Bangkok–Korat high-speed train construction kick-off won’t be delayed. The Minister of Transportation said the Phase 1 Bt179mn, 3.5km, portion of the train project (Klangdong – PangA-Sok stations) is expected to start construction within November. (IQ Biz, 10/10/17)
Year-end Economic stimulus being discussed. Thai PM Prayuth said that the government is talking with the private sector about economic stimulus. (IQ Biz, 11/10/17
Central bank’s MPC predicts growth, with caveats. The Bank of Thailand’s rate-setting committee foresees further economic growth but is concerned over rising bad loans in the short term and search-for-yield behavior increasing amid the low-interest-rate environment. (Bangkok Post, 12/10/17)
B10bn assigned for reverse mortgages. State-owned Government Savings Bank, the country’s first provider of reverse mortgages, is allocating 10 billion baht for the loan scheme. (Bangkok Post, 12/10/17)
Treasury Department to have new land assessment done this year. This is to give a foundation for the new land law. (Thai Post, 10/10/17)
US lost 33,000 jobs in Sept vs. 90,000 jobs increase expected. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma damaged not only Texas and Florida but also the U.S. jobs picture, as payrolls fell by 33,000 in September. That drop came even as the unemployment rate fell to a 16-year low of 4.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. (CNBC,10/9/17)
US wholesale inventories post biggest gain in 9 months. U.S. wholesale inventories increased slightly less than initially estimated in August amid a surge in sales, but still suggested that inventory investment could help to blunt the blow to the economy from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The Commerce Department said on Friday that wholesale inventories rose 0.9 percent, the biggest gain since November 2016, after an unrevised 0.6 percent increase in July. The department reported last month that wholesale inventories jumped 1.0 percent in August. (CNBC,10/9/17)
ECB policy hawk Lautenschlaeger calls for winding down asset buys. The European Central Bank should reduce its asset buys from next year with the aim of ending them altogether, as the factors holding down inflation are temporary, ECB Executive Board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger said on Monday. “I think we should begin reducing our bond purchases next year,” Lautenschlaeger, an outspoken policy hawk, said in Stuttgart. “This should be done gradually, until we are no longer purchasing additional bonds.” (Reuters, 10/10/17)
IMF Raises Global Economic Outlook for This Year and 2018. The world economy’s acceleration so far this year has been stronger than earlier estimates, with an upswing under way across nearly all the world’s major economies, the International Monetary Fund said ahead of a meeting of the world’s finance chiefs in Washington this week. In its flagship report, known as the World Economic Outlook, the IMF raised its forecast for growth to 3.6% this year and 3.7% next year, an acceleration from the 3.2% growth recorded in 2016. (WSJ, 11/10/17
Fed minutes: December rate hike all but certain despite low inflation. Federal Reserve officials see the economy expanding at a steady clip and indicate that an interest rate hike later this year is a near lock, despite some divisions over where inflation is headed. Minutes from the September meeting of the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee show members anticipating that the factors slowing down inflation will pass. The expectation is that inflation will hit the 2 percent target the central bank believes is consistent with healthy growth. (CNBC, 12/10/17)
