Thailand

• VAT collection increased on average by 10.2 per cent in the first four months of 2015 – MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, the deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, commented during the Cabinet meeting that consumer confidence was not as bad as claimed by some. He urged the public to look at the collection of value-added tax, which is a real indicator that can truly show the level of domestic consumption. He said VAT collection had increased by 8.7 per cent year on year in January, 1.6 per cent in February, 19.3 per cent in March and 11.4 per cent in April. This means VAT collection increased on average by 10.2 per cent in the first four months of 2015 when compared with the same period of 2014. (The Nation, 13/5/15)
• Economic zones move a step closer – Thailand and Cambodia are committed to moving ahead with a plan to set up joint special economic zones (SEZs) in Sa KaeoBanteay Meanchey and TratKoh Kong. (Bangkok Post, 14/5/15)
• MPC meeting minutes – According to the MPC minutes from the April 29 meeting, the Thai economy is still vulnerable to slow growth as a result of low budget disbursement, the strong baht, and slow global economy. Mr Methee Supapong, secretary of the committee, said the committee may revise down its GDP forecast, currently at 3.8%, as rising fuel price may distort demand and consumption. (Post Today, 14/5/15)

• NPLs prevent commercial banks from easing lending cost – According to the MPC minutes, lending rates at commercial banks have not come down as much as fixed deposit rate, while interest rates on savings and current accounts have not changed, as loan quality has fallen, causing commercial banks to be conservative. (Post Today, 14/5/15)
• First four months see jump in BOI project approvals – The board of Investment has approved 957 projects worth Bt325.49 billion in the first four months of this year. This is up 650 per cent from Bt43.37 billion in the same period of last year, Hiranya Sujinai, acting secretarygeneral of the BOI, said yesterday. (The Nation, 13/5/15)
• Back-to-school shopping slow – The director of the UTCC’s Economic and Business Forecasting Centre, Thanawat Polvichai, said a recent survey shows that “back-to-school” shopping is relatively slow in reaction to the sluggish economy and high household debt. He estimated total spending ahead of the school opening will grow 1.9% to Bt48bn, the slowest growth in 6 years. (Post Today, 13/5/15)
• Investors’ confidence turns from bearish to neutral in May – Accelerated government spending partly credited for improved sentiment. Investors overall are regaining some confidence in the Thai market even though foreign players are deserting it, according to the securities industry. (The Nation, 12/5/15)
• Cabinet eyes B140bn for motorways – A borrowing plan to fund two motorway projects worth a combined 140.2 billion baht will go before the cabinet for approval today, says Finance Minister Sommai Phasee. (Bangkok Post, 12/5/15)
• ICT Ministry, NBTC to present telecom plans to digital economy panel today – The Information and Communications Technology Ministry will propose its framework for telecom spectrum management, including bandwidth intended for reallocation by auction, to the ad hoc National Digital Economy Committee today, ICT Minister Pornchai Rujiprapa has said. (The Nation, 11/5/15)

