Thailand

• UTCC: September Consumer Confidence Index fell to 79.2, from 80.1 in August. This was the first decline in 5 months. (Post Today, 03/10/14)
• Govt stimulus to back 2% GDP growth: Sommai – Finance Minister Sommai Phasee has expressed confidence that the government’s three-month stimulus package will result in gross domestic product growing 2% this year, and the decision to postpone the civil-servant pay rise won’t backfire, as it would not have given the economy a big short-term boost. (The Nation, 03/10/14)
• Stimulus measures welcomed – Business leaders and economists have responded positively to the government’s economic stimulus measures, seeing them as essential to a recovery but warning of the need to tackle corruption. (Bangkok Post, 02/10/14)

• Fitch bullish on 2015 growth – Economic growth is expected to come in at 1.2% this year on the back of a lacklustre first-half momentum, while the 2015 growth projection is an upbeat 4%, with public spending schemes drawing private investment, says Fitch Ratings. (Bangkok Post, 02/10/14)
• Ministry forecasts 2.1% inflation in Q4 despite gas prices – Despite the recent rise in gas prices, annualised inflation is expected to be only 2.1% in the final quarter, according to the Commerce Ministry. (The Nation, 02/10/14)
• Shippers’ council forecasts negative export growth for 2014 – The Thai National Shippers Council (TNSC) has again lowered its export projection for this year, now expecting a decline of 0.25% rather than the previous forecast of 1.6% expansion, because of the weak recovery of global economic growth. (The Nation, 02/10/14)
• Household debt in 2Q14 still cause for concern, reported at 84% of GDP. BoT said the issue has become a priority and must be addressed, but it is optimistic. BoT said that once the economy improves, the ratio should organically come down. (Kom Chud Luek, 02/10/14)
• MoF wants to speed spending up — The Ministry of Finance has some concern over the speed of government spending, as Thailand’s 2014 economic growth is largely dependent on government spending. It said that throughout the 2014 budget year the government only managed to spend 62% of its total budget. The Ministry is willing improve the pace by cutting auction time by 50% when bidding for government contracts. (Prachachart Thurakij, 01/10/14)
• Thailand economy slowed in August. It said that both domestic and global demand slowed in the August while the economic stimulus that is propose by the government will not likely to kick in until 2015, thus it fear that Thailand 2014 GDP growth will not meet the target of 1.5%. (Krungtep Thurakij, 01/10/14)
• Manufacturing Production Index down 2.7% in August – Thailand’s overall Manufacturing Production Index in August contracted 2.7% from the same month last year, amid improved outlook. The MPI expanded by 2.6% over July. (The Nation, 01/10/14)

Globally

• The number of Americans initially applying for claims in the week ending Sept. 27 was 287,000, down 8,000 from the previous week’s revised level, said the U.S. Labor Department Thursday. (Xinhua, 02/10/14)
• New orders for U.S. manufactured goods in August decreased more than expected, down 10.1% from the previous month, the U.S. Commerce Department said Thursday. (Xinhua, 02/10/14)
• ECB launches asset purchase plan, ready for new measures: Draghi – European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi on Thursday launched the ECB new asset purchase plan, saying the central bank was ready to take further steps should low inflation become too prolonged in the eurozone. (Xinhua, 02/10/14)
• ECB leaves key interest rate unchanged at 0.05% – The European Central Bank left its key interest rate at a record-low 0.05% at its policy meeting Thursday as it monitors the impact of its monetary stimulus expanded in its previous meeting in September. (Kyodo, 02/10/14)
• U.S. private sector employment increased by 213,000 jobs in September, marking the sixth straight month of employment gains above 200,000, according to a report released Wednesday by payrolls processor ADP. (Xinhua, 01/10/14)
• The Energy Information Administration showed that U.S. crude supplies dropped 1.4 million barrels to 356.6 million barrels last week, while the expectation for it was another increase. (Xinhua, 01/10/14)
• U.S. construction spending unexpectedly fell 0.8% in August, said the Commerce Department. Analysts had forecast a 0.5% rise. (Xinhua, 01/10/14)
• According to financial data firm Markit, its final reading of the U.S. Manufacturing PMI declined slightly to 57.5 in September from 57.9 in August. (Xinhua, 01/10/14)
• The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices showed a significant slowdown in price increases in July, S&P Dow Jones Indices said. The 10-City and 20-City Composites gained 0.6%, weaker than the increases in June and analysts’ forecast. (Xinhua, 30/09/14)
• U.S. consumer confidence retreated in September after four consecutive months of improvement, said New York-based research group, the Conference Board, in a report Tuesday. The report showed the Consumer Confidence Index declined to 86.0 in September from 93.4 in August. (Xinhua, 30/09/14)
• The eurozone’s estimated annual inflation rate dropped to 0.3% in September, down from 0.4% in August, said Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union Tuesday. (Xinhua, 30/09/14)
• China’s Sept. manufacturing activity improves at fractional pace: HSBC – The HSBC/Markit China manufacturing purchasing manager’s index (PMI), a key measure of factory activity in China, posted at 50.2 in September, down slightly from the earlier flash reading of 50.5, and unchanged from August’s three-month low, data company Markit said Tuesday in a statement. (Xinhua, 30/09/14)