India Economics Update A shift in India’s geopolitical alignment In our update of our Global Fracturing map for 2026, we now classify India as unaligned, rather than leaning towards the US, following the cooling of the relationship with the Trump administration... 7th January 2026 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Update Vietnam: Surging trade surplus with the US carries risks Vietnam’s economy is booming on the back of strong exports, most notably to the US, as it benefits from shifts in global supply chains. However, the export surge is widening Vietnam’s trade surplus... 6th January 2026 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update A look ahead to the key political events in Asia in 2026 In a busy electoral calendar, several Asian countries will go to the polls this year, with potentially significant implications for economic reform in India and macroeconomic stability in Bangladesh... 5th January 2026 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Update Asia PMIs, Korea Trade (Dec) & Singapore GDP (Q4) The December Manufacturing PMI readings for most Asian economies remain consistent with generally soft manufacturing activity. However, the PMIs have recently been a poor guide to the hard activity... 2nd January 2026 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia: is the strong ringgit a threat to exports? The Malaysian ringgit has appreciated steadily against the US dollar this year and is set to be Asia’s best-performing currency in 2025. While the appreciation has raised competitiveness concerns... 30th December 2025 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Korea’s equity rally: what comes next? Korea’s equity market has delivered an exceptional rally this year, driven by the restoration of political stability, long-overdue corporate governance reforms and strong exposure to the global AI... 22nd December 2025 · 3 mins read
India Economics Update GDP rebasing could push India above Japan On our current forecasts, India is on course to overtake Japan as the world’s fourth-largest economy in 2027. But there is a decent chance that the upcoming rebasing of India’s national accounts data... 10th December 2025 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Thailand-Cambodia conflict: assessing the fallout The economic fallout from renewed border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia should remain modest. Trade between the two countries is small, and Thailand’s tourism sector should be insulated given... 9th December 2025 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Assessing the economic impact from recent typhoons Large parts of South and South East Asia have been hit hard by tropical storms in recent weeks, causing significant loss of life and widespread disruption. The human cost is tragic. Economically... 3rd December 2025 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Asia Manufacturing PMIs, Korea Trade (November) The November PMI readings for most countries in Asia remained consistent with soft manufacturing activity. However, the PMIs haven’t been a great guide to the hard activity data for some economies... 1st December 2025 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Korea: central bank to resume easing cycle next year Korea’s central bank today left interest rates unchanged at 2.5%, and the hawkish comments from Governor Rhee at the press conference appear to rule out any chance of a rate cut in the next few months... 27th November 2025 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Can AI keep Asia’s export boom going? Asian exports are now growing at their fastest rate in more than three years, and should continue to expand at a decent pace over the coming year. While US tariffs have hit China’s (and more recently... 20th November 2025 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan: why aren’t consumers joining the party? Taiwan’s economy is booming and this has been driven almost entirely by exports, whereas domestic demand, and especially consumer spending, has been sluggish. That’s because faster wage increases in... 19th November 2025 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Update Thailand: growth to struggle as consumers pull back Thailand’s recovery from the pandemic has been one of the weakest in Asia and, with the boost from consumer spending fading as households deleverage, the economy is running short of growth drivers. We... 14th November 2025 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Philippines: wider current account leaves peso vulnerable The Philippines’ current account deficit has widened to more than 4% of GDP and it is being increasingly financed by more volatile forms of foreign capital. This helps to explain why the peso has... 13th November 2025 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Update Are cheap imports from China lowering Asian inflation? We aren’t convinced that cheaper imports from China had much to do with the recent sharp fall in inflation in the rest of Asia. While we expect inflation to remain soft next year, that reflects our... 11th November 2025 · 4 mins read