Central Banks Meet, China Embraces Dollar, Fiscal Boost: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Monday, Asia. Here’s news from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

• Central bankers in the U.S., Japan, U.K., Brazil and India will meet to set their respective policies this week. President Trump is casting a political shadow over the Fed, while the time seems right for another rate hike in India. The Bank of Japan, sometimes dubbed the Tokyo whale for its market influence, may be about to change its habits
• China once railed against the dollar’s outsize role. But in a marked turnaround, it’s now come to embrace the greenback
• Governments back at the wheel. Fiscal policy is returning to the fore just as central banks slink away from their crisis-era settings
• The U.S. economy is “well on the path” for sustained growth of 3 percent, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin -- an outlook at odds with the central bank. He also suggested it was fine for the Fed to raise rates, despite Trump recently criticizing it for doing just that. Meanwhile, billionaire Charles Koch worries that Trump is putting the U.S. economy at risk of recession
• U.K. ministers and senior officials in Theresa May’s team are terrified time-sensitive negotiations with the EU will fail. Italy’s far-right deputy prime minister said his government would back Britain in the talks. Meanwhile, Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio said Italy will go ahead with its plan to introduce a flat tax and an assured basic income, while scraping a landmark pension reform, setting up a fight with the EU
• The world’s fastest-growing major economy is showing signs of a recovery in animal spirits, suggesting India’s mid-term outlook can weather global trade tensions and emerging-market strains

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Chris Bourke

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