20100514 1537 Global Economic News.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn said pledges to keep interest rates at a given level shouldn’t be unconditional and should change as the economy evolves. “Commitments to maintain interest rates at a given level must be properly conditioned on the evolution of the economy,” Kohn said today in remarks to a monetary conference at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Policy makers will weigh the impact of financial turmoil in Europe on U.S. growth when they next meet June 22-23. (Bloomberg)

The number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance in US fell last week for a fourth straight week, according to a weekly government report released Thursday. There were 444,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended May 8, down 4,000 from a downwardly revised 448,000 the previous week, according to the Labor Department's weekly report. The number of claims is the lowest since the 442,000 reported in the week ended March 27. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected new claims to fall to 440,000. (CNNMoney)

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday he has concerns about a signature piece of Senate Democrats' Wall Street financial reform package. Bernanke wrote about the consequences from a congressional ban preventing banks from trading the complex financial products, called derivatives, in a letter to key lawmakers.
·    "Forcing these activities out of insured depository institutions would weaken both financial stability and strong prudential regulation of derivative activities," Bernanke wrote to an author of the measure, Senator Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. (CNNMoney)

The US foreclosure plague may have finally reached its peak in April 2010 -- but don't expect delinquency statistics to plummet anytime soon. The total number of foreclosure filings -- notices of default, auction notices and bank repossessions -- fell by 9% from March to April, and 2% compared with April 2009, according to data released Thursday by RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed properties.

• The number of homes repossessed during April is at an all-time high of 92,432. That is a 45% increase over April 2009. If repossessions continue at this pace, more than 1.1m homes will be lost in 2010. (CNNMoney)

Thailand’s prime minister withdrew an offer of early elections, raising the chance of renewed clashes with protesters who have occupied Bangkok streets for two months. “Since they didn’t end the protest, that means they reject the offer,” Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters in Bangkok today. “The election date is now up to me to decide.” (Bloomberg)

Thailand’s consumer confidence fell for a third consecutive month as the nation’s worst political violence in 18 years claimed 27 lives in April. An index measuring sentiment dropped to 67.2 last month from 69.8 in March, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said in Bangkok today. That’s the lowest level in nine months. The gauge is based on a survey of 2,239 respondents. The prolonged unrest may reduce growth this year by as much as two percentage points, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij has said. (Bloomberg)

China's government has opened a new range of government-run industries to the private sector, either through investment in existing companies or establishment of new firms. The government would improve financing services and simplify administrative procedures for private sector involvement in those industries.

• Water projects, power generation, mining, and logistics -- currently mainly state controlled -- would be opened to the private sector, said a statement on the central government website, www.gov.cn. 
• The statement also reiterated the opening of sectors, including education, welfare, transport infrastructure, telecommunications and energy, public utilities, scientific and technological programs for national defense, affordable housing construction and cultural industries. (Xinhua)

Japan’s current-account surplus widened to JPY2.53tr in March (JPY1.47tr in Feb) on exports, a sign overseas demand is sustaining a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. Economists had projected for JPY2.17tr. (Bloomberg)

China’s foreign direct investment climbed 25.0% yoy for a ninth month in April (12.1% in Mar) as the government relaxed rules to lure investors amid a sustained economic expansion. That compares with the 21.4% median forecast. (Bloomberg)

India’s food inflation rate climbed 16.44% yoy in the week ended 1 May (16.04% in the previous week). Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said prospects of sufficient rains this year will help bring down prices. (Bloomberg)

The Philippine central bank said its next monetary policy decision will be a “tight balancing act” as policy makers decide whether it’s time to raise interest rates or ask lenders to set aside more deposits as reserves. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas needs to be careful it doesn’t increase borrowing costs unnecessarily because it may erroneously “signal to the market” that rates will rise further, Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said.

• “We may even choose not to touch both if we think the global and domestic economic recovery remains fragile and if the inflation outlook continues to be favorable,” he added (Bloomberg)