By Emily Kaiser, Asia Economics Correspondent

(Reuters) – Brazil will have a tough time convincing its risk-averse fellow BRICs to bankroll a European rescue no matter how the aid is structured.

Funneling the money through the International Monetary Fund instead of buying European debt directly offers a layer of protection against default. But India, China and Russia have already pledged a combined $70 billion to augment the IMF’s lending power, and may be reluctant to do more.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The global economic slowdown has brought emerging Asia’s rate-hiking cycle to a premature pause and the next step could be easing if the United States slides into a recession or Europe’s debt troubles spawn a full-blown financial crisis.

Central banks in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines said on Thursday that inflation pressures were abating, and predicted they will get more relief as the weakening world economy chills demand.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The global economic slowdown has brought emerging Asia’s rate-hiking cycle to a premature pause and the next step could be easing if the United States slides into a recession or Europe’s debt troubles spawn a full-blown financial crisis.

Central banks in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines said on Thursday that inflation pressures were abating, and predicted they will get more relief as the weakening world economy chills demand.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Emerging markets are struggling to contain inflation while advanced economies face stagnation, causing consternation for central bankers caught in the middle.

Brazil cut interest rates unexpectedly on Wednesday even though inflation picked up in August. Speculation has swirled for the past week that China might ease lending conditions for some small- and medium-sized companies. Even a few of the industrialized nations, such as South Korea, face growing pressure to delay further interest rate rises as global growth prospects dim.

LONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Factory activity worldwide stalled last month as new orders tumbled, a series of surveys showed on Thursday, heightening fears that the global economy may be heading for another recession.

The Purchasing Managers’ Indexes showed manufacturing activity contracted in the euro zone for the first time in almost two years in August, echoing earlier data from South Korea and Taiwan where new export orders fell sharply.

LONDON/SINGAPORE, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Factory activity
worldwide stalled last month as new orders tumbled, a series of
surveys showed on Thursday, heightening fears that the global
economy may be heading for another recession.

The Purchasing Managers’ Indexes showed manufacturing
activity contracted in the euro zone for the first time in
almost two years in August, echoing earlier data from South
Korea and Taiwan where new export orders fell sharply.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Slumping export demand slowed factory activity in some of Asia’s biggest economies in August, although China fared better thanks to solid domestic growth, a series of surveys released on Thursday showed.

The Purchasing Managers Indexes showed manufacturing contracted in South Korea and Taiwan as new export orders fell sharply. China’s official PMI increased slightly, the first rise since March, but it also reflected the effects of slowing demand in the United States and Europe.

SINGAPORE, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Japan and South Korea reported
surprisingly weak July factory output on Wednesday as global
electronics demand faded, exposing Asia’s vulnerability to a
worsening U.S. and European economic slowdown.

Industrial output rose just 0.6 percent in Japan, less than
half the rate economists polled by Reuters had predicted. South
Korea’s declined 0.4 percent, defying expectations for a 0.6
percent rise.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Figuring out what the People’s Bank of China is doing can be as perplexing as parsing a statement from Alan Greenspan, the notoriously opaque former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman.

Now that the U.S. central bank has made it clear that any further economic assistance will have to wait until September — if it comes at all — the world is even more reliant on China, the second largest economy, to do what it can to support growth.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Figuring out what the People’s Bank of China is doing can be as perplexing as parsing a statement from Alan Greenspan, the notoriously opaque former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman.

Now that the U.S. central bank has made it clear that any further economic assistance will have to wait until September — if it comes at all — the world is even more reliant on China, the second largest economy, to do what it can to support growth.