Globally

• U.S. federal budget surplus hits record high in April – The U.S. federal government budget surplus hit record high in April, as tax payment swelled government revenues, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday. The budget surplus stood at 156.7 billion U.S. dollars in April, compared with 106.9 billion U.S. dollars last April. (Xinhua, 13/5/15)
• U.S. retail sales flat as consumers reluctant to splurge – U.S. consumers continued to tighten their belts as lukewarm wage increase made them reluctant to splurge, the latest figures released by the Commerce Department showed on Wednesday. Retail sales were virtually unchanged in April from the previous month. Sales in the past year shot up 0.9 percent. Excluding volatile categories such as autos and gasoline, sales were also flat. (Xinhua, 13/5/15)
• Eurozone grows 0.4% in first quarter – High quality global journalism requires investment. The eurozone’s economy grew by 0.4 per cent in the first quarter, as the plunge in energy prices helped spur the region towards a meaningful recovery after years of near stagnation. The flash estimate for GDP, produced by Eurostat, the European Commission’s statistics bureau, was broadly in line with economists’ expectations. In the final quarter of 2014, the eurozone expanded by 0.3 per cent. (Financial Times, 13/5/15)
• British unemployment rate drops to lowest level since 2008 – The British unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent in the three months to March 2015, recording the lowest level since mid 2008, official data showed Wednesday. The unemployment rate was in line with the market estimation consensus, down only slightly from the 5.6 percent from the three months to February 2015. (Xinhua, 13/5/15)
• BoE lowers Britain’s growth forecast for 2015, 2016 – The Bank of England, British central bank, Wednesday cut its forecast on Britain’s economic growth for 2015 from 2.9 percent to 2.5 percent, and for 2016 from 2.9 percent to 2.6 percent in its latest quarterly forecast report. The weaker productivity growth is the main reason for BoE’s forecast adjustment. The central bank also toned cautiously on Britain’s low-inflation environment. (Xinhua, 13/5/15)
• China’s April industrial output growth speeds up – China’s industrial output picked up in April after hitting a six-year low in March, pointing to tentative signs of improvement for the world’s second largest economy amid downward pressures. Industrial output grew 5.9% YoY in April, up from 5.6%- growth in March, the lowest monthly level since December of 2008, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Wednesday. (Xinhua, 13/5/15)
• China April retail sales up 10%, online sales robust – China’s retail sales grew 10% YoY to 2.24 trillion yuan (366 billion U.S. dollars) in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday. The growth rate was down from the 10.2 percent posted in March. (Xinhua, 13/5/15)
• Japan’s current account surplus up 5 times in FY 2014 – Japan’s current account surplus grew more than fivefold to 7.81 trillion yen in fiscal 2014, marking the first increase in four years as a downturn in crude oil prices pushed down imports and a weaker yen boosted the country’s overseas income, government data showed Wednesday. (Kyodo, 13/5/15)
• Household Debt Barely Rose in First Quarter, New York Fed Says – U.S. consumer debt during the first three months of 2015 was little changed from the previous quarter as mortgage borrowing slowed, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday. Household debt rose 0.2 percent, or $24 billion, to $11.85 trillion, marking the smallest increase since the second quarter of 2014, when debt levels declined, according to the New York Fed’s quarterly report on household debt and credit. (Bloomberg, 12/5/15)
• U.S. Retail Sales Flat in 1st Week of May From April – The Johnson Redbook Sales Index also showed seasonally adjusted sales for the period improved 2.1% from a year earlier, compared with a target for an increase of 1.7%. (Nasdaq, 12/5/15)
• Consumer Views on Household Spending Growth Cool in April: NY Fed – According to the Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations, consumers expect lower short-term inflation and spending growth. Consumers are expecting less of a household spending boost over the next year than they were a month ago, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Survey of Consumer Expectations. Consumers said in April that they expected to spend 3.8% more in April 2016 — down from an expected 4.5% year-ahead increase in March. (Think Advisor, 12/5/15)
• UK industrial output jumps in March – UK industrial production picked up in March, boosting hopes that weak overall growth in the first quarter of the year was a blip. Industrial production rose 0.5 per cent in March compared with the previous month, notably stronger than analysts had expected and the best performance in six months. (Financial Times, 12/5/15)
• China’s FDI up 11.1 pct in Jan.-April – Foreign direct investment (FDI) on the Chinese mainland jumped 11.1 percent year on year in the first four months of 2015, settling at 273.61 billion yuan (44.49 billion U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday. (Xinhua, 12/5/15)
• Japan’s composite economic index down in March – Japan’s composite index of economic indicators fell in March, the government said Tuesday, suggesting the economy has yet to fully recover from last year’s recession following a consumption tax hike. The index of coincident indicators, such as industrial output, retail sales and new job offers, dropped 1.2 points from the previous month for the second consecutive monthly decline to 109.5 against the 2010 base of 100, the Cabinet Office said in a preliminary report. (Kyodo, 12/5/15)
• BoE maintains ultra-low interest rate, QE – The Bank of England (BoE) Monday voted to keep its main interest rate bank rate unchanged at 0.5 percent, and quantitative easing (QE) policy at 375 billion pounds (583 billion U.S. dollars). The decision is within the market’s estimation consensus. (Xinhua, 11/5/15)
• Eurogroup meeting ends with no deal on Greek debt deal – The latest Eurogroup meeting in Brussels ended with no deal for the resolution of the Greek debt crisis on Monday, but a statement vaguely acknowledging progress and encouraging Athens to do more to reach a positive result soon. (Xinhua, 12/5/15)
• China auto sales contract sharply in April – The Chinese automobile market reported a sharp contraction in April as sales declined 11 percent month-on-month to 1.99 million units, data showed Monday. Sales volume also dropped 0.5 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. (Xinhua, 11/5/15)
• U.S. job growth picks up in April, jobless rate down to 5.4 pct – The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in April, rebounding sharply from a set of unusually weak data in March, and the unemployment rate edged down to 5.4 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. (Xinhua, 8/5/15)
• US wholesale stockpiles rose slightly in March – U.S. wholesalers expanded stockpiles modestly in March even though their sales fell for an eighth straight month. The Commerce Department says wholesale stockpiles edged up 0.1 percent following a 0.2 percent rise in February. Sales at the wholesale level fell 0.2 percent after an even bigger 0.6 percent drop in February. (CNBC, 8/5/15)
• UK trade deficit narrows to £2.8bn in March – The UK trade deficit narrowed to £2.8bn in March from £3.3bn in February, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. The country’s £10.1bn deficit in goods was bigger than expected, but was partially offset by a £7.3bn surplus in services, the ONS said. (BBC, 8/5/15)
• China cuts interest rates to boost real economy – China’s central bank on Sunday announced an interest rates cut starting May 11, the third time since November last year, to bolster the real economy. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will cut the benchmark deposit and loan interest rates by 25 basis points (bps). After the cut, the one-year deposit rate will stand at 2.25 percent, and the one-year lending rate at 5.1 percent. (Xinhua, 11/5/15)
• China April CPI grows 1.5 pct y-o-y – China’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, grew 1.5 percent year on year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Saturday. The reading slightly rebounded from 1.4 percent in March and 0.8 percent in January, the lowest level in more than five years. (Xinhua, 11/5/15)