Germany: Business confidence fell more than economists forecast in July, according to a survey taken before European leaders agreed new aid for Greece as part of an intensification of measures to stem the region's debt crisis. The Ifo institute in Munich said its business climate index, based on a survey of 7,000 executives, declined to 112.9, the lowest in nine months, from 114.5 in June. The index reached a record high of 115.4 in February. (Source: Bloomberg)
Taiwan: Unemployment rate declined in June, holding below 5% for the ninth straight month. The seasonally adjusted rate fell to 4.4% YoY from 4.41% YoY in May, the statistics bureau said in Taipei. (Source: Bloomberg)
Vietnam: Inflation accelerates to 22.16%, highest level in Asia
Vietnam inflation accelerated for an 11th month in July after the central bank cut a key interest rate even as the nation faces the fastest price gains in Asia. Consumer prices rose 22.16% from a year earlier, compared with June’s 20.82% pace, data released by the General Statistics Office in Hanoi showed. The central bank reduced its repurchase rate to 14% from 15% on 4 July after a spate of increases since November to fight inflation, leading the International monetary Fund to say the cut may confuse investors. [Bloomberg]
India: India is in fiscal and monetary tightening mode
India is in a fiscal and monetary tightening mode, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said ahead of the central bank’s interest-rate decision next week. The Reserve Bank of India may raise its repurchase rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 7.75% on 26 July, 19 of 21 economists in Bloomberg News survey said, with the remainder expecting no change. India’s inflation is the highest among the so-called BRICS nations after Russia, and Mukherjee said price gains are above comfort level. [Bloomberg]
Australia: Inflation expectations drop to lowest in 2011
Investors expectations of Australian inflation dropped to the least this year on prospects faltering growth will cool consumer-price gains, giving the central bank scope to extend its longest interest-rate pause since 2007. The so-called breakeven rate on 10-year inflation-linked notes fell 9 basis points, or 0.09 percentage points, this month and touched 274 basis points, the least since November. The bond market contrasts with economists forecasting a 27 July report will show annual consumer price gains quickened to 3.4% last quarter, the most since 2008. [Bloomberg]
EU: ECB’s hand on rate raise
The European Central Bank’s willingness to dive up borrowing costs in the midst of a debt crisis threatens to widen the gaps between the region’s economies in an echo of divergence seen in bond yields. The ECB, whose primary job is to fight inflation, has tightened monetary policy twice this year as Germany’s economy sent consumer prices past the inflation target. While yields on 10-year Spanish and Italian bonds declined this week from euro-era highs, they remain about 1% above their average of the past decade. [Bloomberg]
US: Almost as many states showed job losses as gains in June
Payrolls dropped in 24 US states in June and climbed in 26, indicating the labor market is struggling across much of the world’s largest economy. Tennessee led the nation with a 16,900 decrease in payrolls, followed by Missouri with a 15,700 drop, figures from the Labor Department showed in Washington. Texas and California had the biggest employment gains. The jobless rate rose in 28 states. Hiring needs to accelerate to ensure consumers keep spending, which accounts for about 70% of the economy. [Bloomberg]
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