This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 8, 2021 - March 14, 2021

China’s week-long fourth annual session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) is expected to take centre stage this week as the economic super power unveils its plans.

The NPC commenced last Friday (March 5), with Premier Li Keqiang delivering the government’s work report at the opening speech. The event is significant, as 2021 marks the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan for the country.

“China’s longer-term policy priorities, including the ‘2035 vision’ will take centre stage at the NPC, where the focus will be on its growth strategies in the light of the geopolitical developments as well as greater focus on more balanced and high-quality growth versus a high growth rate, particularly as President Xi Jinping has declared the country’s success in poverty eradication. Other areas that would receive attention include the environment and healthcare,” notes UOB in a report dated March 3.

A key focus of the meeting, UOB adds, will be the setting of economic targets for 2021. The research house believes the country will not be setting numerical growth targets as in the previous year and forecasts 2021 GDP growth at 8.5% because of the low base effect from 2020.

In Singapore, the parliament will vote to approve the nation’s 2021 Budget on March 8. This comes after discussion of the various budget measures and the unveiling of details of the measures at the Committee of Supply debate, which started on Feb 24.

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor Philip Lowe will be giving a speech in Sydney on March 10 at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit titled “The Recovery, Investment and Monetary Policy”.

Market players will be listening closely, given that RBA had recently announced it would keep rates at 0.1% and reiterated its commitment to maintaining “highly supportive monetary conditions” until its employment and inflation goals were met.

In Asia, key economic data to be released this week include China’s and India’s February inflation numbers on March 10 and 12 respectively.

Outside Asia, the Bank of Canada will be announcing its monetary policy decision on March 10. Bloomberg consensus is for the central bank to keep rates unchanged at 0.25%.

The European Central Bank will also be announcing monetary policy decisions on March 11. Countries in Europe will be announcing their industrial production data for January, starting with Germany on March 8, followed by Italy, France, the UK and the eurozone.

Economic data emerging from the US include February’s Consumer Product Index and Producer Price Index. Bloomberg consensus projects a 0.4% month-on-month increase in the CPI and a 0.2% m-o-m rise in the PPI.

Meanwhile, a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers (Opec+) to keep oil production unchanged into April has prompted a rally in oil prices. How much more will it climb, given that Brent crude has scaled to a high of US$68.57 per barrel at the time of writing?

Locally, the Department of Statistics will announce its Industrial Production Index for January on March 12. Last December, Malaysia’s IPI grew 1.7%, driven by the Manufacturing Index’s 4.1% expansion. Bloomberg data shows expectations of a 0.1% increase for January (likely because of the Movement Control Order 2.0, which began on Jan 13 in six states).

In the courts, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s criminal breach of trust and money laundering trial will continue on March 8. Zahid, Umno president, is facing 47 charges — 12 for criminal breach of trust, eight for bribery and 27 for money laundering involving millions of ringgit belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.

On the corporate front, Top Glove Corp Bhd will release its 2Q2021 earnings on March 9. In 1QFY2021, the glove manufacturer recorded an exponential net profit of RM2.37 billion on revenue of RM4.76 billion as average selling prices surged amid extraordinary demand because of the pandemic.

Other notable companies slated to release their quarterly earnings next week include Scientex Bhd, Sunway Bhd, Suria Capital Holdings Bhd, Boustead Plantations Bhd, Ann Joo Resources Bhd and UEM Sunrise Bhd.

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