Malaysia: NKEA identifies project with GNI of RM506.5bn
The government’s 12 national key economic areas (NKEA) labs have identified 118 entry points projects (EPPs) and 35 business opportunities that bring an estimated annual gross national income (GNI) of about USD156bn (RM506.5bn). Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the preliminary estimate was that the 118 EPPs would be 80% funded by private sector investments and could potentially bring up to 2.2m jobs opportunities by 2020.(FinancialDaily)
Malaysia: Banks bullish of 7.5% GDP growth
The Malaysian banking industry is bullish of the country’s growth and expects the GDP to grow 7.5% this year. Associations of Banks in Malaysia chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said this optimism was on the back of recovery in certain sectors like manufacturing as well as the improvement in services. “The momentum of growth in the first quarter would be enough to carry through for the rest of the year, and the banking sector will continue to lend, meaning economic activities will continue” he told reporters. (Malaysian Reserve)
China: Provinces raise minimum wages to curb labor disputes
At least nine Chinese provinces and cities will raise minimum wages by as much as a third after Premier Wen Jiabao called for measures to head off growing worker unrest in the world’s third-largest economy. Beijing is increasing the lowest monthly salary employers may pay in the Chinese capital to RMB960 (USD142) from RMB800, according to the city government’s website. Central China’s Henan, the nation’s most populous province with almost 100m residents, is raising its minimum wage by 33% to RMB600, the local government said on its website. (Bloomberg)
Japan: Slowing economy exposes risk of 1997 sales-tax redux
Japan’s slowing recovery from its worst postwar recession is signaling the world’s second-biggest economy may be too weak to sustain the higher consumption taxes under consideration by Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Reports this week showed the jobless rate reached a five-month high in May, and wages, factory output and household spending fell, showing little sign of revival in domestic demand more than a year after the economy stopped shrinking. While the quarterly Tankan business-confidence index is forecast to rise, pessimists are projected to outnumber optimists. (Bloomberg)
EU: ECB lends less than forecast in three-month tender
The European Central Bank said it will lend banks 131.9bn euros (USD161.5bn) for three months, less than economists forecast and a sign that the region’s financial industry may be stronger than investors estimated. Banks need to repay 442bn euros in 12-month funds, the biggest amount ever awarded by the ECB and a key plank in its efforts to fight the financial crisis last year. (Bloomberg)
UK: June consumer confidence drops to six-month low
UK consumer confidence fell to a six-month low this month as Britons became more pessimistic about the economic outlook in the face of planned government spending cuts, GfK NOP said. An index of sentiment fell to minus 19 from minus 18 in May, the market researcher said in an e-mailed statement in London. Economists had forecast a decline to minus 20, based on the median of 14 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. (Bloomberg)
US: Business activity expanded in June
Business activity in the US expanded in June for a ninth straight month, showing manufacturing is overcoming turmoil in financial markets. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said its business barometer fell to 59.1 this month, in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, from 59.7 in May. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion. Other data signaled the government’s June employment report may show less job growth at companies than forecast. (Bloomberg)
US: Fed officials avoid talk of further stimulus to stoke growth
Federal Reserve policy makers expressed caution about the outlook for the US recovery and bank lending without backing any new steps by the central bank to stimulate growth. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said that while the recovery isn’t sustainable enough yet to warrant raising interest rates, he doesn’t see a need for additional asset purchases to aid the economy. Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke said it may take years to return to pre-recession credit levels and that there’s “no single step” to unclog lending markets. (Bloomberg)
U.S. consumer confidence slumps, home prices rise
NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence dropped in June after rising for three months, adding to the view the economic recovery is slowing, while home prices unexpectedly climbed in April. The report Tuesday from The Conference Board, an industry group, showed the drop in confidence came from worries about the labor market which has been one of weakest areas of the U.S. economy.
After China overheating worry, now deep-freeze fear
BEIJING, June 30 (Reuters) - Spreading jitters of an abrupt halt to Chinese growth are likely to prove as misplaced as concerns earlier this year that the economy might boil over.
That the economy is slowing is not in dispute. Nor should it be a surprise to markets: there has long been a solid consensus that first-quarter gross domestic product growth of 11.9 percent from a year earlier marked a cyclical peak.
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