China's inflation steadies on government price measures

Chinese inflation stabilised in February, helped by government and central bank measures to rein in price growth.

Consumer prices rose 4.9% from a year earlier, the same rate as in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Analysts had forecast a figure nearer 4.7%, but said it was more significant that the rate of growth had steadied.

Asia’s Rise Reshapes Global Economy, Prices, RBA’s Stevens Says

Asia’s emergence as the global economy’s engine of growth is boosting prices of food, energy and minerals and inhibiting recoveries from the U.S. to Europe, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said.

“Prices are under upward pressure because of rising demand, but it is the demand coming from a couple of billion people in Asia seeking, and in many cases rapidly converging on, the way of life that the advanced countries have enjoyed for decades,” Stevens said in the text of a speech in London today. He didn’t directly address Australian monetary policy in the remarks.

China to invest $200bn in low-cost homes to curb prices

China will build 10 million low-cost homes this year at a cost of $200bn (£124bn), a government minister has said.

The move comes as soaring home prices spur complaints about affordability.

China PM vows to reduce inflation

China's government has vowed to clamp down on inflation and urgently raise incomes, as Wen Jiabao, the country's premier, devoted most of a major national address to addressing citizens' economic concerns.

Addressing the opening of the National People's Congress on Saturday, Jiabao said the country's working class and rural residents would receive more assistance from the government, in a move aimed at sharing the benefits of rapid economic growth across more sectors of society.

ASEAN's role growing as Asia becomes centre of global economic growth

Asia is now the centre of global economic growth, and this makes the role of ASEAN more critical than ever before, said Dr Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN.

He was speaking on Thursday at a session of the "Delhi Dialogue" in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

Dr Surin added that if ASEAN nations face a financial crisis today, its impact will be far worse than the US sub-prime crisis in 2009.

S Korea inflation jumps in February to a 27-month high

South Korea's inflation rate has hit a 27-month high in February, driven by rising food and fuel costs.

The consumer price index rose by 4.5% in February, compared with the same month a year earlier, the statistical office said.

China's US debt holdings jump 30% easing financing fear

The US owes more money to China than it had previously estimated, government figures show.

According to the Treasury Department's revised figures, Beijing's total holding of US debt was $1.16 trillion (£712bn) in December, up $268bn from an initial estimate two weeks ago.