Wednesday, November 14 2018 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
BEIJING - China has imposed a 25% tariff on an additional US$16 billion worth of imports from the United States in response to the latest U.S. duties, leading to a total of US$50 billion worth of goods subject to tariffs from each side since early July.
SINGAPORE - S&P Global Ratings has revised to stable from negative its outlook on Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Eximbank), also affirming its 'B+' long-term and 'B' short-term issuer credit ratings on the bank.
BEIJING – China’s State Council has sent 31 inspection teams across the country to make sure major policies issued by central authorities are being effectively implemented, Xinhua reports.
BANGKOK - Similar to the previous quarter, the breadth of growth in Thailand remains impressive. Private consumption increased by 4.5% y/y, the strongest pace since Q1 2013. Investment and exports also strengthened to 3.6% y/y and 6.4% y/y respectively, from 3.4% and 6.0% in the previous quarter.
BEIJING - Chinese companies are confident of securing overseas supplies of soybeans and soybean meal substitutes to counter the fall in imports of US soybeans.
BEIJING – Xinhua, China’s State newsagency, reports that President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to comprehensively strengthen the leadership of the Communist Party and the country's armed forces “to ensure a solid political guarantee for the building of a strong military”.
SEOUL - Speaking at an official Government ceremony marking both the 73rd anniversary of Liberation Day (which is celebrated in both North and South Korea to commemorate Victory over Japan Day), and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean Government, President Moon Jae-in said economic co-operation between North and South Korea over the next 30 years could be worth at least KRW170 trillion.
SINGAPORE - S&P Global Ratings believes most of its rated Indian corporates can withstand a recent sharp depreciation in the Indian rupee (INR)because the share of U.S.-dollar linked earnings largely balances the share of U.S.-dollar-denominated debt.
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s economy has dipped. For the June quarter, 0.3% q/q GDP growth was the lowest since Q1 2013. Exports contracted 1.6% over the quarter, and, combined with firm import demand, net exports shaved 1.6% off quarterly growth. Manufacturing growth eased further to 4.9% y/y from 5.3% y/y in Q1, a slowdown consistent with the milder increase in exports.
HONG KONG – Natixis, the French banking group, believes that the current wave of RMB depreciation is probably over - and that renewed fiscal stimulus will bring a halt to decelerating growth as well as higher interest rates supporting a stronger RMB.
TAIPEI - The majority of people in Taiwan disapprove of Beijing’s efforts to suppress the country’s international space, according to a poll released by Taiwan’s Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).
JAKARTA - Renewed rupiah volatility has prompted Bank Indonesia (BI) to hike its 7-day reverse repo rate by 25bps to 5.50% today. In doing so, BI also reiterated that its policy stance will remain both pre-emptive and front-loaded.
HONG KONG - July economic indicators announced today, together with previously released credit data, suggest that China’s growth slowdown continued in July, says BBVA Bank. “In particular, fixed asset investment, industrial production and retail sales all dropped from previous readings and are below market expectations," the bank says.
MANILA - Beyond worsening economic fundamentals in the Philippines, the financial health of the Philippines’ firms has worsened, says Natixis in a research note. It has not been a good year for the Philippines, the French banking group says, pointing to a weaker peso, underperforming equities pushed by a vanishing current account surplus and a potentially larger fiscal deficit.
SEOUL - South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have agreed to hold a third inter-Korean summit in Pyeongyang in September. This will mark the third meeting of its kind this year, following their face-to-face meetings on April 27 and May 26.
GENEVA – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for global air freight markets showing that demand, measured in freight tonne kilometres (FTKs), rose 2.7% in June 2018, compared to the same period the year before. This continues the slowdown in air cargo growth that began earlier in 2018. Growth for the first half of 2018 stands at 4.7%, less than half the growth rate in 2017.