Asia Economics Update Rate cuts in Malaysia unlikely despite SRR cut The decision by Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) today to cuts its statutory reserve requirement (SRR) ratio is not a signal that interest rates cuts are on the way. Worries about currency weakness and... 21st January 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update What does Taiwan’s election result mean for the economy? The weekend’s election result marks a major political landmark for Taiwan, with the anti-China Democratic People’s Party (DPP) winning not only the presidency, but also gaining control of the... 18th January 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia will only cut rates gradually Bank Indonesia’s decision to cut interest rates today should provide a long-overdue boost to the struggling economy. But the central bank will take a cautious approach from here. 14th January 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Rate cut in Bangladesh likely to be a one-off Bangladesh Bank has today cut its policy rates for the first time since 2013 to give the economy a further lift. Although the central bank has become more confident of meeting its inflation target... 14th January 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea to hold rates in 2016 Against a backdrop of global financial market volatility and rising household debt, the Bank of Korea (BoK) left its policy rate unchanged at a record low of 1.50% today. We do not expect any changes... 14th January 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Oil price fall further dims Malaysia’s 2016 growth outlook The renewed fall in oil prices in recent months is a further blow to Malaysia’s economy. Moreover, there is very little scope for policymakers to support growth with fiscal or monetary loosening. We... 13th January 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update A quiet end to the year Asian financial markets have taken the start of Fed tightening in their stride. Currencies, equities and government bond yields have all been fairly stable over the past month. 23rd December 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Is Taiwan’s rate cutting cycle over? Today’s decision by Taiwan’s central bank (the CBC) to cut its main policy rate by 12.5 basis points to 1.625% reflects concern over the current weakness of the economy. Looking ahead, we are... 17th December 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank Indonesia to cut rates early next year Bank Indonesia (BI) kept its key policy rate on hold today at 7.50%, but dropped the clearest signal yet that an interest rate cut is not far away. We are maintaining our view that the central bank... 17th December 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand’s monetary policy to stay loose throughout 2016 The Bank of Thailand (BoT) unsurprisingly kept its policy rate on hold at 1.50% today ahead of the upcoming US rate decision and amid signs of a stabilising domestic economy. With price pressures... 16th December 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update What do the latest falls in oil prices mean for Asia? The boost to regional growth from the recent slide in global oil prices is likely to be quite small unless consumers decide to spend rather than save the latest windfall. 15th December 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea to keep rates on pause through 2016 With the domestic economy on the mend, the Bank of Korea (BoK) left its policy rate unchanged at a record low of 1.50% today. We expect the BoK to keep rates at their current lows throughout 2016. 10th December 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update No sense of panic as Fed hike approaches Asian financial markets have held up well over the past month despite a renewed slump in China’s equity market at the end of last week and growing expectations of a December Fed rate hike. 30th November 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand’s tourism rebound has run its course The bombings in Bangkok in mid-August have not prevented the tourism sector from giving Thailand’s economy a big boost this year. But a repeat cannot be expected in 2016, which is one reason why GDP... 23rd November 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Philippines to keep interest rates on hold for a while yet Despite low inflation and a recent run of weak activity data, today’s decision by the central bank of the Philippines (BSP) to keep its key policy rate on hold at 4.0% came as no big surprise. Looking... 12th November 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea to hold rates through 2016 With the domestic economy showing signs of recovery, the Bank of Korea (BoK) left its policy rate unchanged at a record low of 1.50% today. We expect the BoK to keep rates on hold for the rest of 2015... 12th November 2015 · 1 min read
