Thailand

• State enterprise incentives on the table — NCPO and the Super Board will seek to revamp the incentive system for state enterprises this week. (Post Today, 12/07/14)
• Trade promotions — The Department of International Trade Promotion will set a special team to promote trade in five key regions: ASEAN, China, South America, MENA, and other sovereign states. Each team will have members with expertise in each specific region, to smooth the process and enhance trade. (Daily News, 14/07/14)
• NCPO to work with interim government – An interim government to be formed no later than September will work in conjunction with the National Council for Peace and Order, which will continue to exercise power in a counterbalancing manner under a temporary charter consisting of no more than 50 articles, the NCPO chief said yesterday. (The Nation, 12/07/14)

• Rotten rice — Academics estimate that over 40% of the rice stored from the rice scheme is damaged and/or poorer quality than labelled. They expect the government will have to shoulder bear an additional Bt121bn in damages as a result. (Krungtep Thurakij, 14/07/14)
• Ministry of Labour: labour demand down 59.9% YoY. June job openings numbered 24,408, down by 7,929 from previous month, or a 22.4% drop. (Post Today, 14/07/14)
• Customs department looks to increase tax revenue by adding more tax assessors. The department said that a lot of goods pass into the country without being properly taxed and it wants more personnel to stop this. Topping the list are hot-rolled metal sheets and high end cars. (Post Today, 14/07/14)
• Economic issues to go to NCPO — The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking will submit five key economic issues to NCPO for the 16th July meeting. Issues will include investment promotion, sluggish tourism, trade reform and other economic issues. The body also forecasts 2014 GDP growth of 2%. (Thai Post, 15/07/14)
• Ministry forecasts higher exports of most products in H2 – Exports of most Thai products are expected to show a brighter recovery in the second half of the year, but shipments of shrimp and television screens will continued to be slow. (The Nation, 15/07/14)
• “Super Board” to revaluate all contracts between the 56 state enterprises and related parties in a move to tackle corruption and inefficiency. The board said that the process will take approximately 2 months. (Krungtep Thurakij, 15/07/14)
• NCPO approved Bt2.6trn budget for FY2015, with annual deficit of Bt250bn. The budget will stimulate the economy to grow at 6.3% in 2015, according to NCPO forecast. (Krungtep Thurakij, 16/07/14)
• RMF tax rule saved, LTF on ice — Talks between the Finance Ministry and the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organizations (FETCO) over renewing tax deductions for investment in long-term equity fund (LTFs) remain inconclusive, making it likely the rule will be reduced or scrapped. But the ministry has agreed the tax deduction on contributions to retirement mutual funds (RMFs) will be kept unchanged as the investment is made for retirement savings. The ministry initially said it would not renew the tax deductions for investment in LTFs and RMFs, as the law was set to expire in 2016. (Bangkok Post, 16/07/14)
• NCPO will promote ASEAN trade by setting up 12 special economic zones around Thailand’s borders within 2015. (Post Today, 16/07/14)
• NCPO okays five plans to spur economy – They are the promotion of trade and investment, industrial development, tourism, logistics infrastructure development, and the amendment of law and regulations currently presenting obstacles to businesses. For infrastructure development, the NCPO assigned the Finance Ministry to study the set-up of an infrastructure mutual fund as a means to mobilise capital for infrastructure development and consider it at a meeting next month. (Bangkok Post, 17/07/14)
• HSBC cuts Thailand GDP forecast to 1.4% growth as exports recovery disappoints. The international banks remain hopeful in 2015 with an optimistic 5% growth from NCPO policies. Key risks for 2015 remain lack of competitiveness and high house debt. (Kom Chad Luek, 17/07/14)
• SRT image still of concern — The Permanent Secretary of Transport said that she is still concerned about the image of the SRT following the recent rape and murder. She will revaluate the SRT’s position before proposing a new board to NCPO within 15 days. (Thai Post, 17/07/14)
• BOI said investment applications dropped by 34.4% in the first six months to 534, with the value falling by 43.7% to Bt600bn. However it believed that this year’s target of Bt700bn was still possible. (Bangkok Post, 17/07/14)
• Business registrations down — According to the latest report of the Business Development Department, 29,466 juristic persons sought registration in the first half of 2014, down by 6,916 or 19% from the same period last year. (Bangkok Post, 17/07/14)
• Consumer confidence surges – Consumer confidence has increased to the highest level in a year (38.4) thanks to stabilisation of the political situation and recovery of economic growth, says Amparwon Pichalai, director of the Commerce Ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office. (The Nation, 18/07/14)
• 39 foreign firms get the nod in July – Thirty-nine foreign companies have received approval under the Foreign Business Act to set up operations this month – creating at least Bt5.67bn in initial investment capital as Thailand’s economy shines, according to the Business Development Department. (The Nation, 18/07/14)
• VAT effectively kept at 7% level – The National Council for Peace and Order issued an order last night which effectively results in the 7% value added tax being maintained for another fiscal year until Sept 30 next year. (Bangkok Post, 18/07/14)

