Thailand

• Technical recession ‘unlikely’ – The economy is not expected to enter a technical recession since economic activity picked up in the second quarter compared with the first quarter’s dismal growth, says a senior Bank of Thailand official. (Bangkok Post, 20/06/14)
• Foreign chambers hold talks with Prayuth – The Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand will meet with the National Council for Peace and Order within a few weeks to discuss the NCPO’s economic proposals and seek better understanding of the time frame of the junta’s economic road map, JFCCT chairman Stanley Kang said. (The Nation, 20/06/14)
• BoI board is shifting into high gear as it looks to approve more projects valued at over Bt60bn. There are some concerns that due to budget situation that some projects might receive lower benefits than they hope for. (Khom Chad Leuk, 20/06/14)

• Rethink urged on ‘ending tax cut for fund buyers’ – Stock Exchange of Thailand chairman Sathit Limpongpan wants the Finance Ministry to rethink its plan to abolish the tax deduction for buyers of long-term and retirement mutual funds and collect more taxes from high-income earners. (The Nation, 20/06/14)
• Chairman’s resignation to cause hiccup — The head of the SRT head said the resignation of the board chairman will interrupt the process of approving a new TOR for the double-tracking. He said there will also be some delay in the Green Line. (ASTV Manager, 20/06/14)
• Interest rate unlikely to shift as economic outlook improves – The BoT Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is likely to maintain its 2% policy rate at Wednesday’s meeting now that the military takeover has brightened the country’s prospects, economists say. (Bangkok Post, 16/06/14)
• Royal Irrigation Department to rework the Water Development Projects. It will merge all of the separate projects into one, with a budget of over Bt7bn. Two projects are ready to go. (Krungtep Thurakit, 14/06/14)
• May unemployment up — The NESDB reports that in May the unemployment rate was at 0.9% or 362,000, increase by 58,000 from the previous month. The majority of the jobless are those who have a university degree at 144,000, rising by 20,000. (Daily News, 16/06/14)
• MPC holds on rate, BoT sets GDP target at 1.5% from the previous level of 2.7%. The BoT expects the Thai economy to grow 5% next with improving sentiment from the helming by the NCPO. The MPC held its repo rate at 2%, seeing the presence of other stimuli as sufficient. It is concerned that exports will fall far short of target despite a weakening baht. (Krungtep Thurakit, 19/06/14)
• Positive signs abound as coup boosts Thailand’s business sentiment – Business sentiment among Asia’s top companies hit its highest level in more than two years last quarter at 101, with those in the Philippines and India most upbeat and Thailand second, a ThomsonReuters/Insead survey showed. (The Nation, 19/06/14)
• Federation of Thai Industry to ask NCPO to source all materials for megaprojects locally, but in accordance to the WTO trade rules. This should give a boost to production and consumption. (Daily News, 19/06/14)
• Bt120 bn projects okayed – To boost the business climate, the junta-controlled Board of Investment (BoI) yesterday approved 18 projects worth Bt122.8bn, clearing the first batch of some 200 applications for privileges that have been backlogged since the previous government went into caretaker mode. (The Nation, 19/06/14)
• First phase of mega projects ready to go, with expropriations and studies already in place. The Green and Red lines are already being built and are included in Phase 1. (Prachachat Thurakit, 18/06/14)
• Inaugural meeting of the new BoI board today, with 10 projects scheduled for deliberation. The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce says that with a new BoI and lifting of the curfew, the investment climate should improve. (Khom Chat Leuk, 18/06/14)
• Chairmen to be vetted by Sepo, NCPO – The State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) will this week submit nominations for new chairmen of PTT Plc and Krungthai Bank (KTB) to ACM Prajin Juntong, head of the economic team at the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). (Bangkok Post, 18/06/14)
• Thailand on Tier 2 Watch List on US labour blacklist, a big issue for the past four years. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is confident that this will not have any material effect and the ranking will improve as tougher law enforcement is in place. (Prachachart Thurakit, 18/06/14)
• Megaproject budget cut – The infrastructure development budget will be trimmed to Bt2.4trn from the Bt3trn earlier proposed by the transport strategy committee after the high-speed train projects are certain to be put on ice. (Bangkok Post, 17/06/14)
• NCPO orders review of 7 megaprojects – The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has ordered a review of seven expensive infrastructure programmes as a first step in ensuring transparency and financial discipline for national megaprojects. (Bangkok Post, 17/06/14)

Globally

• U.S. weekly jobless claims fall slightly – In the week ending June 14, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 6,000 to 312, 000, largely in line with economists’ expectation of 313,000, the data showed. (Xinhua, 19/06/14)
• US: Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan’s preliminary reading of the U.S. consumer sentiment index for June came out at 81.2, falling short of market consensus of 83.
• The U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand fell 0.2% in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, which followed increases of 0.6% in April and 0.5% in March, said the U.S. Labor Department Friday. Analysts had expected a modest gain of the May PPI. (Xinhua, 14/06/14)
• Britain: S&P revises up British credit rating outlook to Stable on broadening recovery — S&P on Friday upgraded outlook on Britain’s ‘AAA’ long-term sovereign credit rating from Negative to Stable, as its economic recovery basis is broadening. (Xinhua, 14/06/14)
• Fed to continue tapering monthly bond purchases – The Fed said it is appropriate to keep its benchmark short-term interest rates near zero “for a considerable time” after the bond purchase program ends, especially if projected inflation “continues to run below the Committee’s 2% longer-run goal.” (Xinhua, 19/06/14)
• Oil stockpiles — For the week ending June 13, stockpiles at Cushing, the delivery point for WTI, gained 0.2 million barrels to 21.4 million, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Nationwide crude stockpiles in the United States decreased 0.6 million barrels to 386.3 million last week. U.S. crude production increased 17,000 barrels a day to 8.477 million. (Xinhua, 19/06/14)
• U.S. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 0.4% in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, the biggest gain since February 2013, thanks to rising food and energy prices, said the Labor Department. The figure topped economists’ forecast for a 0.2% rise. (Xinhua, 18/06/14)
• U.S. privately-owned housing starts dropped 6.5% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.001 million units, while building permits, a gauge of future construction, fell 6.4% to 991,000, said the Commerce Department Tuesday. Both readings came in below market expectations. (Xinhua, 18/06/14)
• Eurozone job vacancy surges to 1.7% in Q1 – The job vacancy rate in the eurozone was 1.7% in the first quarter of 2014, up from 1.6% recorded both in the previous quarter and in the first quarter of 2013, the European Union (EU) statistical office Eurostat said on Tuesday. (Xinhua, 18/06/14)
• China’s FDI inflows down 6.7% in May – Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland fell 6.7% year on year to US$8.6bn in May, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday. (Xinhua, 18/06/14)
• Moody’s sees China GDP growth falling to a range of 6.5-7.5% this year and next, with the longer-term horizon dependent on the success of policies to tighten credit and implement structural reforms. (FT, 17/06/14)
• IMF lowers U.S. growth forecast to 2% in 2014 — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday cut its U.S. economic growth forecasts for this year from the previously predicted 2.8% to 2% due to a weak first quarter performance, but kept its 2015 projection unchanged at 3%. (Xinhua, 16/06/14)
• Euro area annual inflation down to 0.5% in May – Euro area annual inflation was 0.5% in May 2014, down from 0.7% in April, figures from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU) showed on Monday. (Xinhua, 16/06/14)