Malaysia: International Reserves of BNM as at 30 April 2008
The international reserves of Bank Negara Malaysia amounted to RM396.7bn (equivalent to US$124.1bn) as at 30 April 2008. It rose 1.7% compared to the two weeks ago, which amounted to RM390.1bn or US$122bn as at 15 April 2008. The reserves position is sufficient to finance 9.8 months of retained imports and is 7.3 times the short-term external debt. (BNM)
Euro: Retail Sales Drop by Record on Rising Costs
European retail sales declined 1.6% in March, the most since at least 1995 and twice as much as economists forecast, as soaring fuel and food costs sapped consumer spending. The drop in euro-area retail sales from a year earlier is the largest since the data series began more than a decade ago, the European Union’s statistics office said. From February, sales declined 0.4%. Economists had forecast a 0.7% annual decline and a gain of 0.2% on the month, according to Bloomberg News surveys. A doubling of crude-oil prices in the past 12 months and soaring prices for food such as wheat and rice have undermined consumer sentiment across the 15 nations that use the euro. The European Central Bank, which meets tomorrow to decide on interest rates, has refused to follow its counterparts in the U.S. and the U.K. in lowering borrowing costs after a surge in inflation that reached a 16-year high of 3.6% in March. (Bloomberg)