Asia Economics Update How useful is Malaysia's PMI? A new manufacturing PMI survey for Malaysia launched by Nikkei and Markit earlier this month appears to track the hard data reasonably well and points to a further slowdown in the manufacturing sector... 31st July 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asian currencies caught up in EM sell-off Asian currencies have been caught up in a general sell-off of EM assets this month, as interest rate hikes in the US have started to loom. Some currencies are now at or close to multi-year lows. That... 30th July 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Drought adds to Thailand’s economic headwinds A severe drought in Thailand is hurting its agricultural sector and adding to the country’s economic woes. Rising downside risks to growth will increase pressure on the Bank of Thailand (BoT) to... 21st July 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank Indonesia to cut rates before the end of the year With inflation still well above target, today’s decision by Bank Indonesia (BI) to leave its main policy rate on hold at 7.50% was no great surprise. While we think rates will stay on hold in the... 14th July 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Further rate cuts in Korea unlikely Despite the weak economy, the Bank of Korea (BoK) kept its policy rate unchanged at a record low of 1.50% today. We think it will take a severe deterioration in the growth outlook to convince the BoK... 9th July 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Ringgit weakness to remain a constraint on policy in Malaysia The Malaysian ringgit weakened past its 1998-2005 peg level of 3.80 against the dollar today for the first time since the peg was scrapped. Today’s decline may have been triggered by concern over the... 6th July 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asian markets remain calm about "Grexit" threat Although most Asian equities markets and currencies weakened in June, reflectingrising expectations that the US Fed will soon start to raise interest rates and thegrowing risk of Greece exiting the... 30th June 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korean government responds to MERS threat The Korean government’s proposed fiscal stimulus package comes in response to the growing threat on the economy posed by the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Although details of... 25th June 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Rate cuts likely in Indonesia before year-end Bank Indonesia (BI) today left its main policy rate on hold at 7.50% against a backdrop of slowing growth, high inflation and a weakening currency. We doubt there will be any changes in interest rates... 18th June 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Assessing the potential economic impact of MERS in Korea Based on the limited data available so far it looks like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) has already taken a toll on Korea’s economy. In this Update, we outline our best and worse case... 16th June 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update MERS threat triggers rate cut in Korea, further cuts difficult The Bank of Korea (BoK) today cut its policy rate to a new record low of 1.50% amid growing economic risks from the recent outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). But the hurdle for... 11th June 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand holds rates, but further easing can't be ruled out yet The Bank of Thailand's (BoT) decision to keep interest rates unchanged at 1.50% today came as no surprise, but with the economy still in a fragile state it is too soon to call the end of the easing... 10th June 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update MERS raises economic risks in Korea If Asia’s experience with SARS is anything to go by, the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in Korea could have a short-lived but quite sharp negative impact on Korea’s economy. We... 8th June 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Weak yen not to blame for Korean export woes Subdued global demand, rather than the strength of the Korean won against the Japanese yen is to blame for the poor recent performance of Korean exports. 1st June 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asian currencies fall, bond yields rise Most currencies sold off against the US dollar in May. Meanwhile, the region’s bond markets have settled down in recent weeks, after being briefly caught up in the global bond market sell-off earlier... 29th May 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Is Pakistan repeating the same old mistakes? The aggressive series of rate cuts by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) over the last six months suggests that it may, once again, have become too complacent over the medium-term inflation outlook. 25th May 2015 · 1 min read
