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IMF Staff Completes the 2015 Article IV Consultation Mission to China
May 26, 2015--A mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), led by Mr. Markus Rodlauer, Deputy Director of the Asia and Pacific Department, visited Beijing, Shanghai and Taiyuan from May 14 to 27 to conduct discussions on the annual Article IV review of the Chinese economy.
The mission held highly constructive and candid discussions with senior officials from the government, the People's Bank of China, private sector representatives, and academics to exchange views on prospects for the economy, reforms and challenges ahead.
The IMF's First Deputy Managing Director, Mr. David Lipton, joined the final policy discussions and met with Vice Premier Ma Kai, People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, and China Securities Regulatory Commission Chairman Xiao Gang, among other senior officials.
At the end of the visit, the mission made the following remarks:
"China is transitioning to a new normal, aimed at safer and higher-quality-even if a bit slower-growth.
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Source: IMF
Bassanese's Market Insights: Should we fear Fed tightening?
May 26, 2015--Recent commentary from United States Federal Reserve Chairperson Janet Yellen confirms our view that US official interest rates will rise this year.
While our bullish view on the US economy had earlier led us to think the Fed could tighten in the first half of the year, it now appears likely the first move will take place by September -with a moderate chance the Fed could still act next month.-
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Source: BetaShares
ANZ and ETF Securities launch joint venture with six ASX listed exchange traded funds
May 26, 2015--ANZ and ETF Securities today announced the formation of a joint venture, which will provide a range of exchange traded funds (ETFs) developed for Australian investors and self-managed super funds.
The new company, known as ANZ ETFS Management (AUS) Limited ('ANZ ETFS'), will list a range of six new ETFs on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in the coming weeks. The products are designed to be transparent and cost-effective building blocks for investment portfolios, providing exposure to commonly traded equity, commodity and foreign exchange benchmarks.
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Source: ETF Securities
The People's Bank of China Financial Statistics, April 2015
May 25, 2015--1. Broad money rose by 10.1 percent and narrow money by 3.7 percent
At end-April, the broad money supply (M2) stood at 128.08 trillion yuan, increasing by 10.1 percent year-on-year, down 1.5 percentage points from a month earlier and 3.1 percentage points from the same period last year.
The narrow money supply (M1), at 33.64 trillion yuan, rose by 3.7 percent year-on-year, up 0.8 percentage points from a month earlier but down 1.8 percentage points from the same period last year. The amount of currency in circulation (M0) was 6.08 trillion yuan, increasing by 3.7 percent year-on-year. The month saw a net money withdrawal of 117.7 billion yuan.
2. RMB loans rose by 707.9 billion yuan and foreign currency loans by US$ 5.2 billion
At end-April, outstanding RMB and foreign currency loans totaled 92.24 trillion yuan, up 13.4 percent year-on-year. Outstanding RMB loans grew by 14.1 percent year-on-year to 86.61 trillion yuan, up 0.1 percentage points from a month earlier and 0.3 percentage points from the same period last year. RMB loans increased by 707.9 billion yuan in April, 185.5 billion yuan more than the growth in the same period last year. By sector, household loans rose by 292.3 billion yuan, with short-term loans and medium and long-term (MLT) loans increasing by 135.6 billion and 156.8 billion yuan, respectively; loans to non-financial enterprises, government agencies and organizations rose by 510 billion yuan, with short-term loans, MLT loans and bill financing increasing by 70.4 billion, 277.6 billion and 136.1 billion yuan, respectively; loans to non-banking financial institutions dropped by 93.1 billion yuan. At end-April, outstanding foreign currency loans stood at US$919.8 billion, up 3.4 percent year-on-year. In April, foreign currency loans grew by US$5.2 billion.
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Source: The People's Bank of China
ANZ enters $18b ETF market with six listings
May 25, 2015--ANZ Banking Group has become the first Australian bank to enter the $18 billion Australian exchange traded fund market, teaming up with London based ETF Securities to list six new securities on the Australian Securities Exchange that are tied to currencies, commodities and the share-market.
The new joint venture will list ETFs linked to US dollar and the Chinese renminbi via deposits at the bank, physical gold stored in its giant vault in Singapore and three equity index linked ETFs tied to the US and Australian share markets.
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Source: Financial Review
China to launch first stock index options soon: state media
May 24, 2015-The China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) will soon launch the country's first-ever stock index options, state media reported on Monday, giving investors more hedging tools as the government steps up financial market reforms.
The first batch of stock index options would be based on China's blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 and SSE50 .SSE50 index as well as the small-cap CSI500 .CSI500, the reports quoted CFFEX Chairman, Zhang Shenfeng, as telling a financial forum over the weekend.
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Source: Reuters
Japan Exchange Group: Start Calculation And Publication Of JPX Nikkei 400 Leveraged And Inverse Index
May 22, 2015--May 22, 2015--Japan Exchange Group, Inc. and Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (collectively, "the JPX group") and Nikkei Inc. ("Nikkei") will launch the leveraged and inverse indices of the JPX-Nikkei Index 400, which was launched on January 6, 2014.
The publication of the new indices is intended to provide the benchmarks,
based on the JPX-Nikkei 400, to evaluate various types of investment strategies such as leveraging or
hedging.
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Source: Japan Exchange Group, Inc.
IMF-Korea: Securing the Growth Momentum
May 22, 2015--Proactive policies can help shore up growth momentum
Structural reforms can foster new sources of growth beyond exports
High household debt not likely a systemic threat to financial stability
Korea can use additional stimulus measures, if necessary, to restore growth momentum in the near term, while structural reforms are key to address longer-term growth challenges, say IMF Economists.
In their regular annual report on the health of the Korean economy, IMF economists suggest that the country's current weak outlook could have a lasting impact on its growth. They call on the government to take additional fiscal and monetary policy actions if clear signs of a recovery do not emerge to shore up Korea's economy.
view the Republic of Korea: 2015 Article IV Consultation-Staff Report
Source: IMF
IMF-JAPAN: Concluding Statement of the 2015 Article IV Mission
May 22, 2015--1. Abenomics has lifted Japan out of the doldrums but its arrows now need to be reinforced for the reform program to live up to its promise of being the "once in a lifetime" regime shift. Building on initial positive results, policies now need to embark on a sustained long-term effort to meet the unprecedented challenges Japan is facing-that of ending an entrenched deflationary mindset, raising growth, restoring fiscal sustainability, and maintaining financial stability.
More vigorous structural reforms, backed by further efforts to raise wages and investment, will be essential to lift growth, facilitate fiscal consolidation, and unburden monetary policy. A concrete and credible plan for medium-term fiscal consolidation—in structural terms and backed by stronger fiscal institutions-should remove the uncertainty about the direction of policies that is holding back investment and consumption. Additional monetary easing while strengthening its effectiveness through more explicit guidance would enhance inflation dynamics. Such a complete policy package would bring about important synergies and avoid excessive reliance on exchange rate depreciation and its potential adverse spillovers.
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Source: IMF
Singapore, Zhengzhou bourses to jointly develop commodities markets
May 22, 2015--Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) and China's Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange plan to collaborate on developing commodities markets, the SGX said on Friday.
The two exchanges signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in areas including development of new commodity derivative products, it said in a statement.
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Source: Reuters