A huge amount of news this week, especially in regards to Europe.

Thailand

• VAT revenue points to revival – The economy is showing signs of recovery, as indicated by higher value-added tax (VAT) collection last month, says Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula. VAT collection rose by 11.4% year-on-year to 40.1 billion baht, reflecting improving consumption. MR Pridiyathorn said VAT collection rose for the fifth consecutive month since last September. (Bangkok Post, 7/2/15)
• Spending on state projects expected to speed up – The Comptroller-General’s Department is confident of achieving its 30% investment budget disbursement target by March 31 even though a mere 13% was drawn down in the first four months of the fiscal year. (Bangkok Post, 7/2/15)
• NDEC to get tough on state officers – The government plans to enact stringent laws to exercise disciplinary control over all civil servants responsible for developing the digital economy. “The soon-to-be-established National Digital Economy Committee (NDEC) will be given the authority to punish any civil servant who fails to comply with committee orders or directives regarding digital economy policy,” said Sittichai Pokaiyaudom, a member of the working committee responsible for transforming the country into a digital economy. (Bangkok Post, 7/2/15)\

• External debt dropped – The BoT reported external debt in December at US$140bn, down US$1.2bn from the previous month. Foreign reserves are 2.7 times higher than ST debt. (Bangkok Biz, 9/2/15)
• Finance Ministry says delay in budget disbursement puts growth forecast at risk. The ministry also said the lower oil price has caused VAT collection to be Bt4bn per month below target. (Khao Sod, 9/2/15)
• Democracy coming soon, vows Prayut – PM Prayut Chan-o-cha told his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at a bilateral meeting in Tokyo yesterday that his government was committed to “an early restoration of democracy” with an election to be held by the end of this year or early next year. (The Nation, 10/2/15)
• Transparency, accelerated process key to PPP plan – Finance Minister Sommai Phasee yesterday told foreign investors about the government’s emphasis on public-private partnerships (PPP) in the current and long-term investment in Thailand’s soft and hard infrastructures, and said the new PPP strategic plan should be submitted to the Cabinet in April. (The Nation, 10/2/15)
• Pact paves the way for Thai companies – For the first time ever, the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) and the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) have signed a memorandum of cooperation aimed at supporting Thai companies that want to start a business in Japan. (Bangkok Post, 10/2/15)
• BoT: No need to curb inflows – Despite concerns about adverse effects on exports from the strong baht, the Bank of Thailand insists no special measure will be taken to manage foreign exchange in light of the baht’s relative stability and regular fund flows. Pongpen Ruengvirayudh, the deputy governor overseeing monetary stability, said there had been no speculative fund flows into Thailand, so implementing any extra measure on foreign exchange management was not yet necessary. (Bangkok Post, 12/2/15)
• State mulls raising PPP value – The government is considering raising the amount in joint investments with the private sector in an ambitious transport infrastructure plan to speed up its development and ease the state’s financial burden. The Public-Private Partnership Policy Committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, yesterday assigned the State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) to consult the Transport Ministry and the Public Debt Management Office to increase the value of public-private partnerships (PPPs) for transport infrastructure projects from the 300 billion baht earlier planned out of the 1.9-trillionbaht infrastructure projects planned from 2015-22. (Bangkok Post, 12/2/15)
• Treasury bids to settle with encroachers – The Treasury Department aims to complete a draft master plan for the use of its 12.5 million land plots this year in a bid to ensure efficient use of the land, says director-general Chakkrit Parapuntakul. A survey will determine whether private-sector bodies and state agencies renting department land are meeting rental objectives. The survey will function as a key test for consideration of rental fee hikes. The department is also set to crack down on land encroachers by persuading them to become tenants before starting any legal process. Nonetheless, the department will not let encroachers rent restricted land such as water source areas. (Bangkok Post, 12/2/15)
• Work on BoI-approved SME projects expected to start in second half of 2015, The Board of Investment said that most small and medium-sized projects approved by the BoI last year were expected to start their construction process in the second half of this year and the BoI was maintaining its target of approving projects valued at Bt350 billion this year. (The Nation, 13/2/15)
• Nong Khai to benefit from Chinese-Thai venture – A Chinese-Thai joint venture has been set up with investment capital of 30 billion baht to invest in developing land and infrastructure in two special economic zones (SEZs) in Nong Khai province. Pongpan Suntorachai, manager director of Thai partner Naka Clean Power Co, said yesterday that the project covering 30,000 rai would be separated into three phases. (Bangkok Post, 13/2/15)

