External reserves: Higher in the second half of October 2010. External reserves increased slightly in the second half of October 2010 to RM324.9b (USD105.3b) as at 29 October 2010 from RM322.7b (USD104.6b) on 15 October 2010. The latest reserve amount is equivalent to 8.8 months of retained imports and 4.5 times short-term external debt. (Source: Bank Negara)
U.S: Consumer credit rose USD 2.1b in September led by a surge in non-revolving credit such as college loans and auto financing. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S: Productivity rises, labor costs drop in 3Q10 as employers squeezed more productivity from workers. Employee output per hour rose at a 1.9% annual rate, more than forecast, after falling 1.8% in the previous three months. Worker costs fell for the fifth time in the past seven quarters. (Source: Bloomberg)
Ireland: Government deepens 'last chance' budget cuts . Ireland is accelerating efforts to cut its budget deficit as European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet swings behind the country's drive to avert a European Union-led bailout. The finance ministry announced savings and tax increases for next year worth EUR 6b (USD 8.5b), or 3.6% of gross domestic product. A further EUR 9b will be cut in the following three years. (Source: Bloomberg)
China: Says Fed stimulus risks hurting global recovery if the U.S. Federal Reserve does not explain last week's decision to purchase bonds to pump money into the world's biggest economy. "Many countries are worried about the impact of the policy on their economies," Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said at a press briefing in Beijing. "It would be appropriate for someone to step forward and give us an explanation, otherwise international confidence in the recovery and growth of the global economy might be hurt." (Source: Bloomberg)
Vietnam: Raises interest rates for first time this year after inflation accelerated to a 19-month high last month. The so-called base rate increases to 9%. The refinancing rate will rise to 9% from 8%, while the discount rate rises the same amount, to 7%. (Source: Bloomberg)
Indonesia: Economic growth unexpectedly slows to 5.8%
Indonesia’s economic growth unexpectedly slowed last quarter, cooling an expansion that has spurred capital inflows, pushed stocks to a record and lifted the Rupiah to a three-year high. Gross domestic product increased 5.8% in the three months to 30 September from a year earlier, after growing a revised 6.19% in the previous quarter, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. (Bloomberg)
Taiwan: Consumer prices climb a second straight month
Taiwan’s consumer prices rose for a second straight month after a typhoon destroyed crops, pushing up food and transportation costs. The consumer price index advanced 0.56% in October from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said. (Bloomberg)
US: October payroll increase bodes well for US consumer spending
Employment in the US rose in October for the first time in five months, a sign the world’s largest economy may strengthen in the final quarter of the year. Payrolls climbed by 151,000 workers, exceeding all estimates in a Bloomberg News survey of economists, after a revised 41,000 drop in September that was smaller than initially estimated, Labor Department data showed in Washington. (Bloomberg)
US: Trade gap probably narrowed in September
The trade deficit probably narrowed in September as a weaker dollar boosted US exports, economists said before a report due this week. The gap shrank to USD45bn from USD46.3bn the prior month, according to the median of 57 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of Commerce Department figures on 10 Nov. (Bloomberg)
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