{"id":30201,"date":"2015-08-18T23:34:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T04:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=30201"},"modified":"2015-08-18T23:34:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T04:34:00","slug":"august-18-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=30201","title":{"rendered":"August 18, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dong has been devalued<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The State Bank of Vietnam weakened its reference rate by 1 percent to 21,890 dong a dollar effective Wednesday, it said in a statement on its website. The authority also widened the currency\u2019s trading band to 3 percent on either side of the fixing. The dong fell 1.4 percent to 22,408 as of 10:36 a.m. in Hanoi, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n

The devaluation comes after the central bank widened the dong\u2019s trading band to 2 percent from 1 percent on Aug.12, a day after China\u2019s surprise policy shift heightened the risk of a currency war. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is seeking to safeguard slowing export growth and the State Bank said it\u2019s concerned about the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the strong devaluation of the yuan, Vietnam\u2019s domestic market sentiment is still very much concerned about the impact of the U.S. Federal Reserve\u2019s rate increase,\u201d the central bank said in its statement. The reference rate and the trading band are being adjusted \u201cin order to proactively lead the market and preempt negative impacts of the possibility that the Fed will increase rates.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And there’s pressure on Thailand<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Bangkok\u2019s deadly bomb attack this week is set to hit Thailand\u2019s last remaining growth pillar with travel warnings and canceled trips, adding pressure on authorities to restore confidence and stimulate the economy.<\/p>\n

Weaker tourism in the next two to three quarters will probably hurt Thailand\u2019s economic growth and the explosion could have a longer-lasting impact on visitor numbers compared with previous incidents in the past decade, Standard & Poor\u2019s said Tuesday.
…<\/b>
It also increases the probability that the Bank of Thailand will cut interest rates again this year, according to Credit Suisse, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Nomura Holdings Inc. and BMI.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reinforces our view of further monetary easing ahead,\u201d said Weiwen Ng, a Singapore-based economist at ANZ, who estimates tourism accounts for 20 percent of the economy, including indirect effects. \u201cDomestic demand — which is already sluggish — will be derailed. Bank of Thailand will also probably allow some baht weakness to help boost exports.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today’s technology news is that Uncle Sam is Yelping<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Adding customer satisfaction ratings and reviews to public services just got easier now that Yelp offers a terms of service for official government use.<\/p>\n

Yelp, a Web and mobile-based user review platform, hosts insights from \u201creal people giving their honest and personal opinions on everything from restaurants and spas to coffee shops.\u201d With the addition of Public Services and Government under the Yelp umbrella, agencies can continue to find new ways to use customer insights to improve citizen services.<\/p>\n

Agencies are now able to use Yelp to potentially:<\/p>\n