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Economics

Sunrise

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 21 APR 2017
The better news is the 15.8% jump in imports. Although this would provide a negative contribution to GDP growth, it also indicates strengthening domestic demand.

Growth maintains momentum

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 21 APR 2017
While there's little progress over inflation, it actually reversed in March - headline CPI inflation down to 1.5% from 2.0% in February; core inflation down to 0.7% from 0.9% -- latest data indicate that growth in the Eurozone continues to gain momentum.

The prescience of Super Mario

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 20 APR 2017
Rising momentum in the Eurozone has triggered speculation the European Central Bank (ECB) would not only taper its QE program soon but also lift interest rates by the first quarter of 2018.

Desperately seeking workers

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 20 APR 2017
The Beige Book report showed that economic activity continued to expand across all the 12 Federal Reserve Districts over the period from mid-February to the end of March.

China's off to a good 2017 start

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 19 APR 2017
Chinese GDP expanded by 6.9% in the year to the March quarter, a step up from the December 2016 quarter's 6.8% growth rate and 6.7% each in the previous three quarters of the same year. This is better than market expectations for steady growth (6.8%) ...

Trump versus Kim

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 18 APR 2017
The hope is that this doesn't escalate beyond tough rhetoric. But given the personalities involved - Trump and Kim - it's also not surprising that one or both would push the launch button.

Confidence slip

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 13 APR 2017
Perhaps more concerning of all of NAB's concerns is the continued weakness in the retail sector because retail spending -- a major component of household spending which, in turn, accounts for roughly 60% of GDP -- had been on a trend decline at least ...

Let me down gently

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 11 APR 2017
Australian regulators must be careful a housing slowdown does not turn into a rout that threatens the financial instability they are guarding against.

Of war, rate hikes and balance sheets

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 10 APR 2017
Trump's actions against Syria have proven that the man walks the talk. Despite their cordial meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Chinese president Xi must now be pondering his response once Trump makes good on his threat to slap a 45% tariff on Chinese imports.

Not as good as the headline

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 7 APR 2017
The details of the report are not as ebullient as the headline international trade surplus.