Consumer pessimism in New Zealand.(Survey)
New Zealand consumers are caught between two opposing economic
forces. The first is a declining economy. An October 2006 report by The
Treasury, New Zealand says, "Despite some recent positive . . .
Chinese consumers spend robustly.
On October 31, 2006, the National Bureau of Statistics of China
released the results of its survey of urban household income for the
first three quarters of 2006. The survey canvassed 56,000 . . .
Microfinance in Pakistan.(State Bank of Pakistan )(Financial
report)
As a special supplement to its FY2005-2006 quarterly report, the
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) published a review of the microfinance
market in the country. The supplement focuses on the period from . . .
Taiwan consumer confidence falls.(Survey)(Brief article)
Credit card debt and political turmoil are the two major factors
behind Taiwan's precipitous drop in consumer confidence in October
2006. According to the director of Taiwan's Research Center . . .
Japan's consumers are more confident.(Brief article)
Japan's consumer confidence index increased in October 2006
when compared with September 2006. The index stood at 48.2 in October
2006, up from 46.3 in September 2006. The September 2006 reading . . .
Solid progress for the Philippine economy.(Brief article)
A report by Project LINK, an international economic research
organization sponsored jointly by the University of Toronto and the
United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs, says . . .
Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID).
The technological developments that make Radio Frequency
Identification Technology (RFID) so promising revolve mainly around the
convergence and miniaturization of technologies that have been . . .
Vietnam's consumer market continues to mature.(International
Monetary Fund)(Vietnam's per capita income)
There is no question that the Vietnamese economy is showing promise
and that better days for its large consumer base are not long in coming.
Vietnam's consumer base numbers 84.2 million people, . . .
South Korea worries about a slowdown.(economic growth)
South Korea is the fourth largest economy in Asia, and the twelfth
biggest economy in the world. So changes in its consumer base are of
some note.
On August 25, 2006, United Press International . . .
Consumers left out of Pakistan's growth.
From reports coming out of Pakistan, one might conclude that the
country is growing rapidly and that reforms are taking hold.
Unquestionably, in macroeconomic terms, growth in recent years has . . .
Coup effect on Thai economy minimal.
The current situation in Thailand is as follows: Following the
September 19, 2006 bloodless coup, the country's military leaders
began issuing a series of orders and statements. Within days of . . .
India's economy sets a record.(Brief article)
India's economy has recorded the highest first quarter growth
in a decade. Government figures released at the end of September 2006
showed first quarter GDP gaining 8.9 percent. India reports . . .
Flat panel TV sales surge in China.(Brief article)
In a sign of mass market consumer activity, "intense
competition" has emerged in one of the leading edge products in the
consumer electronics category in China. According to a posting at
People's . . .
Indonesian inflation on the way down.(Brief article)
Indonesia's consumers will welcome an October 5, 2006 move by
the country's central bank to trim an additional half percent from
the bank's key lending rate. The move led observers to . . .
Hard Disk Drives.
Consumer electronics devices such as video MP3 players, digital
camcorders, console gaming, PC gaming, automotive entertainment,
navigation devices, digital video recorders (DVRs), video . . .
Australian sentiment trends down despite recent rise.(in prices
of petroleum)
The sharp rise in sentiment among Australian consumers during
September 2006 (to 101.2) is a reaction to falling gas prices, said a
spokesperson for the Westpac/Melbourne Institute, which . . .
Philippine consumers are more optimistic.
The political turmoil in the Philippines appears to be moderating
due to some gains on the country's economic front. A value added
tax (VAT) has increased government revenues and increased . . .
Japan's recovery will likely be sustained.
Since spring 2006, a consensus has been building that a clear
recovery by the Japanese economy is underway. Now the question that
keeps coming up in the international financial press is: . . .
Indonesia struggles against corruption.
Transparency International's 2005 Corruption Perception Index
(CPI) includes a total of 158 countries. Iceland has the highest score,
9.7, on a scale from zero to 10 with 10 meaning highly clean . . .
New Zealand inflation increases.
New Zealand has experienced an unexpected rise in inflation. The
annual inflation rate rose from 3.3 percent in June 2006 to 4.0 percent
in July. The information was reported by the New Zealand . . .
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