20121204 1132 Global Economy Related News.

Indonesia: November inflation eases more than economists forecast
Indonesia’s inflation slowed more than economists estimated in November, giving the central bank room to support growth as exports slump. Consumer prices climbed 4.32% from a year earlier last month, after a previously reported 4.61% gain in October, the statistics bureau said in Jakarta yesterday. The median of 20 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 4.57% increase. Exports fell 7.6% in October from a year earlier, after a 9.4% drop the previous month. Indonesia has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record-low 5.75% for nine meetings, refraining from joining neighbors from Thailand to the Philippines in extending monetary easing as price gains held above 4% since March. (Bloomberg)

EU: Greece offers 10 billion-euro debt buyback to unlock aid
Greece offered EUR10bn (USD13bn) to buy back bonds issued earlier this year as the bailed-out nation attempts to cut a debt load that may threaten future international aid. Greek bonds rallied after the so-called modified Dutch auction  was announced today by the Athens-based Public Debt Management Agency. The prices offered for bonds maturing from 2023 to 2042 averaged 33.1% of face value, based on information in a statement from the debt agency today, higher than euro-area finance ministers indicated would be paid. Success is crucial to releasing aid that’s been frozen since June. (Bloomberg)

US: Fed’s Rosengren sees ‘strong case’ for more asset buying
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren said he sees a “strong case” for the central bank to buy bonds at the current monthly pace of USD85bn after its Operation Twist program expires. “Given the tepid economic recovery, high unemployment, and subdued inflation  – and the uncertainty around fiscal policy  – I believe an accommodative monetary policy is quite appropriate,” Rosengren said. Policy makers, who next meet 11-12 Dec, are considering whether to step up record accommodation to offset the scheduled expiration this month of Operation Twist, a program swapping short-term Treasuries with longer-term debt. (Bloomberg)

US: Manufacturing unexpectedly shrank as orders slowed  
Manufacturing unexpectedly contracted in November for the fourth month in the last six as factory managers grew more concerned about the potential economic toll stemming from the so-called fiscal cliff. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 49.5, the lowest since July 2009, from 51.7 in October. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 51.4. Fifty marks the dividing line between expansion and contraction. Construction spending in October jumped by the most in five months, another report showed. (Bloomberg)