Malaysia: Growth slows as faster inflation adds rate pressure
Malaysia’s growth unexpectedly eased last quarter as manufacturing and services moderated, a slowing that has yet to pull down inflation and remove pressure on the central bank to keep raising interest rates. Gross domestic product increased 4.6% in the three months through March from a year earlier, after expanding 4.8% in the previous quarter, the central bank said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today. The median estimate of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 4.9 percent gain. (Bloomberg)
Malaysia: Falls six notch in global competitive ranking survey
Malaysia fell six notches in a global competitive ranking survey despite attempts to drive home efficiency through various programmes, including the Economics Transformation Programme (ETP). The 2011 World Competitiveness Rankings by Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), which presents the year’s overall rankings for 59 economies covered by its World Competitiveness Yearbook, placed Malaysia at the 16th spot against the 10th spot of the year before. (MalaysianReserve)
UK: April unemployment claims rise most since January 2010
UK unemployment claims rose in April at the fastest pace since January 2010, underlining the fragility of the recovery as government spending cuts and accelerating inflation sap consumer confidence. Jobless benefit claims increased by 12,400 from March to 1.47m, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast of 24 economists in a Bloomberg News Survey was for no change. Unemployment measured by International Labour Organization methods fell 36,000 to 2.46m people in the quarter through March. (Bloomberg)
UK: BOE voted 6-3 to hold rate on risks to consumer confidence
Bank of England policy makers voted 6-3 to keep interest rates on hold this month as the majority warned that tightening policy now could dampen consumer spending and hamper the recovery. Andrew Sentance maintained his call for a half-point increase in the key rate from a record low of 0.5% while Chief Economist Spencer Dale and Martin Weale continued a push for a quarter-point increase. Governor Mervyn King and the other five members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted for no change. Adam Posen kept up a call for more bond purchases. (Bloomberg)
EU: Europe construction output dropped for second month in March
European construction output dropped for a second month in March as declines in France, Portugal and Slovenia offset increasing production in Germany. Construction in the 17-nation euro region fell 0.3% from February, when it declined a revised 0.8%, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said today. From a year earlier, output decreased 4.9%. (Bloomberg)
Spain: Export gains drive first-quarter economic growth
Spanish exports continued to drive economic growth in the first quarter, offsetting a slump in domestic demand caused by the deepest austerity measures in three decades. Exports rose 5% from the previous three months, when they expanded 3.9%, and grew 11.2% from a year earlier, the National Statistics Institute in Madrid said today. Household spending was unchanged from the previous three months, when it increased 0.3%. The economy expanded 0.3% from the fourth quarter and 0.8% from a year earlier, INE said, confirming an initial estimate from May 13. (Bloomberg)
Chile: First-Quarter GDP grows at fastest pace since 1995
Chile’s economy expanded the most in 15 years in the first quarter, outpacing other major Latin American economies as consumer spending jumped and manufacturing recovered from the biggest earthquake in half a century. The economy grew 9.8% from a year earlier, the central bank wrote on its website today, matching the median estimate of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. (Bloomberg)
U.S: Fed favors strategy of raising rates before selling assets. Federal Reserve policy makers began to coalesce last month on a strategy to reverse record monetary stimulus by first ending their reinvestment policy and later raising interest rates and selling assets. Almost all officials agreed that the "first step toward normalization" should be ceasing reinvestment of principal payments on mortgage debt that began in August, the Federal Open Market Committee said in records of its April 26-27 session. A majority preferred to sell the Fed's securities after raising short-term interest rates, and most wanted to put asset sales on a preannounced schedule while using federal-funds rate increases as an "active tool." (Source: Bloomberg)
Greece: ECB rejects restructuring in clash with policy makers. European Central Bank officials ruled out a Greek debt restructuring, clashing with political leaders over a solution to the sovereign financial crisis. "A Greek debt restructuring is not the appropriate way forward - it would create a catastrophe" because it would damage the banking system, ECB Executive Board member Juergen Stark said in Lagonissi, Greece. Fellow board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said in Milan that "a solution for reducing debt but not paying for it will not work." (Source: Bloomberg)
China: April new home prices rose from a year earlier in 67 of the 70 cities monitored by the government. Housing prices increased at a faster pace in smaller cities and slowed in major ones, data posted on the statistics bureau's website showed. New home prices in Urumqi, capital of far western Xinjiang province, posted the biggest gain, up 9.3% YoY last month, while prices in northern Mu Danjiang climbed 8.7% YoY. In the capital Beijing, prices rose 2.8% YoY in April, compared with 4.9% YoY in March, while those in Shanghai slowed to a 1.3% YoY gain. (Source: Bloomberg)
Australia: Wage growth slowed in the three months through March for a second straight quarter, giving the central bank scope to extend an interest-rate pause. The wage price index, which measures hourly pay rates excluding bonuses, advanced 0.8% QoQ from the fourth quarter, when it rose 1% QoQ, the statistics bureau said in Sydney. (Source: Bloomberg)
No comments:
Post a Comment