20121126 1020 Local & Global Economy Related News.

Inflation held steady at 1.3% yoy in Oct for the second month, matching economists’ expectations. On a mom basis, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2% (0.2% in Sep). From Jan to Oct, the CPI increased by 1.7%. (BT)

Malaysia is now prepared with efforts towards achieving  economic growth of more than 5% in 2013, after recording a GDP growth of 5.2% in 3Q12, said Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah. The country's economic growth projection for next year was 4.5-5.5%, although it was aware that the global economy is becoming more challenging. (Bernama)

The transformation in agriculture sector as proposed by the Malaysian government has shown positive achievements, said  PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. The positive achievement was because the transformation or the rise in efforts taken to increase agriculture production was through innovation, he said. To ensure that the agriculture sector continued to progress, Najib said the government has, for the first time, made a huge allocation which amounted to RM5.8bn in 2013 Budget. (Bernama)

The government is committed to speeding up the participation of local companies in the global supply chain, said Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili. In the 2013 Budget, the Strategic Domestic Investment Fund with an allocation of RM1bn had been set aside under the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), he said. In line with this, the Supply Chain Safety Management System Certification Scheme (ISO 2800:2007) was launched last Friday to further raise the confidence of investors. (Bernama)

European Union  leaders failed to reach agreement on a new  seven-year budget for their troubled bloc, calling off talks in less than two days after most countries balked at far deeper spending cuts demanded by Britain and its allies. (Reuters)

Eurozone finance ministers are considering a possible "haircut" for Greece in 2015, to put Greece's debt on a more sustainable footing. By writing off half of their Greek debt holdings, eurozone governments and institutions could drive down Greece's debt to 70% of output in 2020, compared to 144%. (AFP)

China’s average urban salaries rose 12% yoy in th9M12 without adjusting for inflation, slowing from 14.4% for all of 2011 and 13.3% in 2010. (Bloomberg)

Indian officials pledged to cut the budget deficit to 5.3% of GDP in the fiscal year to 31 Mar 2013 (from 5.8% the previous year), and will be cut by 0.6% annually for the next five years. (Bloomberg)

South Korea’s consumer sentiment index  was at 99 in Nov from 98 in Oct. (Bloomberg)

Indonesia's foreign debt ratio to GDP in 3Q12 reached 27.8%, higher than 27.1% in 2Q12. Debt-to-exports ratio reached 108%, higher than the second quarter’s figure of 102.7%. Repayments and principal debt service ratio reached 34.7%, an increase from the second quarter’s 34.1%. (IFT)

The Thai Industries Sentiment Index for Oct was down from 94.1 in Sep to stand at 93.0, the lowest for 11 months. (Bangkok Post)

Thailand’s car exports value  hit THB47.12bn in Oct, a yoy increase of 93.46%. Car exports in 10M12 were also up 21% yoy to 840,149 units, with a total value of THB402.79bn, up 24.56% yoy. (Bangkok Post)

Singapore's inflation rate eased to 4% yoy in Oct from 4.7% the previous month due to smaller gains in transportation and housing costs. (CNA)

Vietnamese consumer prices gained an estimated 7.08% yoy in Nov, the sharpest increase since May, following a 7.0% rise in Oct. (AFP)