The minimum wage deals only with the basic salary while employees and employers would have to discuss the additional benefits. Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramanim said this had been the practice in Malaysia “all the while”. “In the case of unionized workers, these unions will negotiate it in their collective agreements (CA) on such things,” he said. He acknowledged that there might be some hiccups when it came to the implementation of the minimum wage policy, but the situation would stabilise in time as an employer would always want to keep good workers. (NST)
The national minimum wage policy should be introduced in phases to give companies and businesses time to adjust, said a group of 16 business and manufacturing associations. Spokesman Lim Kok Boon, the president of the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association, said while the group hails the new policy as a way to realise the government’s aim to become a high-income nation, the current concern is its implementation. “We are concerned that productivity will lag significantly following the introduction of the policy. This will increase the cost of production and make us competitive,” he said. “As the global economy has not fully recovered, many exporters are being forced to compete on price and will not be able to pass on cost increases to their customers,” he said. A sudden and substantial increase in wage will result in the closure of some 200 small plastics manufacturing companies, defined as those who employ fewer than 50 workers, he said. Another 10,000 jobs from medium to large companies are at risk with a higher wage bill following the introduction of the policy. (Financial Daily)
US weekly same-store sales rose 1.3% wow in the 3 Mar week (-1.0% in the previous week), according to ISCS-Goldman. On a yoy basis, the measure stood at 1.7% (2.7% in the prior week). (Bloomberg)
E.U: ECB balance sheet jumps to record EUR3tr last week after a second tranche of three-year loans. Lending to euro-area banks jumped EUR 310.7b to EUR 1.13tr in the week ended March 2, the Frankfurt- based ECB said in a statement. The balance sheet gained EUR 330.6b in the week. It is now more than a third bigger than the U.S. Federal Reserves USD 2.9tr and eclipses the EUR 2.3tr gross domestic product of Germany, the world's fourth largest economy. (Source: Bloomberg)
E.U: Economy contracts in 4Q11 as investment, exports decline. Gross domestic product shrank 0.3%. Exports fell 0.4% QoQ after a 1.4% QoQ gain in the previous three months, while household spending declined 0.4% QoQ and investment dropped 0.7% QoQ. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.K: Retail sales fell for a second month in February as a drop in purchases of clothing countered gains at food stores, the British Retail Consortium said. Sales at stores open at least 12 months, measured by value, fell 0.3% YoY which followed a 0.3% YoY decline in January. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.K: House prices fell in February for a third month in four, as economic uncertainty weighed on demand for housing, Halifax said. Prices dropped 0.5% MoM from January to an average GBP160,118 (USD253,400), the mortgage unit of Lloyds Banking Group Plc said in a statement. From a year earlier, values were down 1.6% YoY. (Source: Bloomberg)
Brazil: Growth of 2.7% in 2011 was its second-worst performance since 2003. Higher borrowing costs and a currency that rallied to a 12-year high led it to underperform emerging-market peers China and India. (Source: Bloomberg)
Vietnam: Central Bank to cut key interest rates to aid growth. Vietnam said it would cut its benchmark interest rates in the "next few days" amid a slowing global economy and after consumer prices rose the least in 11 months in February. The State Bank of Vietnam will reduce the repurchase rate and refinancing rate by 1ppts each, central bank Governor Nguyen Van Binh said in Hanoi. The repurchase rate for the seven-day term is currently 14% and the refinancing rate is 15%. It will also lower the maximum interest rate banks can pay for deposits in dong, Binh said. The rate is now at 14%. (Source: Bloomberg)
Australia: Holds key rate as EU shock potential lingers. The central bank reiterated it has scope to cut interest rates as Europe remains a potential source of shocks "for some time yet," sending the nation's currency to the lowest level in 1 1/2 weeks. Governor Glenn Stevens and his board left the overnight cash-rate target at 4.25%, the Reserve Bank of Australia said in a statement in Sydney. (Source: Bloomberg)
Inflation in the Philippines rose 2.7% yoy in Feb (4% in Jan) and was unchanged last month (0.4% mom in Jan). (Bloomberg, Dow Jones)
Indonesia’s money supply M2 rose 16% yoy in Jan (16.4% in Dec). (Bloomberg)
Thailand’s Commerce Permanent Secretary Yanyong Phuangrach announced that the consumer confidence index rose to 25.8 in Feb (24.2 in Jan), with increases seen in every category, spurred by the ongoing post-flood revival efforts and the government’s spending on aid. The consumer spending index was adjusted upwards to 66.4 on the back of salary and minimum-wage hikes coming into effect on 1 Apr. Thai rice exporters should also not be threatened by global competition, as Thai rice price is still high despite lower export quantity, Yanyong said, adding that the Commerce Ministry has readjusted the country’s rice-exporting strategy by focusing away from quantity to raising the price ceiling of Thai rice in the global market. (Thai Financial Post)
China's government debt amounts to about Rmb17.tr5 (US$2.78tr), about 43% of GDP. (Xinhua)
China's draft central and local budgets for 2012, submitted for reading at the parliamentary session, caught eyes for increasing government spending on livelihood programs. Expenditure budget to education totals Rmb378.13bn, an increase of 16.4% from 2011. The figure for medical and health care is Rmb203.51bn, up 16.4% While that for social security and employment is Rmb575.07bn, a rise of 21.9%. (Xinhua)
Greece is optimistic that it will achieve a 75% to 80% participation in a bond swap this week that aims to write off more than half of €177bn (US$234bn) in debt issued under Greek law, people with direct knowledge of the matter said. (WSJ)
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