HONG KONG, April 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Business and household surveys released in the past week have suggested that sentiment has been significantly hit by the disaster; the Cabinet Office's monthly Economy Watchers Survey posted its largest drop on record, plunging to 27.7 in March, from 48.4 in February. This, alongside the extremely weak March manufacturing PMI report showing the composite PMI falling to 36.1 from 51 a month ago, underscores the severity of the immediate impact of the recent natural disaster on corporate activity in Japan.
Brazilian central bank looks to "macro-prudential" measures to rein in inflation
The Central Bank of Brazil is hoping the "macro-prudential" measures it started to put in place from December 2010 will dampen the credit boom that has fuelled the high inflation rate from the current 21% year on year growth to a more acceptable level of 10-15%. The new measures include higher reserve requirement ratios for banks and higher capital operations tax.
Will the Bank of England follow the ECB?
While the ECB has begun to row back on the hugely accommodating monetary stance put in place in the wake of the credit crunch, it remains unclear whether the Bank of England will follow suit. News flow over the past few weeks has contributed to the uncertainly with hard data on disappointing industrial production and retail sales.
German economy is booming, but rising interest rates pose risks to property
Surveys show both manufacturing activity and business sentiment are reaching record highs in Germany, RICS thinks the single biggest risk to the country's housing market is tighter monetary policy as the ECB has begun raising interest rates. RICS expects the key refinancing rate to reach around 1.75% by year end, which is likely to weigh on housing demand.
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