Globally

• U.S. jobless rate unchanged at 5.7% in January – The U.S. non-farm payroll grew by 257,000 in January, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 5.7 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. (Xinhua, 6/2/15)
• Eurogroup to hold emergency Greece meeting on February 11 – Eurozone finance ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting in Brussels to discuss the stand-off over Greece’s bailout on February 11, the day before an EU summit, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said. (AFP , 6/2/15)
• China’s foreign trade tumbled in January as major data experienced routine decline ahead of the upcoming Chinese lunar New Year, or Spring Festival. The total trade volume stood at 2.09 trillion yuan (341.16 billion U.S. dollars) last month, down 10.8 percent year on year, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said Sunday. Exports dropped 3.2 percent to 1.23 trillion yuan and imports slumped 19.7 percent to 860 billion yuan, making the trade surplus expand 87.5 percent to 366.9 billion yuan, according to the GAC data. (Xinhua, 9/2/15)
• Japan’s Dec. economic index shows economy “improving” – Japan’s key composite index rose in December following a fall the previous month, the government said Friday, suggesting the country’s economy has overcome the negative impact of the 3-percentage-point consumption tax hike to 8 percent last April. The December index of coincident indicators, such as industrial output, retail sales and new job offers, advanced 1.5 points to 110.7 from the previous month, against the 2010 base of 100, the Cabinet Office said in a preliminary report. (Kyodo News, 6/2/15)
• Inflation seen stable; planned spending down – NY Fed survey – Americans’ inflation expectations were stable last month even while their planned spending dropped sharply, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey .Median expectations of inflation one and three years into the future were 2.9 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively, according to the New York Fed’s survey of consumer expectations. On the heels of the holiday shopping season, median household spending growth expectations fell to 4.1 percent in January, from 4.8 percent in December, its lowest level since the survey began in mid-2013. (Reuters, 9/2/15)
• Fed’s Plosser Says Little Risk of Deflation in the U.S. Economy – The outgoing leader of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia doesn’t expect the U.S. to be hit by price deflation, and argued again that the U.S. central bank needs to consider interest rate increases soon. (Nasdaq, 9/2/15)
• Juncker tells Greek PM: don’t assume euro zone will accept your plans – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Monday advised Greece’s new government not to assume the euro zone would simply accept all the promises its leftist leader Alexis Tsipras made to Greek voters about scrapping economic reforms. (Reuters, 9/2/15)
• Greek left gov’t rejects austerity, extension of bailout program – Greece’s new government will stick to its anti-austerity pre-election agenda and will not request an extension of the current bailout program which expires on February 28, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Sunday during a closely watched policy statement at the parliament. Athens will instead seek a bridge agreement with international lenders until a new comprehensive deal will be signed after a renegotiation of the country’s debt load, the Greek Premier added. (Xinhua, 9/2/15)
• German exports soar to record high in 2014 – Germany’s exports hit an all-time high in 2014 despite conflicts and crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, official figures released on Monday showed. The Wiesbaden-based Federal Statistics Office said exports’ of Europe’s largest economy jumped by 3.7 percent to 1,133.6 billion euros in 2014 while imports also made it to a record high of 916.5 billion euros, up 2.0 percent from the previous year. This led to Germany’s highest ever trade surplus of 217 billion euros, surpassing the previous record of 195.3 billion euros in 2007. (Xinhua, 9/2/15)
• Japan’s business, consumer sentiment up in January – The diffusion index of sentiment over the country’s current economic situation rose 0.4 point from the previous month to 45.6, the Cabinet Office said in a monthly survey. The index for the direction of economic conditions in the coming few months gained 3.3 points to 50.0 in January, amid growing hopes that a downturn in global crude oil prices may lower energy costs at home, in turn helping shore up corporate profits. (Kyodo News, 9/2/15)
• G20 meeting ends with 2 percent global economic growth target – A Group of 20 (G20) finance ministers and central bank governors wrapped up their two days of meeting here Tuesday with a target of two percent of global economic growth by 2018. (Xinhua, 11/2/15)
• British industrial production slips by 0.2% in Dec. 2014 – British industrial output slipped by 0.2 percent between November and December in 2014, worse than the market estimation consensus of a 0.1 percent increase. Manufacturing output increased by merely 0.1 percent between the last two months of last year. The main contributors to the increase were computer, electronic and optical products, the manufacture of transport equipment, and the manufacture of food products, beverages & tobacco, said ONS. (Xinhua, 11/2/15)
