Survey: Capacity at 55% in H1 – The weak global economy has led to declining orders from overseas importers, forcing Thai industries to cut their production capacity and overtime payments to employees, reports the Employers’ Confederation of Thai Trade and Industry (EconThai).
EconThai’s survey showed overtime payments in the first half of this year dropped by 21.1% because of lower production capacity, which fell to 55%. Production capacity for small and medium-sized enterprises fell to 48% in the first half. (Bangkok Post, 10/8/15)
Budget disbursement reach 80% – As of July 31, Bt2.06trn or 80.1% of the total Bt2.57trn budget has been disbursed, higher than 75.6% in the same period last year. (Daily News, 8/8/15)
China’s CPI continues to rise in July – China’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose to 1.6 percent in July, the highest level seen in 2015. On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.3 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Sunday. (Xinhua, 9/8/15)
China: H1 current account surplus tops 152 bln dollars – China’s current account surplus in the first half of 2015 hit 152.2 billion U.S. dollars, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced on Friday. The surplus reached 76.6 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter of the year, with goods trade surplus and service trade deficit at 137.6 billion U.S.dollars and 50.4 billion U.S.dollars respectively. (Xinhua, 7/8/15)
WSJ Survey: Economists Expect Fed Rate Liftoff in September – An overwhelming majority of private forecasters polled think the Federal Reserve will begin raising short-term interest rates next month, capping a historic era of unprecedented monetary stimulus. About 82% of economists surveyed Friday through Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal said the Fed’s first rate increase will come in September, versus 13% who said the central bank will wait until December. (WSJ, 13/8/15)
ECB Saw China and Possible U.S. Rate Hike Fallout as Risks in July – European Central Bank officials flagged uncertainties surrounding China’s economy and potential ripple effects from interest-rate increases in the U.S. as risks to the European economy when they met in mid-July, the minutes of that meeting showed—suggesting that ECB members were already attuned to global risks weeks before China’s currency devaluation rocked global markets. (WSJ, 13/8/15)
Japan industrial output in June revised up to 1.1% increase – Japan’s industrial output in une rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent from the previous month, revised upward from a preliminary 0.8 percent increase, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Wednesday. (Kyodo News, 12/8/15)
Germany open to debt relief for Greece, but no haircut – Germany’s deputy Finance Minister Jens Spahn told German radio on Thursday that Germany was ready to talk about debt relief for Greece, such as extending the maturity of loans or easing the terms, but a haircut was out of the question. (Reuters, 13/8/15)
U.S. inflation temporarily ‘very low,’ says Fed’s Fischer – U.S. inflation is only temporarily “very low” due in part to commodity prices, while the U.S. economy has nearly achieved full employment, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said on Monday. “A large part of the current inflation is temporary. It has to do with the decline in the price of oil; it has to do with the decline in the price of raw materials,” he said on Bloomberg TV. “These are things which will stabilize at some point,” Fischer added, in comments that were careful not to tip his hand on when he thinks U.S. interest rates should rise. (Reuters, 10/8/15)
