Yen soars, stocks slump as BOJ holds policy, pushes back inflation target — The Bank of Japan held off from expanding monetary stimulus on Thursday, defying market expectations for action even as soft global demand, an unwelcome rise in the yen and weak consumption threatened to derail a fragile economic recovery. (Reuters, 29/4/16)
Fed Waits for Economy’s Green Light to Hike as Risks Abate – The strong conviction about growth, inflation and global stability needed to raise interest rates didn’t show up for officials at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting this week. They’re still open to finding it soon. (Bloomberg, 28/4/16)
UPDATE 1-U.S. crude inventories rise less than expected – EIA – U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose last week to a fresh record high as lower refinery production offset a drop in imports, while distillate inventories fell more than expected, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday. Crude inventories rose 2 million barrels in the week to April 22, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 2.4 million barrels. (Reuters, 27/4/16)
Euro zone business growth slows despite discounting – PMI — Markit’s Composite Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the euro zone, based on surveys of thousands of companies and seen as a good guide to growth, dipped to 53.0 from March’s 53.1, matching a 13-month low in February. (Reuters, 22/4/16)
Cabinet approved dual track construction (Prachuap Khiri Khan-Chumphon) valued at Bt17bn. It expects to approve another four routes, valued at Bt85bn in May. It expects to put this up for bids in June-July. (Thun Hoon, 27/04/16)
Delay to deposit guarantee cut hailed – THE GOVERNMENT’S decision to delay the lowering of the deposit guarantee from Bt25 million to Bt1 million per depositor per bank is a positive development for the country’s banks in terms of managing their funding costs, following the recent cut in lending rates to help reduce the financial burden on customers. (The Nation, 28/4/16)
New electronic system aims to stop red card – The European Union’s threat to maintain its yellow card on Thai seafood imports over illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing has not dented the private sector’s hopes for a positive ruling from the bloc next month. (Bangkok Post, 28/4/16)
Export worries force FPO to cut growth forecast — The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) has slashed its forecast for economic growth this year to3.3% from 3.7% amid concerns over exports. (Bangkok Post, 29/4/16) BOT governor said the bank does not have to follow major central banks’ policies, reasoning that low interest does not always stimulate more consumption and the state’s commercial bank rates are quite low now. He also suggests private sector to invest due to the latter reason. (Thai Rath, 29/4/16)
NBTC seeks more info from BBL on Jas’s failure to pay licence upfront fee — THE NATIONAL Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission will ask for more information from Bangkok Bank regarding Jas Mobile Broadband’s failure to pay the initial upfront fee for its 900MHz licence by the March 21 deadline. (The Nation, 29/4/16)
Tourism, exports show improvement — Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry’s data showed growth in export in March. Export value in the month reached US$19.1 billion, an increase of 1.3 per cent from the same period last year. Positive growth was registered for two months in a row, resulting in the 0.9 per cent growth rate in the first quarter when combined export value reached $53.83 billion. (The Nation, 26/4/16)
