In its new regional outlook, the International Monetary Fund cut its growth forecast for Asia in 2021 to 6.5 percent, compared to the 7.6 percent it speculated in April. The international organization cited supply chain disruptions, inflation fears and a rise in Covid-19 infections as factors that could hamper growth in the region. However, the 2022 growth forecast has been upwardly tweaked to 5.7 percent — up from the 5.3 percent April forecast. Meanwhile, China is expected to grow by 8 percent this year and 5.6 percent in 2022. UK inflation eases The UK’s annual inflation rate tapered off to 3.1 percent in September 2021 down from its nine-year high of 3.2 percent in August, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed. Transport prices rose by 8.4 percent, helping fuel some of the country’s inflationary pressures. Conversely, rises in restaurants and hotels costs eased to 5.1 percent in September compared to 8.6 percent in August. Month-on-month inflation also decreased to 0.3 percent in September — down from 0.7 percent in August. In addition, the yearly core inflation rate, which excludes price changes in volatile items like food and energy, reached 2.9 percent in September, falling from 3.1 percent in the previous month. German producer prices Germany’s annual rise in producer prices climbed to 14.2 percent in September, according to official data. Surging energy prices, last year’s low base effects and the current supply chain problems all meant that the country experienced its highest increase since October 1974. Energy costs leapt by 32.6 percent while prices of intermediate goods rose by 17.4 percent. This was accompanied by a month-on-month 2.3 percent increase in producer prices in September. Japan’s trade deficit The Japanese trade balance recorded a deficit of JPY622.8 billion ($5.44 billion) in September, compared to a JPY667.4 billion ($5.83 billion) surplus in the same month of last year, official data showed. This is the second consecutive month in which a deficit was posted for the country. Japanese imports leapt to a 34-month high of JPY7,463 billion ($65.19 billion) in September as it increased by an annual rate of 38.6 percent. Energy imports soared by 90 percent while purchases of electrical machinery jumped by 33.2 percent. Australian imports experienced the highest increase, climbing by 99.5 percent. Meanwhile, the country’s exports jumped by 13 percent year-on-year to JPY6,841 billion ($59.76 billion) in September 2021. This was fuelled by a 23.7 percent increase in machinery exports. Exports of chemicals also rose considerably, growing by a 27.4 percent yearly rate. Fed to hold on rates A majority of economists expect the Federal Reserve to wait until 2023 before raising its rates, a survey conducted by Reuters showed. Surveyed economists think that the biggest risk facing the US economy in the coming period is rising inflation. China’s FDI Based on China"s commerce ministry data, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to the country surged by 19.6 percent in the first nine months of 2021, when compared to the same period of the last year, to reach $134.7 billion.