the 1998-99 fiscal year, which assumed an exchange rate of 125 yen per dollar.

Credit Agricole unit trusts exposed to LTCM:

Five unit trusts managed by French bank Credit Agricole had exposure in US Hedge fund LTCM, representing about 0.5 per cent of each fund's total assets, financial daily La Tribune reported on Friday. It said the positions held by the unit trusts were worth about 200 million French francs ($37 million) before the LTCM (Long Term Capital Management) nearcollapse last month, and were reduced by 80 per cent as a result. La Tribune said Credit Agricole was one of very few French banks which disclosed details of their unit trust investments. It said the five trusts exposed to LTCM losses were Atout Futur, Atout France Europe, Dieze, Revenu Vert and UNI Foncier, and were widely distributed among the bank's clients.

China blasts former Hong Kong governor's book:

China on Friday assailed the remarks of former governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten in his recently published book "East And West" and said it exposed his ignorance, anti-China obsession and echoed the cold war ideology. The China Daily in its editorial termed his view that Beijing was a threat to world peace and was the last evil empire as "groundless accusation". Faithfully bound to cold war thinking, Patten exposes his anti-China obsessions, the official newspaper said criticising the book, which was released on September 7. The former governor has done everything he can to hurt the feelingsof the Chinese people by provocative use of language, the article said.

Japanese parliament to enact final banking reforms:

Japan's parliament will enact the final stage of its banks reforms on Friday, setting up a huge 60 trillion yen (500 million dollar) fund to deal with the banking crisis. The upper house councillors will vote on the final reform bill, which will use tax payers' money to prop up weak but solvent banks."We have accomplished major objectives," said japan's prime minister Keizo Obuchi. Banks will be expected to ask for money if their capital is weak, although economists warn few banks chiefs may apply since many would have to resign as a condition for accepting the money.

Korean listed firms may save $3 bn with rate cuts:

Listed firms in South Korea would save 3.97 trillion won ($3.0 billion) in financial costs if corporate lending rates points, the Korea Stock Exchange said on Friday. The exchange said a study of the effect of falling rates on the corporate sectorshowed local banks' average lending rate for 1997 stood at 11.75 per cent. It shot up to 17.09 per cent for the first half of 1998. The study was based on the half-yearly reports handed in by 521 listed firms whose fiscal year ends in December. It showed that listed firms could save up to 1.32 trillion won, should rates fall by one percentage point. The savings would be 2.65 trillion won, if rates fell by two percentage points. The firms' combined borrowing stood at 253.48 trillion won at the end of 1997. It shot up to 264.67 trillion won in the first six months of this year.