Thailand

• SRT may swap land for debt – The State Enterprises Policy Commission or superboard has endorsed the state agency reform framework including a proposal to swap certain land ownership rights of the loss-ridden State Railway of Thailand (SRT). (Bangkok Post, 27/1/15)
• BoI hails surge in new projects – Investment projects approved last year by theBoI hit a 50-year high, signalling stronger confidence in a resilient Thai economy, secretary-general Hiranya Sujinai said yesterday. The BoI approved 3,469 investment projects worth Bt2.19trn in 2014, surging 73% in terms of project numbers and 117% in terms of value. Last month alone, the BoI approved 2,092 projects with a total investment value of Bt1.43trn. (Bangkok Post, 27/1/15)
• Government’s revenue increase in the first quarter – The FPO has reported that the government’s revenue in the first quarter of 2015 fiscal year increased 0.6% or Bt3.07bn to Bt499bn. (Post Today, 27/1/15)

• Regulation on Nano-Finance – The BoT has issued guidelines for nano-financing operators supervision in terms of principles, procedures and conditions. A nano-finance business operator is required to be a public limited company with registered and paid-up capital of no less than Bt50mn. Loans are limited to Bt100,000. (Bangkok Biz, 27/1/15)
• LTF tax benefit to be extended – The finance ministry is studying a new measure to extend tax benefit from LTF investment, which will end next year. (Post Today, 27/1/15)
• December exports rise but full-year figure still a decline – The Commerce Ministry yesterday reported last month’s export value amounted to US$18.8bn, up by 1.9% year-on-year. Full-year figures showed a decline of 0.41% to US$228bn, the second straight year for a drop after shipments fell by 0.3% in 2013. (Bangkok Post, 28/1/15)
• Thai PM says baht’s ‘okay’, no need for intervention – The current level of Thailand’s baht currency is still appropriate so no action is needed at the moment, Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday. Mr. Prayuth told reporters that he had met with the central bank and the finance ministry last week, and “the central bank said the current baht level was okay. No need to intervene or do anything.” (Reuters, 27/1/15)
• Investments expected to grow – Japanese investments in Thailand are expected to grow in the first half of 2015, in line with improved business sentiment among Japanese companies. (Bangkok Post, 28/1/15)
• MPC sticks with 2% policy rate – The Bank of Thailand kept its policy rate unchanged yesterday, insisting interest rates will be used as a last resort to handle capital inflows prompted by the European Central Bank’s larger-than-expected stimulus. (Bangkok Post, 29/1/15)
• IMF backs Thai tax, restructuring of energy prices – The International Monetary Fund has backed Thailand’s restructuring of taxes and energy prices, while urging acceleration of state investment. (The Nation, 29/1/15)

Globally

• U.S. firms raising wages; skills gap in goods producing sector: survey – A significant number of American companies plan to raise wages in the next three months, a survey showed on Monday, bolstering expectations of an acceleration in wage growth this year. The NABE’s latest quarterly business conditions survey found 51% of the 93 economists who participated said their firms expected to increase wages in the first quarter. (Reuters, 26/1/15)
• Ifo Business Climate Index in Jan. rises for 3rd month – The Ifo Business Climate Index for industry and trade in Germany rose for the third consecutive month from 105.5 points in December to 106.7 points in January, the Ifo institute reported on Monday. (Xinhua, 26/1/15)
• Keidanren chief suggests more wage hikes to revive Japan economy – Japanese firms need to raise salaries further in order to put the economy on a firmer footing, the head of a major business lobby said Monday before annual wage talks shift into full swing in February. (Kyodo News, 26/1/15)
• Opec chief: oil may have reached a bottom – Oil prices may have hit a floor and could soon rebound, said the secretary general of Opec, the oil producing cartel, on Monday. After hovering in the US$45-50 a barrel range, Abdallah el-Badri said, “maybe prices have reached a bottom,” report Anjli Raval and Neil Hume. (FT, 26/1/15)
• U.S. consumer confidence came in at 102.9 in January, the best reading since August 2007, up from 93.1 in December, the Conference Board said Tuesday in a report. (Xinhua, 27/1/15)
• U.S. new home sales surge in December – The sales of new single-family houses in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 481,000, 11.6% above the revised November rate and 8.8% higher than the year-ago level, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. (Xinhua, 27/1/15)
• Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Increased 4.3% in November – The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 4.3% from November 2013 after rising 4.5% in the year ended in October, the group said Tuesday in New York. The median projection of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 4.3% year-over-year advance. Nationally, prices rose 4.7% after a 4.6% gain in the year ended in October. (Bloomberg, 27/1/15)
• U.S. durable goods orders continue falling in December – New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods continued falling in December against the background of weak global growth, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Tuesday. Orders for durable goods decreased 3.4% in December from a month ago to US$230.5bn, following a 2.1% drop in November, it said. (Xinhua, 27/1/15)
• Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2014 grew by 0.5%, compared with growth of 0.7% in the third quarter of this year, data by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Tuesday. (Xinhua, 28/1/15)
• U.S. Fed keeps patient in interest rate hike – The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday repeated that it keeps patient in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy. Despite the weak global growth, the Fed said the economic activity in the U.S. has been expanding at a solid pace, compared to the wording of “at a moderate pace” in its December statement. (Xinhua, 29/1/15)
• Eurozone business investment rate nearly stable in Q3 of 2014 – The eurozone business investment rate reached 21.7% in the third quarter of 2014, nearly stable compared with the previous quarter, the statistical office of the European Union (EU) Eurostat and the European Central Bank (ECB) said on Wednesday. The eurozone business investment rate was 21.6% in the second quarter of 2014. And the small growth of 0.1% could be attributed to investment and gross value added, while the total stocks of materials, supplies and finished goods fell. (Xinhua, 28/1/15)
• Property sales increase by 14% across Britain in 2014 – Property sales across Britain increased by 14% in 2014 to 1,226,460, the highest number since 2007, said British HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Wednesday. Figures show that sales rose in every region in Britain last year, said HMRC. (Xinhua, 28/1/15)
• Solutions, not clashes, sought on debt: Greece’s new FinMin – Greece’s new Left-led coalition government does not seek a clash with international creditors but instead a new deal to tackle its debt problem, newly appointed Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Wednesday. “We will put an end to the press scenarios about clashes with creditors. There will be no duel between our government and the European Union. There will be no threats,” Varoufakis told media during a handover ceremony at the Finance Ministry in Athens. (Xinhua, 29/1/15)
• China to push exports of railway, nuclear power products – China’s State Council, the cabinet, on Wednesday announced plans to push exports of advanced railway, nuclear power and building material products. China’s outbound investment reached US$102.89bn last year, up 14.1% YoY, ascending to the world’s net capital exporters for the first time. (Xinhua, 28/1/15)