Brazil will post a trade surplus of $42 billion in 2006, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade. The country’s trade surplus was $27.3 billion in the period January 1 to August 13, 2006. The target for the 42 billion surplus was set by the ministry in July, and the average monthly surplus has to stand at $5.0 billion to achieve it.
The Czech finance ministry submitted a draft budget for 2007 to the government. The budget predicts an 88 billion koruna (3.1 billion euro) deficit, based on revenue of 886.7 billion koruna and 974.7 billion koruna. Real GDP will grow at 5%, with an inflation rate of 2.8% and an unemployment rate of 7.4%. For 2008 and 2009 the budget deficit is planned to be 2.6% and 2.3% of GDP respectively.
According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas the banking industry's non-performing loan ratio declined by 1.99% year-on-year to 7.22% at the end of June. Bad loans have been cut by 4.6 billion pesos to 136.5 billion pesos. Filipino banks' total loan portfolio declined to 1.89 trillion pesos in June, from 1.92 trillion pesos in May.
The People's Bank of China reported that bank lending during July continued to accelerate. After witnessing some moderation in June, bank lending increased despite the government's controls and efforts to reduce lending. The central bank's data revealed that Chinese commercial banks lent 2.34 trillion yuan in the first seven months of the current year, or 94% of the annual quota of bank loans. Outstanding loans at the end of July reached 21.6 trillion yuan, which works out to annual growth of 16.3%.