Globally

• US May wholesale inventories rise 0.5%, sales up 0.7% – Excluding the auto category, wholesale inventories would have been up 0.3% in May after a 1.0% gain in the previous month, an MNI calculation showed. Sales would have been up 0.6% in May if auto sales were excluded compared to a 1.2% increase in April. (MNI, 11/07/14)
• White House trims 2014 deficit projection to $583bn— The White House lowered its U.S. federal deficit forecast for the 2014 fiscal year by US$66 billion to US$583 billion on Friday on the basis of gathering economic momentum as evidenced by gains in hiring. (Reuters, 12/07/14)
• Oil demand growth to rise in 2015, IEA highlights Mideast and N. Africa supply risks – Demand for oil will continue to accelerate next year as the world’s economy expands, according to the International Energy Agency. (Euronews, 11/07/14)
• Eurozone economy to grow over 1% in 2014: IMF — The eurozone economy is expected to grow just over 1% this year before expanding 1.5% in 2015, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Monday. (Xinhua, 14/07/14)
• China’s summer grain output at record high – China’s summer grain output hit a record high of 136.60 million tonnes in 2014, up 3.6% from last year, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. (Xinhua, 14/07/14)
• Japan’s May industrial output upgraded to 0.7% rise – Japan’s industrial output in May rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7% from the previous month, upgraded from an initially reported 0.5% increase, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Monday. (Kyodo, 14/07/14)
• Singapore economy grew 2.1 pct in second quarter – Singapore’s economy grew by 2.1% YoY in the second quarter, dragged by a slowdown in manufacturing. The increase was smaller than the 4.7% percent recorded in the first quarter. It is also lower than the market estimates. (Xinhua, 14/07/14)
• US: Manufacturing activity in the New York region improved significantly for a third consecutive month in July, with the Empire State manufacturing index rising to 25.6, the highest in more than four years. Moreover, U.S. retail and food services sales rose 0.2% in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, said the U.S. Commerce Department.
• U.S. business inventories, a key component of gross domestic product changes, rose 0.5% in May, the department said in a separate report. The reading was slightly below market consensus, but it still pointed to a pickup in the U.S. economy in the second quarter.
• U.S. import prices advanced 0.1% in June following a 0.3% rise in May, driven by higher fuel prices, while export prices decreased 0.4% in the past month, said the U.S. Labor Department. (Xinhua, 16/07/14)
• Yellen signals continuity on easy monetary policy as recovery incomplete — US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday reiterated that the central bank would continue to implement current easy monetary policy as the US economy recovery remains incomplete and many Americans remain unemployed. (Xinhua, 15/07/14)
• British inflation rate jumps to 1.9% unexpectedly in June —Britain’s consumer prices index (CPI) rose to 1.9% in the year to June 2014, exceeding the market’s expectations, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Tuesday. (Xinhua, 15/07/14)
• German investor confidence falls for seventh straight month in July – Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim said its monthly indicator for investors’ confidence in economic outlook declined for the seventh consecutive month in July by 2.7 points to stand at 27.1 points. The drop was more than what economists had expected. (Xinhua, 15/07/14)
• BOJ keeps scenario for Japan economy despite tax hike — The Bank of Japan said Tuesday the country’s economy remains on a recovery track under the central bank’s aggressive monetary easing, leaving almost unchanged its projections for growth and inflation despite a negative impact from the April sales tax hike. (Kyodo, 15/07/14)
• US: U.S. producer price index for final demand rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in June, said the US Labor Department Wednesday, topping market consensus of a 0.3% gain. Meanwhile, U.S. home builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose four points to 53 in July, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The latest data surpassed the key threshold of 50, which indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good. (Xinhua, 17/07/14)
• The Beige Book, a report published eight times per year on economic situations in the 12 Fed Districts, comforted investors, saying that economic activity in all these districts continued to expand since the previous report. (Xinhua, 17/07/14)
• Industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in June, following a jump of 0.5% in May, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Federal Reserve. (Xinhua, 17/07/14)
• Eurozone trade surplus at €15.4bn euros in May – The eurozone was estimated to have scored a trade surplus of €15.4bn (US$20.8bn) in May, the European Union (EU) statistics office said Wednesday. Compared with April, the eurozone’s seasonally-adjusted exports rose by 0.6% and imports by 0.5% in May. (Xinhua, 17/07/14)
• Demand exceeds supply in Japan for first time since 2008 – The Bank of Japan’s measure swung to 0.6% in the first quarter from negative readings back as far as 2008, an official said today in Tokyo. (Bloomberg, 16/07/14)
• China’s GDP grows 7.4% in H1 – China’s economy grew 7.4% year on year in the first half of 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Wednesday. (Xinhua, 16/07/14)
• China’s H1 property investment growth slows – NBS data showed that property investment rose 14.1% year on year in the first six months to 4.2 trillion yuan (US$676.9bn), 0.6 percentage points down from the January-May period and 2.7 percentage points down from the first quarter. (Xinhua, 16/07/14)
• US: U.S. privately-owned housing starts in June fell sharply by 9.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 893,000, said the U.S. Commerce Department Thursday. Meanwhile, building permits, a gauge of future construction, dropped 4.2% last month. The number of Americans who initially applied for jobless benefits last week declined 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 302,000, said the U.S. Labor Department. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure of new claims, also dipped 3,000 to 309,000, the lowest level in seven years. (Xinhua, 18/07/14)
• Eurozone annual inflation stable at 0.5% in June – The euro zone’s annual inflation rate is expected at 0.5%percent June, stable compared with May, said Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, on Thursday. (Xinhua, 17/07/14)
• China, Russia, 3 others agree to set up development bank — Leaders of China, Russia and three other emerging economies on Tuesday agreed on the establishment of a bank to support infrastructure development in developing countries, a move to challenge the U.S.-led global financial system in the post-war era. (Kyodo, 17/07/14)