Malaysia sees wider yuan use in trade
Malaysia will see increasing use of the yuan in trade with China, while keeping the dollar as its key reserve currency, Prime Minister Najib Razak said.
“We have to maintain the US dollar as the most important international reserve currency,” Najib said in an interview this week in Putrajaya, near Kuala Lumpur, ahead of his two-year anniversary in office April 3. “New currencies can emerge. I think we are quite open about it. It has of course to have the traction with countries around the world whether that happens,” he said, adding that it’s “very likely” trade in yuan will rise. (Business Times)
Goldman raises Malaysia’s GDP forecast to 5.5%
KUALA LUMPUR: Goldman Sachs has raised Malaysia’s 2011 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast to 5.5% from 5.2% previously, driven by robust domestic demand. (StarBiz)
Thailand: Current-Account surplus widens on rising shipments
Thailand’s current-account surplus more than tripled in February after exports surged amid a global economic recovery. The surplus was USD 3.82bn last month, compared with a surplus of USD1.09bn in January, the central bank said. The median estimate of nine economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a USD2.88bn surplus. Thailand’s Finance Ministry kept its 2011 economic growth forecast at as much as 5% this week, saying risks to growth, including unrest in the Middle East and this month’s earthquake in Japan, will be offset by the US recovery and an increase in spending ahead of the Southeast Asian nation’s elections this year. The central bank signaled this week it may raise interest rates further after two increases in 2011. (Bloomberg)
Australia: Retail sales, loans rise, sending dollar to record
Australian retail sales rose in February and lending to businesses climbed for the first time in nine months, according to government reports that sent the nation’s currency to a record against the USD. Sales advanced 0.5% from a month earlier, when they gained 0.4%, the Bureau of Statistics said. That was the biggest increase since July and was higher than the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 24 economists for a 0.4% increase. A separate report from the Reserve Bank of Australia showed total credit extended by Australian lenders last month jumped by the most since May, led by business loans. The signs of stronger consumer spending and a lending revival boosted the local dollar as confidence grew that natural disasters didn’t derail the economy’s expansion. (Bloomberg)
EU: Portugal misses 2010 deficit target, raising bailout risk
Portugal reported a budget deficit of 8.6% of GDP last year, missing a government target of 7.3% and causing a jump in borrowing costs that increases the risk of a bailout. The revisions won’t affect the government’s goal for a 4.6% shortfall in 2011, the national statistics agency said. The agency also revised the 2009 budget gap to 10% from 9.3%, after European Union accounting changes prompted Portugal to add more than EUR 2bn (USD 2.8bn) to the 2010 deficit. The yields on the country’s two, five and 10-year bonds rose to euro-era records. (Bloomberg)
EU: German unemployment fell in March for 21st straight month
German unemployment fell twice as much as economists forecast in March as instability in the Middle East and the crisis in Japan failed to deter companies from hiring. The number of people out of work fell a seasonally adjusted 55,000 to 3.01 million, the Nuremberg-based Federal Labor Agency said. That’s the lowest level since June 1992. Economists predicted a drop of 25,000, according to the median of 31 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The rate declined to 7.1% from 7.3% of the workforce. (Bloomberg)
EU: Inflation quickens on energy before ECB rate meeting
European inflation unexpectedly accelerated to the fastest in more than two years in March as European Central Bank policy makers prepared to raise interest rates to fight increasing price pressures. Inflation in the 17-nation euro region quickened to 2.6% from 2.4% in February, the European Union’s statistics office said in an initial estimate. That’s the fastest since Oct 2008 and exceeds the ECB’s 2% limit for a fourth month. Economists forecast inflation to hold at 2.4%, the median of 32 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey showed. (Bloomberg)
US:Jobless Claims Fall, Confidence Improves
Fewer Americans filed claims for jobless benefits last week and consumer confidence stabilized, a sign the world’s largest economy is weathering the jump in commodity prices heading into the second quarter. The number of applications for unemployment insurance payments fell by 6,000 to 388,000 in the week ended 26 March, a one-month low, Labor Department figures showed. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to minus 46.9 last week from a seven-month low of minus 48.9. (Bloomberg)
U.S: Business activity expands faster than forecast in March. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said its business barometer fell to 70.6 this month from February's 71.2 reading that was the highest since July 1988. Figures greater than 50 signal expansion. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S: Orders placed with factories declined 0.1% MoM in February for the first time in four months, reflecting weaker demand for capital goods and military aircraft. Bookings for manufacturers' goods decreased 0.1% MoM after a revised 3.3% MoM gain in January. Orders excluding transportation equipment rose, boosted by demand for non-durable goods. (Source: Bloomberg)
Ireland: Counts on USD 142b package to end worst bank crisis. The central bank instructed four lenders to raise EUR 24b and will merge two of them. The government already injected EUR 46.3b into the financial services industry and set up an agency that paid more than EUR 30b for banks' risky property loans in the past year. The total equates to about two-thirds the size of the Irish economy. (Source: Bloomberg)
Japan: BOJ is said to mull emergency loan program after quake. The plan may be presented to the central bank's board as early as this month, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions weren't public. BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa and his colleagues are scheduled to meet on April 6-7 and on April 28. (Source: Bloomberg)
S. Korea: Inflation climbs to 29-month high in March, breaching target. The consumer-price index rose 4.7% YoY compared with a 4.5% YoY pace in February. Prices gained 0.5% MoM from February. (Source: Bloomberg)
Taiwan: Raises key rate as inflation risk outweighs Japan concern. Taiwan raised borrowing costs for the fourth straight quarter, judging inflation risks outweigh the threat of economic disruption from Japan's earthquake. The central bank raised the discount rate on 10-day loans to banks by 0.125 percentage point to 1.75%, it said in Taipei.
(Source: Bloomberg)
Australia: Home-building approvals unexpectedly declined in February as flooding and a cyclone hurt the housing market. The number of permits granted to build or renovate houses and apartments dropped 7.4% MoM from January, when they fell a revised 11.6% MoM, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney. (Source: Bloomberg)
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