IN BRIEF (Page 7)

Chinese zone in Chittagong

The Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority and China Harbor Engineering Co on Thursday signed an agreement for the development of a Chinese economic and industrial zone in southeastern Bangladesh. Under the agreement, the Chinese company will develop the economic and industrial zone dedicated to Chinese investors at Anwara on the outskirts of Bangladesh's seaport city Chittagong, some 242 km southeast of the capital Dhaka.

BoJ monetary policy unchanged

The Bank of Japan on Friday decided to keep its monetary policy unchanged in a bid to shore up the economy and continue with its reflationary efforts. The central bank's policy board voted 7-2 to maintain its interest rate at minus 0.1 percent and opted to maintain its efforts to keep the yield on 10-year Japanese government bonds around zero percent.

S. Korea trade surplus hits $5.7b

South Korea posted a trade surplus of $5.7 billion in May thanks to exports growth, customs data showed. The revised figure for trade surplus was $5.7 billion as exports, which account for about half of the economy, logged a double-digit growth for five straight months, according to the Korea Customs Service. Exports increased 13.3 percent from a year earlier to $45 billion in May, while imports gained 19.1 percent to $39.3 billion.