Economy

GERMANY The Business Climate Index in Germany dropped to 92.3 in June from 93 in May and below expectations, the Institute for Economic Research (Ifo) said on Friday. The Current Assessment Index fell to 99.3, compared to 99.5 in May, while the Expectations Index eased to 85.8 in June from 86.9 in the previous month. UK Retail sales decreased 0.5% in May

UK The UK budget deficit exceeded the official estimate in May according to official data published on Thursday. Public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, declined GBP 4.0 billion from the previous year to GBP 14.0 billion in May. Economists had forecast the deficit to fall to GBP 12 billion. “Rising inflation and increasing debt interest costs pose a challenge for

UK The annual inflation rate in the UK accelerated to 9.1% in May from 9% in the previous month, the highest since 1982 and in line with market expectations. Cost accelerated for housing and utilities (19.4% vs 19.2%); transport (13.8% vs 13.5%); food & non-alcoholic beverages (8.6% vs 6.7%); furniture & household goods (10.5% vs 10.3%); and alcoholic beverages & tobacco (5%

AUSTRALIA The Reserve Bank of Australia released the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on June 7.  At the meeting it raised its key interest rate by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points to 0.85 percent from 0.35 percent and acknowledged the recent increase in volatility in global commodity prices and agreed to take further steps to normalise monetary conditions in Australia over the

CHINA The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced on Monday that IT maintained its benchmark loan prime rates unchanged. After a reduction in May, the five-year loan prime rate, or LPR, the benchmark for mortgage rates, was retained at 4.45% despite the economic challenges. The LPR is fixed monthly based on the submission of 18 banks, though Beijing has influence over the

SINGAPORE Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in Singapore were up 3.2% on month in May, trade agency Enterprise Singapore (ESG) reported on Friday (Jun 17). That topped expectations for an increase of 1.4% following the 3.3% decline in April. NODX growth surged to 12.4% year on year, from 6.4%  in the month before – higher than the median estimate of 7.5% in a Bloomberg

CHINA May retail sales of consumer goods in China fell  by 6.7% compared to the same time last year to reach 3,354.7 billion yuan, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on Wednesday. Retail sales were estimated to have declined by 7.1% in May from a year ago, according to the Reuters poll China’s National Bureau of Statistics said in a