Thailand

• More stringent on tax collecting – Somchai Poolsavasdi, the Director General of Thai Customs Department, reveals that he set up a team to monitor tax collection in the rest of FY2014 after tax collection in the first 6 months in FY2014 missed target of 10%. He has ordered the team to increase collection efficiency by imposing stricter process. (Matichon, 02/05/14)
• BoI to streamline approvals – The new Board of Investment (BoI) called its first meeting yesterday and pledged to accelerate approvals for pending investment applications worth 729 billion baht. Caretaker Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk said the board’s first meeting yesterday chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra agreed to set up a sub-committee comprising 19 members chaired by the BoI’s secretary-general to vet investment applications. (Bangkok Post, 02/05/14)
• Shippers peg export growth at 3% this year – THAI National Shippers Council predicts exports will grow only by 3 per cent this year instead of the 5-per-cent target of the government, held down by lower production efficiency, high competition, and the political instability at home. (Bangkok Post, 02/05/14)

• Retail sales expanded by 2% – Retailers suffered as consumption continued to slow with retail sales expanding by only 2% in 1Q14 and no recovery yet in sight. The political situation will continue dragging the economy to the end of 2014, leaving retail sales growth at 1-2%, down from the previous target of 5%.
• ERC: Fuel tariff to rise by 10 satang – The fuel tariff for electricity will increase by 10 satang per kilowatt-hour from May to August, lifting the total power tariff by 21% to a record high of 3.96 baht per unit including the base factor. (Bangkok Post, 01/05/14)
• Unemployment on the rise — The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) forecast that in 2014 unemployment in Thailand will hit 1.2-1.3%, the highest level in 2 years. The Dept. of Skill Development (Ministry of Labor) is confident that Thais can compete with AEC neighbors on skill alone. (Krungtep Thrurakit, 30/04/14)
• FPO maintains 2.6% GDP growth, Revenue forecast to fall short of target – The Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) predicts Thailand’s first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) will shrink 0.2% before bouncing back in the second quarter and is maintaining its full-year 2.6% projection. (Bangkok Post, 30/04/14)
• Impasse could cost Bt536bn – Thailand is estimated to lose as much as Bt536bn in export revenue if the political turmoil continues until the end of the year, according to the latest survey by UTCC. (Bangkok Post, 30/04/14)
• World Bank: GDP growth below 3% this year: — The World Bank’s senior economist for Thailand says GDP growth could dip below 3% if a functioning government is not installed this year and overdue payments of the rice-pledging scheme are delayed beyond the final quarter. (Bangkok Post, 29/04/14)
• Commerce Ministry hopeful despite March decline – The Commerce Ministry expects Thai export to grow 7-9% in the second half thanks to the recovery of the global economy, despite a drop in shipments last month. (The Nation, 29/04/14)
• Moody’s warns of a credit rating cut if the political issues do not find resolution in 1H14, or if violence escalates to the point where it starts to affect tourism. (Daily News, 29/04/14)
• Manufacturing confidence hits 57-month low at 84.7, in line with the fall in the Manufacturers Production Index (MPI) of 10.4% YoY to 166.48. (ASTV Manager, 29/04/14)
• BoT: GDP growth at best 2.7% — The BoT says the Thai economy will not grow more than 2.7% this year. It plans to revise its GDP forecast on June 18. (Thai Post, 26/04/14)
• BoT worried — A spokesman for the BoT admits the BoT is worried by the slow rate of Thailand’s recovery. It is concerned that high domestic debt and low consumer confidence is putting a drag on recovery. (ASTV Manager, 28/04/14)
• Chinese woe threatening Thai exports – Thailand’s exports are expected to grow by only 3-4% this year, much lower than the 5% targeted by the Commerce Ministry, as China’s slowing economy poses higher risks to shipments. (Bangkok Post, 28/04/14)
• Businesses increasing promotion spending to capitalize on the improved political situation in the summer. Consumer staples, ICT and real estate developers will all host events to boost sales in 2Q14 in an attempt to make up for poor sales in the first quarter. (Pracharchart Thrurakit, 28/04/14)

