Thailand’s economy has expanded around 3.3 percent in the second quarter, smashing forecasts which had puts growth at 1.7 percent. The figure was released by the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) reflects measures taken by the government to boost the economy following last year’s flood and slow growth. Year-on-year growth has been of 4.2 percent, from 0.3 percent. The government has also announced plans to invest $63.4bn on infrastructure in an attempt to prevent or mitigate the consequences of natural disasters in the future and bolster growth even further. However, Arkhom Termittayapaisith, secretary general at the NESDB has also announced that the forecast for export growth this year has been reviewed from 15.1 percent to only 7.3 percent amid concerns that the European slowdown will affect demand. As a result the annual overall growth forecast has been revised down from a range of 5.5 to 6.5 percent to 5.5. to 6 percent, despite the positive second quarter figures. Malaysia and Indonesia have also reported better than expected growth in the second quarter, bolstered by strong domestic demand.

Although the world’s second largest emerging economy has provided investors with plenty of opportunities over the last few years, growth last year plummeted partly as a result of the country’s inadequate infrastructure. In order to address investors concerns, the Brazilian government yesterday announced a massive $65.6bn investment in its transport infrastructure over the course of the next 25 years. Over half of that amount will be spent in the next five years, with a particular focus on the county’s roads and railways. President Dilma Rousseff told reporters: “We are starting with railways and roads but obviously we will take care of airports, ports and waterways.” Although the economy grew 7.5 percent in 2010, just a year later growth slumped to only 2.7 percent, while this year’s figure is expected to be under two percent. Analysts reacted cautiously to the news, saying that although the package is welcome for the long-term prospects of the country, it may have little effect in the short-term. Others pointed out the lack of infrastructure in Latin America showed that governments need to do more than just announcing policies. Bret Rosen, of Standard Chartered, told the FT: “The easy thing is making the announcements, the harder thing is execution, and the track record not just of Brazil but of Latin American countries in general is pretty poor on infrastructure.”

After coming in for heavy criticism for hiding a series of transactions with Iranian financial institutions, Standard Chartered has paid off regulators in New York. The US has strict economic sanctions on the Iranian regime, and the New York Department of Financial Services last week said that the Hong Kong based bank had infringed these sanctions after uncovering details of around $250bn of transactions with Iran. Although the bank claims that the deals only amounted to $14m, it says it is willing to pay the “civic penalty” in order to move on. In a brief statement the bank said: “A formal agreement containing the detailed terms of the settlement is expected to be concluded shortly.” Shares in the bank plummeted over 20 percent after the accusations were made last week, but have rallied this morning upon news of the settlement, going up 5.5 percent to HK$175. In a statement last week, the New York regulator was vociferous in its condemnation of the bank: “Motivated by greed, Standard Chartered acted for at least 10 years without any regard for the legal, reputational and national security consequences of its flagrantly deceptive actions. “Led by its most senior management, Standard Chartered designed and implemented an elaborate scheme by which to use its New York branch as a front for prohibited dealings with Iran – dealings that indisputably helped sustain a global threat to peace and stability.”

Figures released this morning show that the German economy, which has held together the chaotic eurozone during the last few years of financial strife, has grown just 0.3 percent over the last quarter. Fuelled by domestic consumption and relatively strong exports, the rate is less than the 0.5 percent of the previous quarter, but more than the 0.2 percent predicted by leading economists to Reuters. ABN Amro’s Aline Schuilling said they felt the figures won’t prevent the eurozone from contracting in the coming months. “We do not think that Germany on its own can keep the entire euro zone afloat. We expect total eurozone GDP to have contracted by around 0.4 percent on the second quarter, as severe fiscal austerity is pulling most economies into recession.” In other data released on Tuesday, France was shown to have recorded zero growth during the last quarter. With Europe’s leading economies struggling to overcome the turmoil of the last few years, the next few months are set to see contraction throughout the region. ING’s Carsten Brezeski told reporters: “The [German] economy remains the stronghold of the euro zone. However, another strong quarter merely glosses over the fact that even the stronghold has already caught the euro crisis virus. “The safety net of richly filled order books and low inventories has become thinner very rapidly, not boding well for growth in the second half of the year.”

With many financial institutions coming under pressure to restructure their businesses in the wake of the last few years of economic turmoil, some firms have looked to separate aspects of their business in order to isolate the potential risks. JP Morgan, however, have announced plans to merge their corporate and investment banking divisions with their securities and treasuries arms, in the hope that it will lead to increased pre-tax profits of $1bn over the course of the next five years. In an interview with the Financial Times on Monday, group CEO, Jamie Dimon, said this streamlining of the business will help reduce costs while tightening the integration of services offered. He said: “This is forward thinking at a time when many of our competitors are pulling back.” The firm, which last year reported $10.4bn of pre-tax profits, also aims to integrate electronic trading into the business, while looking to wrestle clients away from struggling rivals by offering a broader range of services. Co-CEO Daniel Pinto told the FT: “You need size, you need scale, because you need to have a solid funding base to commit large amounts of capital for clients.” Pinto joins two other executives, Matt Zames and Michael Cavanagh, in heading up the newly restructured business, with their new roles seen as a trial for the eventual replacement of chief executive Dimon when he retires.