Trump Called Powell, Global Debt, ‘Delicate Moment’: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Wednesday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell received a call from President Donald Trump on March 8 as concerns that day about the U.S. job market helped send stocks to their biggest weekly drop of the year

• The global economy is at a “delicate moment” after losing momentum since the start of the year, though a recession isn’t likely in the near term, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said
• The World Trade Organization slashed its global trade growth projection for 2019 to the lowest level in three years, citing the impact of rising commercial tensions and tariffs
• The rise in global debt slowed sharply last year, mainly driven by Europe and China, but leverage still remains at historically high levels, according to the Institute of International Finance
• Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government pledged sweeping tax cuts and forecast Australia’s first surplus in more than a decade in a budget aimed at engineering a come-from-behind election victory
• And further Down Under, New Zealand posted the slowest house-price inflation in more than seven years in March

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Brockett in Wellington at mbrockett1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Matthew Brockett at mbrockett1@bloomberg.net, Tracy Withers

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