GSB PROPOSES LOAN DEALS FOR GOOD CLIENTS

As well, inter-regional transfer and cash-withdrawal fees will be offered during the final week of the year. 
The bank’s service fees for ATMs, mobile banking and Internet banking will be waived.

INDONESIA LOOKS TO SLASH ZEROES 

Indonesia’s central bank said yesterday that it was seeking to cut three zeroes off the face value of rupiah notes in an attempt to simplify the currency system.
Bank Indonesia governor Agus Martowardojo said he had asked President Joko Widodo to revive a previously shelved plan to re-denominate the rupiah to make it “more efficient and simpler”.
A draft law backing re-denomination was submitted to parliament in 2013 under the previous government. 
However, the draft was put aside because of instability in Indonesia’s financial markets at the time.
If parliament approves a revived bill next year, the central bank would need two more years to prepare new notes. 
It would then need another seven years of transition before it could fully remove three zeroes from the currency, Agus said.
“Prices of goods and services have to also be simplified. Because of the transition period, in which people can use both the old and new rupiah denominations, we are sure it wouldn’t affect inflation,” he said at the launch of a new series of designs for the physical currency. The central bank’s new currency designs will be for notes that use the current denomination system and will feature images of historic Indonesian figures. – Reuters
“A re-denomination would strengthen assurance in Indonesia’s currency, but it does not affect anything nominally,” she told reporters at a separate event yesterday. – Reuters 

CYBER-ATTACK 
INSURANCE EYED

To encourage the bancassurance industry to give importance to cybersecurity, the Thai General Insurance Association has discussed with the Thai Bankers’ Association and the Thai General Insurance Association the possibility of developing insurance policies against cyber-attacks. 
Premiums for this type of insurance will be reduced when the volume of liability is sufficient for underwriting, said Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn, secretary-general of the Office of the Insurance Commission.

UPHEAVAL PREDICTED
FOR SINGAPORE

Developments in the global economy, including structural changes in the Chinese and US economies, and technological disruptions will bring upheaval in the next few years, Singaporean Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said.
He believes that in the face of economic challenges, there is a need to organise differently and build new capabilities. But they also present opportunities for Singapore, which has to prepare itself to catch and ride the wave, he said.
He was giving his insight into what has been on the minds of members of the Committee on the Future Economy, which is tasked with charting a blueprint for long-term growth, ahead of the release of its report on how Singapore can prepare its economy for the future. – The Straits Times