Tue, Mar 01, 2022 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  JAPAN

  Production falls 1.3%

  Factory output fell for a second straight month in January as supply shortages continued to hurt manufacturers, adding to concern that the economy could shrink this quarter as the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 weighs on activity. Production slipped 1.3 percent from the previous month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said yesterday. Economists had expected a decline of 0.7 percent. A separate report by the ministry showed that retail sales also dropped 1.9 percent in January from December, compared with economists’ forecast of a 1.2 percent fall. The weakness in sales shows consumers were less willing to spend than expected amid the nation’s biggest virus wave.

  TURKEY

  GDP rose 11 last year

  The economy expanded more than predicted in the fourth quarter of last year, driven by a surge in domestic consumption and exports. GDP rose 9.1 percent in the October-to-December period from a year earlier, beating the median estimate of 9 percent in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Growth for the full year was 11 percent, the state statistics agency said, making Turkey the fastest growing country among G20 nations both in the last quarter and in last year as a whole. The nation’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic gained pace in the first half of last year and maintained momentum thanks to strong exports. Consumption also remained solid, but inflation spiraled out of control.

  SPAIN

  Inflation surges 7.5%

  Inflation accelerated well above expectations last month, as soaring energy prices continue to weigh on consumers. Consumer prices rose 7.5 percent from a year earlier, national statistics institute INE said yesterday. That is the highest level since records started in 1997 and beats all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The acceleration was driven by food, beverages, fuel and energy. Soaring gas prices are behind the inflation spike in one of Europe’s most vulnerable nations to global energy swings as it imports most of its fuel needs.

  AUSTRALIA

  Retail sales jump 1.8%

  Household spending recovered strongly, defying expectations that a renewed COVID-19 outbreak would keep shoppers at home, as a shift to living with the virus prompted consumers to head out to shop. Retail sales jumped 1.8 percent in January to A$32.5 billion (US$23.4 billion), compared with a forecast gain of just 0.3 percent, the Bureau of Statistics data showed yesterday. Sales across the states and territories all rose, led by a 4.7 percent surge in Western Australia. The unexpected jump in household spending is positive for the economic outlook given private consumption accounts for about 60 percent of the nation’s US$1.5 trillion annual economic output.

  RETAIL

  PT Trans, Bukalapak team up

  Tycoon Chairul Tanjung’s CT Corp conglomerate is teaming up with Internet firm PT Bukalapak.com for an online grocery venture as e-commerce gains ground in Indonesia, people with knowledge of the matter said. Closely held CT Corp’s supermarket unit PT Trans Retail Indonesia is driving the push with Bukalapak, and private equity firm Growtheum Capital Partners is joining the pact, the people said. The trio is to invest 1 trillion rupiah (US$70 million) into the venture called AlloFresh, with Trans Retail owning 55 percent, Bukalapak 35 percent and Growtheum 10 percent, they said.
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