Soft Landing, China Growth Target, Tariff Deal Close: Eco Day

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Welcome to Wednesday Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

• Fed chief Jerome Powell looks close to pulling off a soft landing for the ebbing U.S. economy. The central bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged after cutting at three consecutive meetings
• China’s top leadership will set the target for economic growth at “about 6%” for 2020 as they meet this week for their annual policy conclave, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists
• Chinese officials expect President Donald Trump to delay a tariff increase set for Sunday, giving more time to negotiate an interim trade deal that both sides insist is close to fruition
• India is reviewing trade and goods agreements with its Southeast Asian neighbors to boost exports after opting out of a China-backed trade pact
• House Democrats embraced the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement after securing key revisions and plan to vote on the deal next week. This would be a key win for Trump ahead of the 2020 election
• ECB policy makers meeting this week will discuss the prospect of launching their own digital currency. President Lagarde says central banks should consider the merits
• The U.K. economy unexpectedly stagnated in October, marking three straight months without growth for the first time since 2009. Output was dragged down by construction amid wet weather
• Investors no longer see Germany’s growth outlook deteriorating, marking a turnaround in sentiment after months of pessimism over Europe’s largest economy
• A lack of newborns in South Korea could prompt the Bank of Korea to make baby steps into the realm of unconventional stimulus, driven by the neutral interest rate being pushed lower
• A trillion-dollar U.S. fiscal deficit against a backdrop of record-low unemployment and strong growth has rung surprisingly few alarm bells. Bloomberg Economics expects slowing growth will drive the deficit to nearly 5% of GDP in fiscal 2020
• In the land of rising household debt, Canadians have one more thing to worry about. Delinquency rates are moving higher as the cost of living and servicing debt increases
• The U.S. is edging closer to a new era of trade politics, writes Jenny Leonard in the latest Terms of Trade

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexandra Veroude in Sydney at averoude4@bloomberg.net

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

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