CHINA
The People’s Bank of China kept one-year loan prime rate at 3.7% and the five-year rate at 4.6% on Wednesday, as Beijing remains cautious about policy easing. The International Monetary Fund, on Tuesday, downgraded China’s growth forecast for 2022 to 4.4% from 4.8%.
JAPAN
Japan logged a customs-cleared trade deficit of 412.4 billion yen last month, compared with 615.6 billion yen the year before, a report released by the country’s Ministry of Finance showed on Wednesday. The deficit was far larger than the median forecast of 71.5 billion yen among the 19 research institutes surveyed by Jiji Press. The Japanese adjusted trade deficit for March was also below experts’ expectations of ¥560.5 billion, amounting finally to ¥899.8 billion.
GERMANY
On an annual basis, producer prices in Germany increased by 30.9% last month, Destatis announced on Wednesday. In February, the producer price index was up 25.9%. On a monthly basis, the producer price index rose 4.9% in March.
EUROPE
Europe’s passenger car registrations totaled 844,187 units in March, down 20.5% from the last year after falling 6.7% in February, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, said on Wednesday. Supply chain disruption was further exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine that negatively affected car production.
WORLD
In a half-yearly update, The International Monetary Fund has cut its global growth forecasts. The Fund reduced its growth estimate for 2022 from 4.4% to 3.6% because of the war in Ukraine. The Washington-based institution says every member of the G7 group of leading industrialised nations and the bigger developing countries would grow less rapidly this year than previously expected.
