20120913 1050 Local & Global Economy Related News.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will not be implemented this year as the government is focusing on creating awareness on the new taxation mechanism among the people,  Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai said yesterday. He said awareness campaigns organised by the Finance Ministry are progressing well and are expected to conclude soon. (BT)

The government is expected to chalk up a revenue of more than RM200bn this year, surpassing its initial target of RM187bn, Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai said. The additional income would enable the government to hand out increased financial assistance to Malaysians, such as the proposed second edition of Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) in the upcoming 2013 Budget, he said.As of Jun 2012, the Treasury recorded a  revenue of RM99bn. The growth is mainly due to enhanced tax collection, increased contributions from the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and growth in property transactions, Lim said. The economy was expected to sustain its growth momentum in the next two quarters of this year. This is reflected by the leading index, which grew by an average of 1.4% from Oct 2011 to Mar 2012, he said. (Bernama)

The US trade deficit  increased 0.2% from Jun's deficit of US$41.9bn to US$42bn as fewer exports to Europe, India and Brazil offset a steep decline in oil imports. (AP)

The US MBA purchase applications index gained 8.0% wow in the 7 Sep week (-0.8% in the  earlier week), whilst the  refinance index  gained 12.0% (-3.0% in the prior week). (Bloomberg)

US inventories gained 0.7% mom in Jul (a revised -0.2% in Jun), higher than consensus of 0.4%. (Bloomberg)

The US poverty rate stabilized in 2011 for the first time in three years, edging down to 15% from 15.1% in 2010 even as incomes fell and inequality grew. (Reuters)

Weak economic growth and high oil prices are likely to contain  global oil demand in 2012 and cap it in 2013, the International Energy Agency said. (AFP)

Eurozone industrial production rose a sharp 0.6% mom in Jul after a 0.6% contraction the previous month, due to a strong increase of 2.4% in the production of capital goods. Consensus called for a 0.3% decline. (AFP)

The European Commission has presented proposals for a single European supervisory mechanism, a major step to a  banking union. A banking union foresees three steps: the ECB gets the power to monitor all euro zone banks and others in the wider EU that agree to the oversight; the establishment of a fund to close troubled banks; and a fully fledged scheme to protect citizens' deposits across the euro zone. (EC, Reuters)

Germany’s constitutional court has rejected a petition that would have stymied the creation of the eurozone’s €500bn rescue fund. The court also ruled that the ceiling of €190bn in German financial guarantees imposed when parliament approved the rescue fund could only be increased with the assent of lawmakers. There must be no unlimited liability for Germany, the ESM’s biggest backer, the justices decided. (FT)

Chinese banks granted  Rmb703.9bn or US$112bn in new loans in Aug, up from Rmb540.1bn in Jul, the People's Bank of China said. (AFP)

China's outbound direct investment (ODI) accelerated by 67% yoy to reach US$24bn in the second quarter of 2012. (Global Times)

The PBOC reported that China’s broad money supply M2 increased 13.5% yoy to Rmb92.49tr (US$14.59tr) at the end of Aug. However, the growth rate was down 0.4% pt from the end of Jul. (Xinhua)

China's fiscal revenues grew 4.2% yoy to Rmb786.3bn (about US$124bn) in Aug. (Xinhua)

South Korea's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.1% in Aug from a month earlier, despite a slowdown in job creation. (AFP)

Japan Finance Minister Jun Azumi said moves in the yen since yesterday were speculative and the government is  ready to act against unacceptable changes in the currency’s value. (Bloomberg)

Japan's core machinery orders jumped 4.6% mom in Jul (5.6% in Jun), the second straight monthly increase and was well above economists' expectations of a 1.4% rise. (AFP)

Indonesia Aug cement sales were 3.6m tonnes, down 25.2% mom (+7.2% in Jun). (Reuters)

Indonesia's governing coalition has tentatively agreed to steeply raise electricity rates next year in an attempt to reduce massive energy subsidies and to encourage investment in power-generation infrastructure that would bolster the country's growth, a deputy prime minister said Wednesday. (AWSJ)

India’s industrial ouput grew 0.1% yoy, helped by a recovery in consumer non-durables, slightly lower than a forecast of 0.3% growth, but an improvement on an annual contraction of 1.8% logged in June. (Reuters)

A planned  economic union in  Southeast Asia (ASEAN Economic Community) is likely to be delayed by a year until the end of 2015 because some countries are not ready, Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general of ASEAN. (Reuters)

Thailand’s Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani residents severely hit by floods last year face the prospects of being battered by another deluge this year if there are torrential rains, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday.  Residents in 27 at-risk communities in Bangkok have been warned to brace for floods this weekend as heavy rains are expected from tomorrow (Friday)  until Monday. (Bangkok Post, The Nation)

Vietnam’s ministries of Finance as well as Industry and Trade decided to reduce the import tax rate for petrol and oil instead of increasing petrol and oil retail prices on the domestic market due to higher world oil prices. The new rate dropped by 2% from 12% to keep retail prices stable at VND23,650 per litre for A92 petrol and VND21,800 per litre for diesel oil. (Vietnam News)

Amid concerns over a potential surge in foreign capital inflows and its destabilizing  effects, the  Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has told banks and other organizations intending to source funds from offshore to disclose their foreign borrowing plans for 2013. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)