Malaysia: Bank Negara will raise SRR to 2% from April
Bank Negara will increase the statutory reserve requirement (SRR), or the amount that banks keep with the central bank, to 2% from 1%, effective 1 April. However, Bank Negara maintained the overnight policy rate at 2.75% at the monetary policy committee meeting, which hinted a “possible upward pressure on prices in the latter part of the year''. The higher SRR is estimated would mop up about RM6bn to RM7bn from the banking system, which is currently flush with excess liquidity to the tune of RM250bn. (Bloomberg)
Japan: Readies “massive” liquidity in response to quake
The Bank of Japan may inject more short-term cash into the banking system after the nation’s most powerful earthquake on record, while keeping its asset- purchase plans unchanged as officials gauge the longer-term effect on the world’s third-largest economy. Governor Masaaki Shirakawa told reporters he’s ready to unleash “massive” liquidity starting now, as the BOJ seeks to assure financial stability. (Bloomberg)
US: Manufacturing keeps fueling expansion
US industrial production probably rose in Feb for a third month in the last four, indicating manufacturing remains a stalwart of the expansion, economists said before a report this week. Output at factories, mines and utilities climbed 0.6% after a 0.1% decrease in January, according to the median forecast in a survey ahead of Federal Reserve figures on 17 March. (Bloomberg)
US: Retail sales increase most in four months
US retail sales increased in February by the most in four months as Americans took advantage of more seasonable weather to buy cars, clothes and electronics. Purchases climbed 1% after a revised 0.7% rise in January that was more than double the previous estimate, Commerce Department figures showed. (Bloomberg)
U.S: Household wealth climbed by USD2.1tr in the fourth quarter of 2010 as share prices rose and families rebuilt finances tattered by the recession. Net worth for households and non-profit groups increased at a 16.6% annual pace to USD56.8tr after rising at a 9.1% rate in the previous three months, the Washington based Federal Reserve said in its Flow of Funds report. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S: Inventories rose more than forecast in January as companies tried to keep pace with the biggest gain in sales in almost a year. The 0.9% increase in stockpiles followed a revised 1.1% gain in December that was bigger than initially estimated, the Commerce Department said in Washington. Sales jumped 2% in January, the most since
March 2010. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.K: Producer prices rose for a fifth month in February, boosted by gasoline and food, pushing the annual rate of inflation at factory gates to the highest since October 2008. Output prices increased 0.5% from January, when they rose 1.1%, the Office for National Statistics said in London. On the year, the pace of price growth accelerated to 5.3% from 5%.(Source: Bloomberg)
Germany: Inflation accelerated to the fastest pace in more than two years in February after energy prices surged. The inflation rate, calculated using a harmonized European Union method, increased to 2.2% from 2% in January, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said. That's the highest since October 2008. From January, consumer prices rose 0.6%.(Source: Bloomberg)
Spain: Underlying inflation accelerated in February to the most in more than two years, highlighting price pressure as the European Central Bank prepares to raise interest rates. Core consumer prices, which exclude energy and fresh food, gained 1.8% from a year earlier, the fastest pace since January 2009, after a 1.6% increase the previous month, the National Statistics Institute in Madrid said. (Source: Bloomberg)
Spain: Moody's Investors Service cut the ratings of four Spanish regional administrations, including three of the most indebted, on concern that they will struggle to rein in deficits. Moody's cut Castilla-La Mancha to A2, Catalunya to A3, Murcia to A1 and Valencia to A2. (Source: Bloomberg)
China: Consumer prices rose at an annual 4.9% pace in February and output increased 14% in the first two months of 2011, the statistics bureau said in Beijing. Producer prices jumped 7.2% last month, the most since September 2008. (Source: Bloomberg)
India: Industrial output grew more than analysts expected in January, supporting economic growth and giving the central bank scope to increase interest rates and fight inflation. Output at factories, utilities and mines rose 3.7% from a year earlier after a revised 2.5% gain in December, the government said in a statement in New Delhi. (Source: Bloomberg)
No comments:
Post a Comment