Plus, more PetroChina executives are being investigated by the government. Tuesday economic links.


Some economic links:

Reuters has obtained a Ministry of Finance document that says that Japan will have to spend US$257 billion servicing its national debt in the next fiscal year beginning on April 1. This year Japan approved a record-high US$1.2 trillion government budget, meaning that at current levels of spending Japan will have to spend more than one-fifth (21 percent) of its entire budget just on servicing its national debt.

Speaking of debt, The Wall Street Journal continues its blockbuster special report on debt in China’s financial system.

Coincidently, China Construction Bank Corp, the country’s second largest lender, said on Tuesday that bad loans rose in the 2Q of this year. Bloomberg has the story.

It looks like PetroChina, China’s largest energy producer, has won the honor of being a major target for Xi Jinping’s anti-graft campaign. According to Bloomberg, three senior executives at the company have resigned after learning that they are being investigated by the Chinese government for “serious discipline violations,” which usually refers to corruption.

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The news comes a day after Xinhua reported that Wang Yongchun, a vice president at the China National Petroleum Corporation, the parent company of PetroChina, is under investigation for “severe violations of discipline.” The Associated Press has that story.

American firms have rated the Philippines as the most improved Southeast Asian nation in the ASEAN Business Outlook Survey 2014, according to the Inquirer.

Australia’s Billabong retail clothing brand has declared itself worthless after posting annual losses of US$777.8 million, the BBC reports.