• Russia’s oil export revenues fall 11% in 2014 – The like-for-like oil export of Russia declined by nearly 11.4 percent to 153.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, the Federal Customs Service of Russia said Monday. The physical volume of oil export edged down 5.6 percent to 223. 4 mn tons in 2014 against 236.6 million tons a year earlier, the agency said in its 2014 export and import data of essential goods. (Xinhua, 10/2/15)
• China auto sales up 7.6% in January – China’s auto production and sales continued to grow in January, boosted mainly by passenger cars. There were 2.29 million cars made and 2.32 million cars sold in January, a year-on-year rise of 11.5 percent and 7.6 percent respectively, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in a report published Tuesday. (Xinhua, 10/2/15)
• U.S. Retail Sales Rise in 1st Week of February From January – National chain-store sales edged up 0.2% in the first week of February from the comparable period in January, according to Redbook Research’s latest indicator, released Tuesday. (Nasdaq, 10/2/15)
• U.S. small business confidence falls in January – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said that its Small-Business Optimism Index fell 2.5 points to 97.9 in January reversing the gain in December, which reached an eight- year high. (Xinhua, 11/2/15)
• U.S. weekly mortgage applications, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, were down 9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. (Xinhua, 12/2/15)
• No enough progress made in talks on Greeceยdebt crisis: Eurogroup head – Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Wednesday they didn’t make enough progress in talks with Greek finance minister on the Greek debt crisis during the eurogroup meeting and talks will be continued next Monday. (Xinhua, 12/2/15)
• German economy regains momentum with uncertainties still in sight – The German economy has overcome the headwinds of last year and will regain growth momentum in 2015 thanks to falling oil prices and a weak euro, said an industry lobby group on Wednesday. Uncertainties from both inside and outside the country, however, remain, showed other reports on the same day. The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) on Wednesday raised its forecast for German economic growth from 0.8 percent to 1.3 percent in 2015. (Xinhua, 12/2/15)
• China’s machinery sector continues to grow in 2014 – China’s machinery industry continued to expand in 2014 but at a softer pace due to sluggish domestic demands and piling inventories, new data showed on Wednesday. The added value of the sector increased 10 percent year on year in the last year, slightly down from 10.9 percent in 2013, data from the China Machinery Industry Federation (CMIF) said. (Xinhua, 11/2/15)
• ECB extends a further €5bn to Greek lenders – The European Central Bank has extended another €5bn in emergency loans to banks in Greece, on the back of fears that a spate of withdrawals could leave lenders in the country short of funding. The ECB made the decision after a call with members of its governing council earlier on Thursday. It comes a day after the ECB removed a waiver that allowed Greek banks to use their country’s bonds to secure loans from the central bank despite the bonds’ junk rating, Claire Jones reports in Frankfurt. (The Financial Time, 12/2/15 )
• IMF, Ukraine reach initial deal on new loan – A visiting mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced Thursday that it has reached a preliminary agreement with Ukrainian authorities on allocation of a new loan of 17.5 billion U.S. dollars for Kiev. “The mission has reached a staff-level agreement with the authorities on an economic reform program, which can be supported by a four-year Extended Fund Facility, in the amount of SDR 12.35 billion (about 17.5 billion dollars),” Nikolay Gueorguiev, the IMF mission chief for Ukraine, said in a statement. (Xinhua, 12/2/15)
• U.S. business inventories rise 0.1% in December – U.S. business inventories rose less than expected in December, official data showed on Thursday. In a report, the U.S. Census Bureau said that wholesale inventories increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in December, below forecasts for a 0.2% gain. Business inventories rose by 0.2% in November. (Nasdaq, 12/2/15)
• Bank of England sees stronger growth, weaker inflation – The Bank of England (BoE) Thursday forecast strong economic growth in Britain on the back of falling oil prices, adding British inflation could turn negative. In its Inflation Report, the bank forecast Britain economic growth would remain at 2.9 percent this year while the 2016 forecast has been revised up to 2.9 percent. The bank said the robust pace of growth over 2014 is projected to be sustained in the near term. (Xinhua, 13/2/15)
• U.S. initial jobless claims increase to 304,000 – The number of Americans initially applying for unemployment aid increased last week, while the four-week moving average of claims remained consistent with the upward trend of the job market. For the week ended Feb. 7, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits increased to 304,000, 25,000 more than the revised level of the previous week, the U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday. (Xinhua, 13/2/15)
• U.S. retail sales continue falling in January. – U.S. retail sales declined in January for a second month in a row despite lower energy prices, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Retail sales in January fell 0.8 percent, compared with a plunge of 0.9 percent in December. Excluding volatile autos category, retail sales were down 0.9 percent in the month, following a decline of 0.9 percent in December. (Xinhua, 13/2/15)