Thailand

• The BoT suggests both importers and exporters hedge their currency risk as the direction of the baht is not clear. The BoT will also push for a direct cross exchange between the baht and the kyat to support investment in Myanmar. (Bangkok Biz, 20/10/14)
• The Commerce Ministry expects exports next year to grow by more than 5%, a challenging target that is larger than the country’s economic-growth forecast of 4-5% in 2015. (The Nation, 21/10/14)
• Japan studying revival of the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Myanmar. Japan is also eyeing Thailand for use as a trade hub to facilitate the setting up of an international trading headquarters in the country, according to a Thai deputy prime minister. (IQ Biz, 20/10/14)

• The Finance Ministry to propose “nano-finance” to help non-bank lenders extend money to grassroots people, or those who don’t have access to capital. (The Nation, 21/10/14)
• More e-commerce firms to enter formal tax system – About 20-30% more e-commerce operators that have not yet entered the formal tax system are expected to do so in fiscal year 2015 after they understand the penalties for non-compliance, says the Revenue Department. (The Nation, 21/10/14)
• Cabinet agrees to lift the tax and quota on raw sugar under the ASEAN-Korea free trade agreement (AKFTA). (IQ Biz, 21/10/14)
• Commerce Ministry sets 50% growth target for cross-border trade next year – The Commerce Ministry aims to boost cross-border trade to a challenging target of Bt1.5trn next year, in the lead-up to ASEAN integration. (Bangkok Post, 23/10/14)
• BOI is looking to approve 24 more projects with a total value of more than Bt90bn. These include Phase 2 of the Eco Car program and power plants. In October, the board has so far approved Bt12bn of SMEs in the energy, manufacturing, medical supplies and rubber sectors. (Thai Post, 24/10/14)
• Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives budgets Bt6.5bn to process the 50mn tons of rubber in the government stockpile to help increase rubber usage in the country, with a focus on transforming them into rubber blocks to be used in outdoor and indoor floorings in buildings and sports arenas. (Bangkok Biz News, 23/10/14)

