(Bloomberg) — China’s manufacturing activity likely remained subdued in November, with weak domestic demand in the economy outweighing any relief that came from an easing in energy shortages.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index is forecast to improve slightly to 49.7 from 49.2 in October when it’s released Tuesday, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. That would be the third month it stays below the key 50-mark, indicating a contraction in production.
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The non-manufacturing gauge, which measures activity in the construction and services sectors, is forecast to fall to 51.5 from 52.4 in the previous month.
China’s energy shortages, which ravaged factory production in September and October, likely eased this month as coal producers boosted output and inventories rose. However, the housing market crisis shows no signs of ending, and frequent Covid-19 outbreaks continue to curb consumption.
“Supply-side restrictions have improved marginally, so production likely rebounded somewhat,” said Xing Zhaopeng, senior China strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. But there’s “not much positive signal on domestic demand,” which continued to weigh on activities, he said.
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Economic growth is forecast to slow to 5.3% next year, according to a Bloomberg survey median, with some economists seeing expansion as low as 4%. Bloomberg Economics forecast growth will come in at 5.7%, as the government will likely target a 5-6% range.
What Bloomberg Economics Says…
“In 2021, policy played a secondary role in setting the growth trajectory. In 2022, it will be pivotal. The extent of the slowdown will hinge largely on what balance China strikes between supporting short-term growth and advancing long-term reforms.
…We see the People’s Bank of China cutting the interest rate on its one-year medium-term lending facility by 20 basis points and the reserve requirement ratio by 100-150 bps by end-2022.”
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— Chang Shu and David Qu
For the rull report, click here
Authorities are trying to moderate the sharp downturn in the property market, while providing targeted support to areas such as small businesses and green technology. Officials will reveal more clues on how much policy easing they plan to provide during two key political meetings in December by the Politburo and the Central Economic Work Conference.
China will adopt a more proactive macroeconomic policy next year to respond to the challenges from an uneven recovery of the global economy and instability in containing the pandemic, the Securities Times, run by the People’s Daily, said in a front-page commentary Monday.
Authorities have exercised restraint in using monetary and fiscal tools amid an economic slowdown this year, thus creating sufficient space for policy maneuvering next year, according to the commentary.
The slowdown is being cushioned by strong export demand, which likely remained solid in November, judging by latest shipment figures from South Korea.
Consumption and travel continues to be affected by a resurgence in virus cases and the country’s growing determination to stick to its strict Covid Zero strategy. Subway passenger traffic in six major cities of China declined less than 10% in November from October, though the plunge is smaller than that over the August outbreak, according to Xing.
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.
In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.
The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.
Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.
In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.
The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.
The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.
Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
