Malaysia: June inflation expected to show slight increase
Malaysia’s inflation is expected to rise slightly in June 2010 on the back of stronger food prices, say economists. They said the government's recent announcement on subsidy cuts for fuel and sugar is expected to affect the Consumer Price Index (CPI) headline number, the government's key inflation barometer, in July. The Statistics Department will release the data today. The CPI grew by 1.6% in May 2010. (BT)
Malaysia: Car sales rev up
The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) is confident that the domestic new car sales will hit an all-time high this year, helped by strong first half performance and economic recovery. The MAA has revised upwards its full-year sales forecast by about 20,000 units to 570,000, up from 550,000 units for a 3% growth originally. The industry's all-time high stood at 552,316 units recorded in 2005. (BT)
China: Passes US as world’s biggest energy consumer
China overtook the US as the world’s biggest energy user last year, emphasizing that developing nations are driving global growth, according to the International Energy Agency. China consumed 2,252m metric tons of oil equivalent in 2009 in the form of crude, coal, natural gas, nuclear power and renewable sources, IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol said. That exceeded the 2,170m tonnes used by the US. (Bloomberg)
South Korea: Considers steps to boost falling property market
South Korea’s government is considering steps to boost the country’s property market after house prices fell for three consecutive months through June. The package of measures may not be announced on 22 July as previously expected because ministers have yet to agree on whether to loosen borrowing rules, Kim Hee Jung, a spokesperson for President Lee Myung Bak’s office, said. House prices in Seoul fell 0.1% in April, 0.2% in May and 0.3% in June, according to data from Kookmin Bank, the nation’s largest lender. (Bloomberg)
EU: Spain, Ireland, Greece sell debt as Hungary bill auction flops
Spain, Ireland and Greece auctioned almost EUR10bn (USD13bn) of debt, while Hungary sold less than planned, as investors favored nations backstopped by the European Union’s EUR750bn aid package. Borrowing costs among the euro-region’s high-deficit nations have dropped from peaks in May after the EU devised the financial backstop in return for government-austerity measures. (Bloomberg)
UK: June budget deficit narrows less than forecast
Britain posted a larger budget deficit in June than economists forecast, underlining the challenge facing Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne as he tries to slash the biggest shortfall since World War II. The GBP14.5bn (USD22bn) shortfall compared with GBP14.7bn pounds a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in London. (Bloomberg) US:
Payrolls fall in 27 states, led by California
Payrolls decreased in 27 US states in June, led by California and New York, signaling the slowdown in hiring is broad-based. Employers in California cut staff by 27,600 workers last month and those in New York reduced employment by 22,500, the Labor Department said in Washington. Tennessee, Arizona and New Mexico rounded out the five states with the biggest job losses. (Bloomberg)
US:Housing starts slide more than forecast as credit ends
Housing starts fell in June to the lowest level in eight months after the expiration of a US government tax incentive caused sales to slump. Work began on 549,000 houses at an annual rate last month, fewer than the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and down 5% from May, Commerce Department figures showed in Washington. (Bloomberg)
