The Wall Street Journal’s Daily Report on Global Central Banks for Thursday, June 5, 2014:

Sign up for the newsletter

Most Grand Central readers will be digesting the European Central Bank’s policy decisions Thursday, but while the ECB’s big day takes shape, let’s take a moment to look ahead one news cycle to the Labor Department’s jobs report due for release Friday morning.

The Federal Reserve is less than two weeks away from its June 17-18 policy meeting, when it will be releasing its updated forecasts for the economy and Chairwoman Janet Yellen will hold her second press conference. The jobs report is one of the last important pieces of data officials will have to digest before the next meeting. Read More »

Inflation in the Philippines spiked to a 30-month high in May, approaching the top of the central bank’s target range and raising the odds of further tightening steps ahead.

The consumer price index rose 4.5% on-year in May, its quickest pace since November 2011, on higher prices of food and other commodities, as well as housing. Economists were expecting a reading of 4.2%, while the central bank had forecast a reading between 3.9%-4.7%.

While CPI remains within the bank’s 3.0%-5.0% target range for the year, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. said the data confirm what the central bank has been saying for months: Quick gains in prices are narrowing the room to keep interest rates at record lows. Read More »

The European Central Bank on Thursday is widely expected to announce new measures to attempt to stimulate a stronger recovery and higher inflation in the euro zone.

Join The Wall Street Journal’s Brian Blackstone and Nell Henderson along with WSJ contributor David Wessel in a live video Spreecast discussion about the ECB decision, what ECB President Mario Draghi says in his press conference, how markets reacted and what it all means for the euro-zone economy. Read More »

A roundup of economic news on Asia and emerging markets from around the Web.

–Capital Controls in the 21^st Century: Opposition to the use of capital controls has weakened since the global financial crisis, with some economists advocating their use as a macroprudential policy instrument. But Barry Eichengreen and Andrew K. Rose say they’ve rarely been used this way in the past.

–Unlocking Nepal’s Potential: With a population of 30 million, Nepal has the potential to move from a fragile country to a frontier investment destination. Political deadlock has always been the impediment, Sujeev Shakya says.

–China’s Education Revolution: Strong human capital is critical to enable China to escape the middle-income trap,but the labor force currently lacks the skills needed to support high-tech, high-value industries. Lee Jong-Wha says changing this will require comprehensive education reform that expands and improves opportunities for children while strengthening skills training for adults.

  Read More »

China’s economy remains on course for sustained growth at the pace projected by the government, even as it shows occasional flashes of weakness and instability, according to the chief of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“We can still count on China for some time to continue to produce quite solid growth,” Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the OECD, said in an interview in Singapore. “I don’t see why people talk about a hard landing in China.”

A gradual slowdown is desirable for China to grow in a “more sustainable” manner, at between 7%-7.5% a year, Mr. Gurria said.

His comments come amid a slew of Chinese economic data that have raised doubts about whether the economy can reach the government’s growth target of around 7.5% for this year. Read More »

Some Bank of Japan officials are beginning to feel the economy can withstand the effects of the recent sales tax increase without much help from exports, people close to the central bank said, another sign the BOJ feels little pressure to act anytime soon.

The failure of exports to regain strength has been one reason some economists have been betting the bank will take further action to open the monetary tap this year. But two months since the sales tax rose to 8% from 5%, there are signs the economy is weathering the impact relatively well. Capital investment has been bouncing up while deflationary pressure has dissipated somewhat, easing worries at the BOJ that the economy could stumble unless exports rise, the people said. Read More »

More than 1,000 people may be trimmed from the World Bank in the coming years as President Jim Yong Kim moves ahead with a restructuring of the development institution, according to several people familiar with the matter.

Top World Bank officials plan to signal that sharp cutbacks in staff are on the horizon in an internal memo expected out later this week. The memo won’t have specific numbers, according to people who’ve either seen a draft or are involved in the restructuring, but is meant in part to reassure the bank’s 15,000-plus employees that thinning of the ranks will be handled in a humane and transparent process.

Many economists and bank-watchers say an overhaul is needed to ensure the development behemoth maintains its relevancy in an age of expanding emerging market wealth, private financing and international consultancies. Read More »

It’s back to business as usual in Jackson Hole, Wyo., this August. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City will be holding its annual economics conference there, and Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will be in attendance.

Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke caused a stir last year when he opted not to go. It was the first time since 1987 that a Fed chairman skipped the conference. When word got out in April 2013 that Mr. Bernanke would miss the proceedings, it stirred speculation in the markets that he was preparing for his exit from the Fed. Read More »

The Federal Reserve’s “beige book” report, out Wednesday, provides a snapshot of economic activity across the nation in recent weeks. Based on anecdotes gathered from the central bank’s 12 districts from early April through late May, the Fed concluded that a pick-up in auto sales, tourism and manufacturing were supporting economic growth. Reports collected from regional business contacts also found that some industries have continued to suffer weather-related disruptions, while others said they were having trouble finding qualified workers.

Here are edited excerpts. Read More »

Officials at the Federal Reserve are worried investors may be getting complacent about risks building in financial markets. Combined with the news that the economy shrank last quarter, it’s worth asking if economists have grown complacent about one risk in particular: a recessionary relapse. Read More »