20100715 1055 Global Economic News.

Malaysia: Sees improved spending capability
A robust turnaround in consumer spending is expected in 2010 across Asia-Pacific, with double-digit retail sales growth predicted in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore as a result of improving fundamentals, according to indications provided by the inaugural MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Spending Capability (MWICSC). The new index has been developed to provide insights into consumer spending over a period of one year. Malaysia’s MWICSC score shows a modest increase of 5.7 points in 2010, raising the index value to 63.0, indicating that spending capability is rising for consumers. (Financial Daily)

Singapore: May need to ‘tighten screws’ after record expansion
Singapore may be forced to consider allowing further gains in its currency after a record first-half expansion put the economy in contention for the world’s fastest-growing this year. The government yesterday reported an 18.1% surge in gross domestic product in the first half, unprecedented in data going back to 1975. Record tourist arrivals are benefiting companies from Singapore Airlines Ltd. to casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp., while a two-year-low jobless rate has helped spur a 38% jump in house prices in the past 12 months. (Bloomberg)

China: Stimulus ‘Relapse’ beckons for China as growth slows
China’s slowing expansion may encourage officials to shift policy toward sustaining the rebound in the economy forecast to account for one-third of global growth this year. A government report will show gross domestic product rose 10.5% in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 28 economists, down from an 11.9% pace in January to March. Industrial production and urban fixed-asset investment are also estimated to have slowed. (Bloomberg)

Japan: IMF says Japanese fiscal plans need specifics to be credible
The International Monetary Fund said Japan’s plan to balance its budget in 10 years would be more credible if the government gave specifics on how it will boost revenue, including details on a sales tax increase. Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s fiscal strategy outlined last month “will only become fully credible once details of the necessary revenue measures are agreed on including the timing and scale of a consumption tax increase,” the IMF staff wrote in a supplement to its annual review of Japan’s economy. (Bloomberg)

US: Fed officials saw no need for more stimulus in June
Federal Reserve officials saw no need to boost stimulus to the economy while trimming their forecasts for growth and noting that risks to the recovery had increased, minutes of their June meeting showed. “The economic outlook had softened somewhat and a number of members saw the risks to the outlook as having shifted to the downside,” minutes released in Washington said. “The changes to the outlook were viewed as relatively modest and as not warranting policy accommodation beyond that already in place.” (Bloomberg)

US: Retail sales decrease as recovery cools
Sales at US retailers dropped in June for a second month, indicating the economic recovery dissipated heading into the second half of 2010. Purchases decreased 0.5%, more than projected, after declining 1.1% in May, Commerce Department figures showed. Excluding auto dealers, demand fell 0.1%, matching the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. (Bloomberg)