India’s consumer inflation, meanwhile, likely eased in March to 5.80%, thanks to softer food price rises, dipping below the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance limit of 6.00% for the first time this year.
The data comes less than a week after the RBI surprised markets by holding its key interest rate steady at 6.50% when most expected a 25 basis point rise.
South Korean unemployment in February fell back to match last August’s record low of 2.6%, so a further decline in the March reading would break new historic ground.
Finance ministers and central bank officials from around the world are in Washington for this week’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings.
The IMF on Tuesday trimmed its global growth outlook for this year and next as higher interest rates bite, and warned that the risk of “perilous” financial turmoil could slash output to near recessionary levels.
The global lender kept its Chinese growth forecasts at 5.2% and 4.5%, respectively, but lowered its 2023 Indian GDP growth forecast by a fifth of a percentage point to 5.9% and next year’s outlook by half a point to 6.3%.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was more optimistic about global economic growth and warned against overdoing the ‘negativism’. She also said she still hopes to visit China, underscoring President Joe Biden’s focus on opening up and maintaining channels of communication with Beijing.
