Thailand

• BoT says baht will continue to weaken as political instability continues, exports likely to benefit; while Thailand default risk is stable for now. (Krungtep Thrurakit, 16/05/14)
• BoT is concerned by the level of credit card debt, as it rose by 30% over the past year. The Chairman of the Credit Association said that some loan companies are treating their customers unfairly with high rates and hash penalties for missing payments. The body has called for more regulation by the authority. (Neaw Na, 15/05/14)
• Economy in trouble ‘for 2-3 years’ – The political imbroglio will continue to drag the economy down for two or three more years, since there is no breakthrough in sight, Virabongsa Ramangkula, a former deputy prime minister, said yesterday. (The Nation, 15/05/14)

• BoT plans to adjust target inflation rate, with 2014 estimate to be between 0.5-3%. The body will submit its price adjustment proposal to the cabinet shortly; it suggested that it will only focus on food items for the time being. (Than Setakit, 12/05/14)
• New BoI promotion rules still on hold — BOI is not certain that the new promotional outline will be implemented on the first of next year since it needs to be approved by the next government. It also said it will not change a policy that prevents promoted firms from hiring foreign labor that took effect on January 1 this year. (ASTV Manager, 14/05/14)
• Revenue collections far short of goal — In the first seven months of the fiscal year, the revenue department reports that it has collected only Bt43.9bn, far short of the target of Bt81.4bn, due to the prolonged political situation. (Thai Post, 14/05/14)

Global

• US: The number of Americans who initially applied for jobless benefits last week dropped to the lowest level since May 2007, the Labor Department reported Thursday. In the week ending May 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 297,000, a decrease of 24,000 from the previous week’s revised level. (Xinhua, 15/05/14)
• German Q1 growth beats expectation – The German economy beat economists’ estimation by expanding 0.8% in the first quarter of 2014, official data showed Thursday. (Xinhua, 15/05/14)
• U.S. consumer prices rise slightly – As a main gauge of inflation, the CPI increased 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis last month, compared with an increase of 0.2 percent in the previous month. Over the last 12 months, the index increased 2 percent before seasonal adjustment. (Xinhua, 15/05/14)
• U.S. builder confidence falls to one-year low – The builder sentiment index in March decreased one point to 45, worse than the average market expectation of 49, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). (Xinhua, 15/05/14)
• U.S. industrial production dropped 0.6% in April after having risen about 1% in both February and March, which added some pessimism into the market, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday. (Xinhua, 15/05/14)
• France’s quarterly growth stagnated: Insee – Inching up by 0.2% in the last quarter of 2013, French growth stagnated for the January-March of 2014 as household expenditure and investment, the economy ‘growth engines, fell by 0.5% and 0.9% respectively. (Xinhua, 15/05/14)
• Japan consumer sentiment at lowest in about 3 yrs due to tax hike – The seasonally adjusted index of sentiment among households of two or more people fell 0.5 point from the previous month to 37.0, down for the fifth straight month, the Cabinet Office said. (Kyodo, 15/05/14)
• German inflation rises in April – Consumer prices in the Europe’s largest economy increased by 1.3% in April compared with the same month of previous year, the Wiesbaden-based office said. (Xinhua, 14/05/14)
• OPEC raises oil demand forecast for 2014 – OPEC raised its forecast on the demand for its oil in 2014 to 29.8 million barrels per day (bpd), 110,000 bpd higher than its previous projection, the Vienna-based cartel said Tuesday. (Xinhua, 14/05/14)
• Eurozone industrial production down 0.3 percent in March – The eurozone’s seasonally adjusted industrial production fell 0.3 percent in March from February, European Union (EU) statistical office Eurostat announced Wednesday. (Xinhua, 14/05/14)
• U.S. crude inventories increase 0.9 million barrels to 398.5 million barrels for the week ended May 9, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Wednesday. (Xinhua, 14/05/14)
• U.S. wholesale prices up 0.6 pct in April – The Producer Price Index (PPI), a gauge of inflation at the factory gate, edged up 0.6 percent in April on seasonally adjusted basis. It followed a 0.5 percent rise in March and a decline of 0. 1 percent in February. (Xinhua, 14/05/14)
• China’s property sector cools in April —The real estate development climate index dropped 0.61 points from March to 95.79 points in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement. In nominal terms, the country’s investment in property development rose 16.4% YoY to 2.23 trillion yuan (~US$362bn) in the first four months of 2014, slowing down by 0.4 percentage points from the first quarter, the NBS said. (Xinhua, 12/05/14)
• China’s April retail sales up 11.9% — China’s retail sales grew 11.9% YoY to 197 trillion yuan (US$322.97bn) in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday. In the first four months, China’s retail sales grew 12% YoY to 8.18 trillion yuan. The growth rate was the same as that in the first quarter. (Xinhua, 12/05/14)
• China industrial production, investment show slowdown deepening — Factory production rose 8.7% in April from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in Beijing. (Bloomberg, 12/05/14)