Malaysia: Minimum Retirement Age Bill 2012 tabled today
The compulsory retirement age of private sector employees will be raised to 60 under the Minimum Retirement Age Bill 2012, which was tabled for first reading at the Dewan Rakyat today. (BT)
Thailand: Central bank holds rates
Thailand’s central bank left benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.0% for a third straight meeting yesterday and warned about risks to the global economy. “The balance of risks for the Thai economy was skewed towards growth rather than inflation,” its Monetary Policy Committee said. (BT)
Indonesia: Plans stimulus to boost consumption amid slowdown
Indonesia will implement stimulus measures to boost consumption and infrastructure spending as a global slowdown limits exports and an imminent election in Greece threatens to deepen Europe’s debt turmoil. The government will tap last year’s IDR24trn budget surplus to fund building projects, and lift the tax-free annual income level to IDR24m from IDR16m. Indonesia currently targets a 2012 budget deficit of IDR190.1trn, on capital spending of IDR168.8trn. (Bloomberg)
Italy: Holds first bond sale after Spain rescue as yields surge
Italy holds its first bond auction since Spain’s EUR100bn bank rescue request drove up yields, as the government seeks to convince investors the country won’t be the next to need aid. Its Treasury sells as much as EUR4.5bn of three-, seven- and eight-year bonds today, one day after it was forced to pay 3.97% to sell one-year bills, 163bps more than at the previous sale a month ago. (Bloomberg)
EU: Industrial output falls second month on Germany
Euro-area industrial production declined for a second month in April, led by a drop in Germany, adding to signs of a deepening economic slump. Output in the 17-nation euro area slipped 0.8% from March, when it decreased a revised 0.1%. From a year earlier, production fell 2.3%. (Bloomberg)
US: Presses EU to clarify future of euro zone
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner kept the pressure on European leaders to lay out their plans for the future of the euro zone sooner rather than later to keep the debt crisis from escalating. Speaking ahead of next week's meeting of the G-20 nations, Geithner said other European countries had to move closer to Germany, which has shown a willingness to consider a financial union. European leaders are meeting 28-29 June to negotiate a new set of reforms that is supposed to map out the future of the euro zone. (MarketWatch)
US: Posts USD125bn deficit in May
The US government ran a budget deficit of USD125bn in May, pushing the deficit to USD844bn for the first eight months of fiscal 2012. The government spent USD305bn in May, up 31% y-o-y. Adjusted for the timing of payments for certain benefits, and for re-estimates related to the Troubled Asset Relief Program, May spending would be less than 1% above a year ago. (MarketWatch)
US: May retail sales fall as gas purchases tumble
US retail sales fell in May for the second month in a row as consumers spent less to fill up their gas tanks. Retail sales declined by 0.2% last month on a seasonally adjusted basis. Lower sales over the past two months marked the first back-to-back drop since May and June 2010. If gas purchases are omitted, however, retail spending actually rose a slight 0.1% last month. (MarketWatch)
US: Producer prices plummet 1% in May
Lower energy and food costs pulled US Producer Price Index (PPI) down 1.0% in May. Core producer prices, excluding volatile food and energy, rose 0.2%. The May decline in the PPI was the largest since a drop of 1.2% in July 2009, just when the recession was ending. It also marks the second straight monthly decline in wholesale prices. In April, the headline PPI rate had fallen 0.2%, while the core rate had risen 0.2%. (MarketWatch)
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