Globally

• Annual house price growth hits double digits, says Nationwide – In the year to April, prices rose by 10.9%, the first annual double-digit growth since April 2010 and the fastest rate since June 2007. (BCC, 01/05/14)
• Surging output boosts manufacturing in April – The Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose in April to 57.3, its highest reading since November, compared a March reading of 55.8 that was revised up from 55.3. Readings above 50 denote growth and the latest reading was above all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that pointed to 55.4. (Reuters, 01/05/14)
• Abe adviser urges post-tax hike easing – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policy adviser Koichi Hamada on Wednesday urged the Bank of Japan to take additional monetary easing steps if the April 1 consumption tax increase has a “serious impact” on the economy. (The Japan Times, 01/05/14)
• China PMI steadies, but doesn’t dispel growth worries – The Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.4 in April from March’s 50.3, the National Bureau of Statistics said, one of the first indicators of how the economy started the second quarter. At just above the 50 level that separates growth from contraction, it indicated a slight pick-up in activity for the month, although it was a notch below economists’ expectations. (Reuters, 01/05/14)
• US economy stalls in Q1, inventories and trade weigh –  Gross domestic product expanded at a 0.1 percent annual rate, the slowest since the fourth quarter of 2012, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. That was a sharp pullback from the fourth quarter’s 2.6 percent pace. Economists polled by Reuters had expected growth to slow to a 1.2 percent rate. The slowdown partly reflected an unusually cold and disruptive winter, marked by declines in sectors ranging from business spending to home building. (Reuters, 30/04/14)
• U.S. home price annual gains slow in February – In February, the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted year-over-year increases of 13.1% and 12.9% respectively, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released by S&P Dow Jones Indices in a report. (Xinhua, 29/04/14)
• U.S. consumer confidence falls slightly in April – The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index stood at 82.3 in April, down from 83.9 in March. The Present Situation Index decreased to 78.3 from 82.5, while the Expectations Index was virtually unchanged at 84.9 versus 84.8 in March. (Xinhua, 29/04/14)
• German inflation picks up in April – Consumer prices in Germany picked up in April, following continuous drops in previous months. Consumer prices in the Europe’s largest economy were expected to increase by 1.3% in April 2014. (Xinhua, 29/04/14)
• Ukraine crisis hits euro-zone business confidence – The European Commission Tuesday said its headline Economic Sentiment Indicator–which measures confidence in a number of business sectors and among consumers–fell to 102.0 from 102.5 in March, its first decline since April 2013. That was a surprise, with the consensus forecast of 16 economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal last week having been for a rise to 103.0. (WSJ, 29/04/14)
• U.S. pending home sales posts first gain in 9 months – The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said its index of pending home sales, which measures the number of contracts that have been signed but not yet closed for purchasing previously- owned homes, rose 3.4% to 97.4 last month from a upwardly revised 94.2 in February. (Xinhua, 28/04/14)
• Italy: Consumer confidence in Italy reaches highest level since 2010 – Istat said consumer confidence, an important indicator in economic development, soared from 101.9 points in March to 105.4 points in April. (Xinhua, 28/04/14)
• Germany: German growth to slow down in Q2: central bank – The German economy will slow down its expansion in the second quarter after a “very strong start” of the year, said German central bank on Monday. (Xinhua, 28/04/14)
• China: Moody’s: Weak China property sales will continue into Q2 2014 – Moody’s Investors Service says that contracted sales for China’s overall residential property market will remain weak into Q2 after a weak Q1 2014, but many of its rated Chinese property developers’ contracted sales will continue to outperform the market. (Finanzen, 28/04/14)
• US: Adjusted for seasonal influences, the Markit Flash U.S. Services Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 54.2 in April, down from 55.3 in March. The latest reading was the second-lowest since October 2013 and indicated a slower pace of expansion than seen on average in the first quarter of this year. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final reading of U.S. consumer sentiment index rose to 84.1 in April, the highest in nine months, beating market expectations. (Xinhua, 26/04/14)
• China’s industrial profits grow faster in March – Profits of industrial companies with annual business revenue of more than 20 million yuan (US$3.25mn) reached 1.3 trillion yuan from January to March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on Sunday. Their profits rose by 10.1% in the first quarter. (Xinhua, 27/04/14)
• China: The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said China had a surplus of US$7.2bn in its current account in the first quarter, down sharply from the US$47.6bn surplus seen in the same period in 2013. (Xinhua, 26/04/14)
• Russia: S&P Downgrades Russia to BBB-Minus – S&P Services cut its rating on Russia to one notch above junk, citing large capital outflows in the first quarter. (WSJ, 25/04/14)