Thailand

• 2013 revenue increases 9.2% from last year — State revenue in fiscal 2013 ending Sept 30 totaled Bt2.16trn, up 9.2% from last fiscal year and 2.7% higher than target, said Somchai Sujjapongse, spokesman of the Finance Ministry. Tax collections by the revenue, excise and customs departments were 0.4% above target, while revenue from other state agencies and state-enterprise contributions was 45.8% and 1.4% higher than targets, respectively. (Bangkok Post, 21/10/13)
• UTCC: price rises ahead — The UTCC says that a study shows many suppliers will raise product prices to reflect the increase in cost of raw material, labor, and other costs. The rise is estimated at 5% of the current price, and estimated to take place in 2014 rather than 2013, due to economic slowdown in the current year. (Kao Sod, 21/10/13)
• Nuclear, coal plants seen as options in new Power Development Plan – Thailand may welcome more coal-fired power plants and even nuclear power in the next 20 years under the new Power Development Plan, according to the newly appointed director-general of the Energy Policy and Planning Office. (The Nation, 22/10/13)
• Latest figures add hope for 2013-14 growth, FPO – Thailand could see its economy expand as projected for this and next year thanks to bulging treasury reserves and faster-than-expected government spending. The end-September treasury-reserve balance of Bt603.92bn was at a level that supported fiscal stability, according to the FPO. (The Nation, 25/10/13)
• BoT urges companies to invest abroad – Thai outbound direct investment for the first eight months is estimated at US$5.5bn, down from US$7.8bn in the same period last year, a Bank of Thailand official said yesterday. (Bangkok Post, 25/10/13)
• ‘Visa waiver still some way off’ — The much-anticipated reciprocal tourist-visa waiver between China and Thailand is unlikely to materialize anytime soon, despite the wishes of tourism-business operators in both countries. (The Nation 25/10/13)

Globally

• China: China’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerated to 7.8% in the third quarter, up from 7.5% in the second quarter, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. The latest figure marked the fastest pace of growth this year. (Xinhua, 19/10/13)
• Europe: ECB president Draghi asks to delay new bank bail-in rules: report – Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), asked the European Commission in a letter to delay the implementation of news rules to bail out bankrupt banks. Draghi requested that bondholders should be spared any losses in a bank rescue situation until a Europe-wide bank union is fully operational, the report said. (Xinhua, 20/10/13)
• The European Union (EU) and Canada on Friday reached an agreement on their free trade deal, aimed at boosting the two sides’ economic growth. (Xinhua, 18/10/13)
• Greek finance ministry officials say the gap amounts to only €500mn and can be covered through a crackdown on social security fraud by thousands of cash-strapped small businesses who fail to pay contributions. The “troika” wants the government to adopt further austerity measures after identifying a potential shortfall of €2bn in the latest budget draft submitted by Athens. (FT, 18/10/13)
• Japan: Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata said Friday the global economy has become weaker than expected and that the central bank intends to take steps if achieving its 2% inflation target appears difficult. (Kyodo, 18/10/13)
• US: U.S. existing-home sales dropped 1.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.29mn units in September, after hitting the highest level in nearly four years, according to the National Association of Realtors. (Xinhua, 22/10/13)
• QE 3 may be put off — The lingering U.S. fiscal uncertainty brought by the short-term fiscal deal to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling may delay the Federal Reserve’s plan to taper off its massive bond-buying program, the so-called QE3, for a couple of months, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said on Monday. (Xinhua 21/10/13)
• Japan: BoJ head Kuroda expressed his confidence on achieving the central bank’s 2% inflation target to beat deflation and vowed to keep intact the central bank’s ultraeasy monetary policy until the desired level can be sustained, referring to the bank’s large-scale monetary easing introduced in April this year. (Xinhua, 21/10/13)
• US: The country’s manufacturing sector grew at its weakest pace for a year in October, said Markit, an international market data company. The flash PMI registered 51.1, down from 52.8 in September. The number of Americans who initially applied for jobless benefits fell 12,000 to 350,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. Meanwhile, the U.S. international trade deficit in goods and services increased to US$38.8bn in August, with exports down and imports virtually unchanged, the Commerce Department said.
• China: The manufacturing activity index in China was better than expected, with the reading rising to 50.9 in October from 50.2 in September, according to HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). (Xinhua, 25/10/13)
• Spain: Spain’s unemployment decreases by 0.28% in Q3 – The number of people out of work in Spain decreased by 72,800 people in the third quarter of 2013 to a total of 5,904,700 people, according to data released on Thursday by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE). According to the Inquest into the Active Population (EPA), the unemployment rate fell by 0.28% from 26.26% in the second quarter to 25.98% in the third one, the biggest fall since 2005. (Xinhua, 24/10/13)
• Japan: Japan’s economy recovering at moderate pace despite slowing exports – Japan’s economy continues to recover at a moderate pace despite a deteriorating outlook for exports, the Japanese government said on Thursday. (Xinhua, 24/10/13)
• Philippines: Philippine central bank maintains low rate to support economy – The Philippine central bank kept current low interest rates on hold on Thursday as benign consumer price pressures gave the bank space to sustain its support for the Philippine economy. The Monetary Board (MB) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) decided to keep benchmark overnight borrowing and lending rates at record lows of 3.5% and 5.5% at its meeting on Thursday. Policy rates have been at these levels since October, 2012. Interest rates on special deposit accounts and reserve requirements for banks were also unchanged. (Xinhua, 24/10/13)
• US: The U.S. economy added a further 148,000 jobs in September, while the unemployment rate edged down to 7.2%, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. This is lower than economists ‘estimate at 180,000. (Xinhua, 23/10/13)
• Australia: The Australian government will make a one-off A$8.8bn (almost US$8.58bn) grant to strengthen the financial position of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Treasurer Joe Hockey announced Wednesday. This grant will enhance the Reserve Bank of Australia’s capacity to conduct its monetary policy and foreign exchange operations. (Xinhua, 23/10/13)
• China: Hikes in Chinese urban house prices are again touching a nerve in the public as the faster-than-expected price growth heightens expectations for new control measures, the China Securities Journal reported on Wednesday. New home prices in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen in particular, soared over 20 percent year on year. (Xinhua, 23/10/13)