Thailand

• World Bank estimates 2014 Thailand GDP growth at 3% YoY, with politics pressuring consumption and investment. If political situation eases, the global economy expansion will support exports. (ASTV Manager, 08/14/14)
• Ministry of Finance expects 2014 Thai economic growth of 2.6% YoY. At a meeting in Myanmar, it said that it does not expect the political situation to have huge impact since fundamentals are strong. (ASTV Manager, 08/14/14)
• Unrest hits transport, cargo firms’ growth — The ongoing political conflict has adversely affected the land transport business and is expected to limit its growth to only 3% this year, the Land Transport Federation of Thailand says. (Bangkok Post, 07/04/14)
• EC endorses 58 senators — The Election Commission (EC) has endorsed winning candidates from 58 provinces who took part in the March 30 Senate election, with 19 others still under investigation for alleged violations of the poll law, EC secretary-general Puchong Nutrawong announced yesterday. (Bangkok Post, 09/04/14)
• NESDB cuts GDP growth forecast — The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has cut its forecast for this year’s economic growth to 3-4%, and export growth may be lower than the 5% target after no signs of economic recovery in January and February, given the prolonged political impasse. (Bangkok Post, 09/04/14)
• IMF halves Thai forecast – The International Monetary Fund has revised down this year’s forecast for Thai economic growth to 2.5% from the 5.2% estimated previously, mainly because of the political uncertainty. This would be the lowest growth rate among ASEAN nations. (The Nation,10/04/14)
• FTI will encourage investments in neighboring Asian nations. The body targets 10% growth in 2014 cross-border transactions and plans to urge the new government to work with other nations to promote trade. (Kom Chad Leuk, 10/04/14)
• Iraq to end halt on Thai rice imports — Iraq is set to resume buying Thai rice after halting purchases for almost a year on concerns about quality. Normally, Iraq will issue a tender for 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of rice a month. Iraq purchased about 845,000 tonnes from Thailand in 2012 but stopped in the second half of last year due to quality concerns. (Bangkok Post, 10/04/14)
• FTI confident of export recovery — Exports of food products look set to improve this year in line with the global economy, while problems plaguing the sector, particularly early mortality syndrome (EMS), are easing as well, says the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI). (Bangkok Post, 10/04/14)

Globally 

• US: Payrolls in U.S. rose 192,000 in March, unemployment 6.7% – Companies powered the U.S. job market past a milestone in March as private employment exceeded the pre-recession peak for the first time, showing the kind of progress Federal Reserve officials look for to maintain their current policy course. (Bloomberg, 05/04/14)
• IMF trims world growth forecast to 3.6% for 2014 – In its updated economic outlook, the IMF expects the global economy to expand by 3.6% in 2014 and 3.9% in 2015 — both down by 0.1 percentage point from its last predictions in January. (Xinhua. 08/04/14)
• US: The latest Small Business Optimism Index increased 2 points to 93.4 in March, mostly reversing the February decline, the National Federation of Independent Business said Tuesday. (Xinhua, 09/04/14)
• U.S. consumer credit up 6.4% in February – U.S. consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 6.4% in February, and the growth rate quickened from a revised 5.3% in January, the U.S. Federal Reserve reported on Monday. (Xinhua. 08/04/14)
• US: U.S. wholesale inventories advanced 0.5% in February following an upwardly revised 0.8% gain in January, while wholesale sales rebounded 0.7% after a 1.8% decline in the previous month, the Commerce Department said. Moreover, U.S. mortgage applications in the week ending April 4 dropped 1.6% from a week earlier, said the Mortgage Bankers Association. (Xinhua, 10/04/14)
• US crude inventories: The Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude inventories increased 4mn barrels to 384.1mn barrels last week, much larger than estimates of 1mnbarrels. (Xinhua, 09/010/14)
• US: The number of Americans who initially applied for jobless benefits in the week ending April 5 sank by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 300,000, said the Labor Department Thursday, adding that the last time initial claims were this low was in May 2007. The Labor Department said U.S. import prices rose 0.6% in March, after a 0.9% increase in February, while export prices added 0.8% in March following a 0.7% advance the previous month. (Xinhua, 11/04/14)
• Bank of England keeps interest rate unchanged at 0.5% — The Bank of England (BoE), the central bank of Britain, on Thursday voted to keep its main interest rate unchanged at 0.5%, and also keep its quantitative easing (QE) program at £375bn (US$629bn). (Xinhua, 10/04/14)
• German trade surplus declines in February – German trade surplus continued to decline in February, thanks to decrease of exports and increase of imports. Exports in February decreased by 1.3% on January in adjusted terms, while imports increased by 0.4%, according to Destatis. (Xinhua, 09/010/14)
• Philippine FDI inflows hit US$1bn in Jan. – Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the Philippines rose by 5.3% YoY to US$1bn in January, the local central bank said Thursday. (Xinhua, 10/04/14)
• China’s central bank injects liquidity – China’s central bank announced a forward repurchase operation (repo) on Thursday, which will lead to the first liquidity injection in the past nine weeks through open market operations. (Xinhua, 10/04/14)
• China: Used home sales at a 6-year low, inventories up – Purchases of pre-owned homes in Beijing reached a six-year low in March, Centaline Property Agency said on Monday. The slump in used home sales reinforces recent market data showing that China’s property prices are losing steam after years of cutthroat growth. (China Daily, 08/04/14)
• Chinese rare earths state reserve policy impending – The State Reserve Bureau of China has signed agreements with the country’s major nonferrous metals producers to purchase rare earths for state reserve. This round of state reserve could involve more than 13,000 tonnes of rare earths. (Xinhua, 09/010/14)
• BOJ seen doubling ETF purchases in next round of easing – Japan’s central bank will probably double purchases of exchange-traded funds in a second round of monetary easing under Governor Haruhiko Kuroda anticipated in coming months. (Bloomberg, 7/04/13)
• World Bank expects 2014 GDP growth in Asia’s economies growth at 7.1% decreasing from prior estimate of 7.2%. It also expects that recovery in industrial economies will support export in Asian countries. (IQ Biz, 07/04/14)
• China: JP Morgan maintains forecast for China’s full-2014 GDP growth at 7.2% – Zhu Haibin, chief China economist with JP Morgan, predicted that the country’s GDP was likely to rise 6.2% in the first quarter of this year from the last quarter of 2013 and 7.2% for the whole year of 2014. (Xinhua. 08/04/14)
• Japan: BOJ expects continued economic recovery, no need for further easing now – The Bank of Japan decided Tuesday to keep intact its ultra loose monetary easing to beat deflation and retained the view that the domestic economy is likely to continue recovering after the April 1 sales tax hike, with BOJ chief Haruhiko Kuroda currently seeing no need for additional easing. (Kyodo, 08/04/14)