Fed Keeps Raising, Parched Australia, U.S.-China Strain: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Thursday, Asia. Here’s the latest news from Bloomberg Economics:

• The Federal Reserve raised rates and cemented expectations for another hike this year; Jerome Powell sees a U.S. economy capable of humming along without support. Carl Riccadonna reckons the FOMC is looking to overshoot to ensure a soft landing
• Meanwhile, President Trump is “not happy” with the Fed’s decision
• Parched Australia. In the world’s driest inhabited continent, enduring a devastating drought that arrived mid-winter, private action to prepare for climate change comes in stark contrast with government paralysis
• As the U.S.-China trade war heats up, military tensions are also rising
• Global leaders and top executives pledged their commitment to free trade, offering a rebuke to Trump’s protectionism. Meantime, Trump announced he has reached an agreement with Japan to open trade talks
• Chinese non-financial corporate debt is rising again as a percentage of GDP following a year and a half of deleveraging from its mid-2016 record
• French President Emmanuel Macron said he’d welcome Britain back should its voters decide in a second referendum to stay in the EU
• New Zealand held rates at a record low and signaled a preparedness to cut if economic growth fails to gather pace. Subdued manufacturing and inflation data probably won’t be enough to throw Singapore off its policy tightening course
• The IMF will step up lending to Argentina to $57.1 billion after the country slid into recession and as it struggles to stem a currency rout
• Deja vu in India. A sharp slide in the rupee, rising oil prices and a widening current-account deficit are throwbacks to 2013 amid the "taper tantrum." Yet the situation today isn’t nearly as grim

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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