Inflation Worries, China Ties, Stimulus Spillovers: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Wednesday, Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

• Federal Reserve officials are just as worried about an inflation rate that runs too cold as one that runs too hot
  • Fed Chair Jerome Powell scheduled to speak later today
• China is taking more direct steps to mend relations with U.S. investors, ramping up its communication with businesses in an environment of heightened economic tensions between the two nations
• A U.S. economy turbocharged by the Biden administration’s massive stimulus and pent-up demand looks set to deliver a powerful boost to China’s economy -- helping hoist growth above 9% this year, according to Bloomberg Economics
• A partial strike scheduled to start Wednesday by Port of Montreal dockworkers threatens to increase congestion in other parts of North America and further waylay shipments at a time of surging shipping costs and delays
• Brazil’s central bank is closely monitoring if a recent spike in commodity prices will continue to affect core inflation, and particularly expectations for 2022, as it calibrates monetary policy, according to its President Roberto Campos Neto
• The European Central Bank could end its pandemic emergency program within less than a year while adapting its monetary policy tools to keep supporting the economy after the crisis, French Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said
  • The ECB also said its public consultations on a digital euro revealed that privacy is valued above all other features for any new form of the currency
• Breaking free of Brussels bureaucracy was meant to herald a bonfire of red tape for Britain. In the first 100 days of Brexit, the only thing many businesses burned was money
• Hong Kong wants to bring back factory jobs that left long ago, in an attempt to diversify the financial capital’s economy
• The International Monetary Fund said the Bank of Japan still has scope to shift its yield target to a shorter maturity to mitigate side effects on the financial system even after its policy review last month

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