Asian Economic News

Hong Kong's retail sales value grew at the fastest pace in thirteen years in February, underpinned by continued improvement in consumer sentiment and a sharp rebound in visitor arrivals, preliminary data from the Census and Statistics Department showed Friday. The value of retail sales surged 31.3...

China's service sector activity expanded at the fastest pace in twelve years in March following the lifting of pandemic related restrictions last year but manufacturing activity posted a slower growth, survey results from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Friday.

Private sector credit was up 0.3 percent on month in February, the Reserve Bank of Australia said on Friday - shy of expectations for 0.4 percent, which would have been unchanged. On a yearly basis, private sector credit rose 7.6 percent. Housing credit was up 0.3 percent on month and 5.8 percent...

The total value of retail sales in Japan was up 6.6 percent on year in February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday. That beat forecasts for an increase of 5.8 percent and was up from the downwardly revised 5.0 percent gain in January. Sales from large retailers climbed...

Overall consumer prices in the Tokyo region were up 3.3 percent on year in March, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was in line with expectations and down from 3.4 percent in February. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, was up an annual 3.2 percent. That...

The unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.6 percent in February, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was well above expectations for 2.4 percent, which would have been unchanged from the January reading. The jobs-to-applicant ratio was...

Industrial production in Japan was up a seasonally adjusted 4.5 percent on month in February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Friday. That beat expectations for an increase of 2.7 percent following the 5.3 percent contraction in January. On a yearly basis, industrial production...

Industrial production in South Korea was down a seasonally adjusted 3.2 percent on month in February, Statistics Korea said on Friday. That missed expectations for a decline of 0.5 percent following the downwardly revised 2.4 percent increase in January (originally 2.9 percent). On a yearly basis,...

Japan is scheduled to release a raft of data on Friday, headlining a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are February figures for industrial production, housing starts, unemployment and retail sales, as well as March numbers for Tokyo inflation. Industrial production is expected to...

Business sentiment in South Korea improved slightly in March after falling in the previous month, results of the latest survey from the Bank of Korea showed on Thursday. The Business Survey Index on business conditions in the manufacturing sector rose to 70.0 in March, up from 63.0 in February. Also,...

New Zealand business confidence remained low and virtually stable at the end of the first quarter, survey results from ANZ showed on Thursday. The business confidence index dropped fractionally to -43.4 in March from -43.3 in February. Further, the score remained at a subdued level. Meanwhile,...

The total number of building consents issued in New Zealand was down a seasonally adjusted 9.0 percent on month in February, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday - coming in at 2,972. That follows the downwardly revised 5.2 percent drop in January (originally -1.5 percent). February's figure...

New Zealand will on Thursday release February figures for building consents, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In January, permits were down 1.5 percent on month. New Zealand also will see March results for the business confidence index from ANZ Bank; in February, the index score was -43.3.

Thailand's central bank raised its key interest rate for the fifth straight meeting on Wednesday citing persistently high inflation as a key risk and hinted at more tightening to bring inflation back to the target. The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Thailand unanimously decided to lift the policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent. This was the highest rate since August 2019.

Australia's consumer price inflation moderated to an eight-month low in February adding weight to the expectations that the Reserve Bank will pause its interest rate hike next week. Consumer prices grew at a slower pace of 6.8 percent after a 7.4 percent gain in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Wednesday.