Thu, Apr 27, 2023 page11

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  SINGAPORE

  Demand weighs on outlook

  The economic outlook has turned more uncertain, as tighter financial conditions weigh on global demand and China’s reopening is doing little more than boosting tourism, the central bank said. “The risks to growth in the global economy and in Singapore are tilted to the downside,” the central bank said yesterday in its biannual Macroeconomic Review. “Given the increase in banking industry stresses across global markets since March, lending conditions are expected to tighten even further, translating to a sharper slowdown in credit growth and weaker economic activity in the period ahead,” it said.

  AUSTRALIA

  Core inflation falls in Q1

  Core inflation decelerated in the first three months of this year, lending weight to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s view that prices would steadily come down and supporting the case for it to extend an interest-rate pause. The local currency fell, and swaps traders boosted bets that the central bank would stand pat next week after official data showed that the central bank’s preferred trimmed mean gauge slowed to 6.6 percent from a year earlier, compared with 6.9 percent in the final three months of last year. On a quarterly basis, core inflation also slowed more than expected. The headline consumer price index advanced 7 percent from a year earlier, down from 7.8 percent in the previous quarter, the central bank’s data showed.

  GERMANY

  Consumer outlook brightens

  Consumer morale rose sharply heading into next month, a key survey showed yesterday, as concerns eased about the impact of high inflation on Europe’s largest economy. Pollster GfK said its forward-looking survey of about 2,000 people climbed 3.6 points to reach minus-25.7 points, the seventh consecutive monthly increase. Improving sentiment was driven by lower energy prices, government relief measures aimed at tackling high costs and recent wage deals struck between various industries and workers, GfK said. The survey found respondents were more optimistic about their income prospects and the broader economy.

  SWEDEN

  Interest rate raised to 3.5%

  The central bank yesterday raised its key interest rate, saying inflation “is still far too high and underlying inflation has been much higher than expected.” Riksbanken raised its policy rate by half a percentage point to 3.5 percent, saying that it would ”probably” be raised further by a quarter-point in June or September. ”The high inflation affects in particular households that have small margins to begin with, but the development is negative for the whole economy,” the central bank said in a statement. Annual inflation last month hit 10.6 percent, down from 12 percent in February.

  UNITED STATES

  Confidence at 9-month low

  Consumer confidence dropped to a nine-month low this month as worries about the future mounted. The Conference Board’s survey on Tuesday showed that the consumer confidence index fell to 101.3, the lowest reading since July last year, from 104.0 last month. The present situation index, based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions, increased to 151.1 from 148.9 last month. The expectations index, drawn from consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions, fell to 68.1 from 74.0 in March.
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