Pricing Power Return, Building Reserves, Bullish Signs: Eco Day

Feb 25, 2021

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(Bloomberg) -- Happy Friday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help take you through to the weekend.

  • U.S. consumer prices are headed higher -– at least according to the people who set them. Corporate leaders are increasingly confident that they can charge more for their products without losing business
  • Central banks in Asia’s emerging economies added $467.7 billion to their foreign-exchange reserves last year, the most since 2013 when the region’s markets were rattled by the taper tantrum
  • Several Federal Reserve presidents argued that surging Treasury yields reflect economic optimism for a solid recovery and stressed that the central bank has no plans to tighten policy prematurely
  • As the U.K, Europe and U.S. dare to dream about restoring their pandemic-ravaged economies, the theory that pent-up demand will drive a speedy recovery is being played out at the other end of the world
  • U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for greater transparency around the use of IMF resources and on existing stocks of debt as global finance chiefs consider expanding the IMF’s lending firepower
  • President Joe Biden’s nominee for trade chief called on China to live up to the commitments in its trade pact with the U.S. -- the strongest signal yet that the new administration plans to build on the accord brokered by its predecessor rather than scrap it
  • The ECB pledges to fight back against unwarranted increases in bond yields are falling on deaf ears among investors
  • The Bank of Italy has picked Luigi Federico Signorini as its choice for senior deputy governor, the second-highest ranked official and a job which has put previous holders on the path to higher office
  • Philipp Hildebrand withdrew from the race to lead the OECD, potentially leaving the field to candidates from Greece, Sweden and Australia
  • Global trade entered 2021 with strong momentum after recovering late last year from a slump in the opening months of the pandemic
  • Developing nations remain at risk of a debt crisis due to the impact of the global pandemic, and the World Bank is working on ways to reduce the burden, President David Malpass said

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