Globally

• U.S. privately-owned housing starts in September rose 6.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.017 million, said the U.S. Commerce Department on Friday. Building permits, a gauge of future construction, increased 1.5% last month. (Xinhua, 17/10/14)
  China to issue more policies to boost logistics industry – The Chinese authorities are studying a scheme to reduce or exempt administrative charges levied on logistic enterprises to boost the development of logistics industry, as part of the efforts to facilitate domestic trade, according to a China Securities Journal report on Friday. (Xinhua, 17/10/14)
• Japan to downgrade October economic assessment – The Japanese government plans to downgrade its basic economic assessment for the second straight month in its coming October report, reflecting weak domestic consumptions. (IQ Biz, 20/10/14)
• Spanish bad loans ratio rises slightly in August – Spanish banks’ bad debts as a percentage of total loans rose slightly from 13.15% in July to 13.24% in August, according to data published on Friday by the Bank of Spain. (Xinhua, 17/10/14)
• ECB Starts to Buy Covered Bonds – The European Central Bank said Monday it had started buying covered bonds as part of a stimulus program to boost the eurozone’s economy. (WSJ, 20/10/14)
• Italian industrial orders rose 1.5%, for the first time in four months, in August, on the back of both foreign and domestic demand, national statistics institute Istat said Monday, using seasonally adjusted data. (WSJ, 20/10/14)
• The People’s Bank of China (PBC) is set to grant 200 billion yuan or US$32.5bn of three-month loans to five or six listed banks after it granted a total of 500bn yuan worth of loans in September. (IQ Biz, 20/10/14)
• Hong Kong’s jobless rate stays at 3.3% – Hong Kong’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 3.3% in July to September, 2014, same as that in June to August this year, the city’s statistics department said here on Monday. (Xinhua, 20/10/14)
• German central bank sees economic situation unchanged in H2 – The German central bank said on Monday that German economic situation in the rest of year would be similar to the second quarter when German economy contracted slightly. (Xinhua, 20/10/14)
• Moody’s downgraded Russia one level to Baa2, the second-lowest investment grade, from Baa1, and kept a negative outlook on the country’s rating, prompted by the continued erosion of Russia’s foreign-exchange reserves because of capital flight, low oil prices and borrowers’ lack of access to international capital markets. (Bloomberg, 18/10/14)
• BoJ maintains most regional assessments – The Bank of Japan maintained on Monday most of its regional economic assessments, downgrading only one of nine regions, saying the Japanese economy has been recovering moderately, despite some weakness following the consumption tax increase in April. (Kyodo news, 20/10/14)
• US: existing-home sales bounced back in September to their year’s highest, according to the National Association of Realtors. Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.17mn in September from 5.05mn in August. (Xinhua, 21/10/14)
• China GDP expands 7.3% in Q3 – Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.3% from a year ago in the third quarter, compared with 7.5% in the second quarter and 7.4% in the first quarter of this year, the NBS data showed. The GDP growth in the July-September period marked the slowest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2009 and was in line with market expectations. (Xinhua, 21/10/14)
• China’s retail sales rose 12% – In the first nine months of the year, China’s retail sales rose 12% year on year to 18.92 trillion yuan (US$3.08trn), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday. (Xinhua, 21/10/14)
• China’s industrial production output growth in the first nine months, decelerated to 8.5% YoY, down 0.3 percentage points from that of the first half of 2014. (Xinhua, 21/10/14)
• China’s urban fixed-asset investment grew 16.1% YoY to 35.78 trillion yuan (US$5.8trn) in the first nine months of 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday. (Xinhua, 21/10/14)
• Sales at department stores in Japan in September decreased 1% from a year before on a same-store basis, down for the sixth consecutive month, according to the Japan Department Stores Association. (IQ Biz, 21/10/14)
• Korea’s public debt surged to a record high in August, caused by the government’s measures to stimulate the slowing economy. (IQ Biz, 21/10/14)
• US: In the week ending Oct. 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits stood at 283,000, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week’s revised level, but still near post-recession low, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. The latest number came below market consensus. Meanwhile, U.S. house prices rose 0.5% in August from the previous month, according to the FHFA House Price Index. (Xinhua, 24/10/14)
• The Conference Board leading economic index for the United States added 0.8% in September to 104.4, topping analysts’ forecast. (Xinhua, 24/10/14)
• The Chicago Fed National Activity Index, a monthly reading designed to gauge overall economic activity and related inflationary pressure, rose to 0.47 in September from -0.25 in August. However, the seasonally adjusted Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index modestly dropped to 56.2 in October from 57.5 in September, indicating a slower improvement in overall business conditions across the manufacturing sector. Any reading above the neutral 50.0 value suggests expansion in the sector. (Xinhua, 24/10/14)
• Eurozone business growth unexpectedly gains pace, prices still falling: PMI – Eurozone businesses performed much better than anyone expected this month but did so by slashing prices again, and optimism about the future fell to its lowest level in over a year, surveys showed on Thursday. Markit’s Composite Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index, based on surveys of thousands of companies across the region and seen as a good indicator of growth, rose to 52.2, above all forecasts in a Reuters poll. (Reuters, 23/10/14)
• Spain’s unemployment falls by 195,200 people in Q3 – A total of 195,200 people found jobs in Spain in the third quarter of the year raising the total number of people in the workforce to a total of 5,427,700, according to data released on Thursday by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE). According to the Inquest into the Active Population (EPA), Spain’s unemployment rate stood at 23.67%, falling for the first time below 24% since 2011. (Xinhua, 24/10/14)
• German private sector expands in October, eases growth concerns – Germany’s private sector grew faster in October as manufacturing rebounded, suggesting Europe’s largest economy may be gaining momentum in the fourth quarter, a survey showed on Thursday. Markit’s flash composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which tracks growth in the manufacturing and services sectors that account for more than two-thirds of the economy, climbed to 54.3 from 54.1 in September. (Reuters, 23/10/14)
• China’s Oct. manufacturing activity at three-month high: HSBC – Chinese manufacturers continued to see operating conditions improve in October as a key index measuring factory activity rose to a three-month high. The HSBC/Markit flash China manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) posted at 50.4 this month, up from September’s final reading of 50.2, data company Markit said Thursday in a statement. (Xinhua, 23/10/14)