APRA targets unlisted asset values

<p>Kia ora,</p><p>Welcome to Tuesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.</p><p>I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.</p><p>And today we lead with news those unlisted Aussie funds are going to get a hurry-up on proper valuations from their prudential regulator via their superannuation system.</p><p>But first, in the US, the New York State <a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/Survey/Empire/empire2023/ESMS_2023_07.pdf?sc_lang=en&hash=09E56F68BD44737153EE0288BFCA92DC" target="_blank"><strong>manufacturing survey</strong></a> dipped in July from June but the shift was in fact minor and much less than was expected. Activity held steady in July and minorly positive. New order levels are still positive.</p><p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/sce/credit-access#/financial-fragility1" target="_blank"><strong>applications by consumers for 'credit'</strong></a> (debt) are falling and are now at their lowest level since October 2020. And that means that those who are applying are increasingly likely to get turned down. In fact the rejection rate jumped to almost 22% in the year to June 2023.</p><p>China's economy expanded by +6.3% in the second quarter from a year earlier, fueled by recoveries in retail sales and the service sector, and partly thanks to a low base effect. This was lower than the expected +7.3% but was higher than the +4.5% rise in Q1-2023. Between Q1 and Q2, up just +0.8% (annualised at +3.2%) and emphasising the size of their challenge to regain momentum.</p><p><a href="http://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202307/t20230715_1941272.html" target="_blank"><strong>Electricity production</strong></a> however only grew +2.8% from a year ago in June. Some use this metric as a more insightful indicator of actual economic activity in China. It rose +5.6% in May, and this June result is the lowest since February.</p><p><a href="http://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/zxfb/202307/t20230715_194