Asia Economics Update Further rate cuts in Korea unlikely Today’s interest rate cut by the Bank of Korea (BoK) is unlikely to mark the start of a prolonged period of policy easing. In fact, with growth likely to bounce back strongly in the second half of the... 14th August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indian data leaves RBI in a bind Today’s industrial production and inflation data for India were a disappointment. The slowdown in industrial production growth cast doubt on the recent recovery of the sector, while the sharp rise in... 12th August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update What will Fed rate hikes mean for Asia? EM assets sold off sharply last year after the US Fed hinted that QE was on borrowed time, with some of Asia's major economies getting caught up in the turmoil. Markets have become jittery again in... 8th August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand to keep rates on hold until 2015 The Bank of Thailand (BoT) unsurprisingly held its policy rate at 2.0% at its meeting today amid an improving growth outlook. But as the economy may take some time to achieve a sustained recovery, we... 6th August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indian rates could be cut sooner than expected The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left its policy rates on hold today, as expected, but with inflation on a downward trend there should be scope for the RBI to cut rates sooner than most analysts expect... 5th August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Weak Indonesian growth a challenge for new president A breakdown of today’s GDP data show weak domestic demand as the main factor responsible for the slowdown in Indonesia’s economy last quarter. The disappointing figures act as a timely reminder of the... 5th August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australian rates to stay on hold for some time yet The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept its policy rate on hold at 2.5% again today, and reiterated in its statement that it does not expect to make any rate changes in the near term. We think the... 5th August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update July PMIs point to strengthening recovery The July PMIs for Emerging Asia show that the region's manufacturing sectors generally fared well over the past month. Encouragingly, rising new orders suggests the recovery has further to run. 1st August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Further tightening likely in the Philippines The central bank in the Philippines (BSP) hiked its main policy rate earlier today for the first time in over three years in a further attempt to reduce risks in the financial sector and clamp down on... 31st July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia's financial markets recover on the back of election results Most of the region's currencies and equity markets fared well over the past month. In particular, Joko Widodo's presidential election victory in July helped Indonesia's financial markets stage a... 31st July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Growth in Taiwan to remain healthy Taiwan’s economy continued to gain momentum last quarter, largely owing to a rebound in investment. Over the next year or so, we expect Taiwan’s economy to continue to record decent growth, supported... 31st July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korean growth to accelerate in H2 on stimulus spending Despite the sharp Q2 slowdown in Korea, today’s government stimulus package should lead to anacceleration in growth in the second half of the year, putting the economy on schedule to meet ourforecast... 24th July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand rates to go on pause after latest hike The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) raised its policy rate by 25bp for the fourth straight meeting today, but signalled that it may now stay on hold for a while. We still expect one more rate hike... 24th July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korean slowdown unlikely to prompt a rate cut GDP growth in Korea eased in the second quarter of the year, mainly due to a fall in consumer spending and investment. Although recent economic weakness has reignited talk of a possible rate cut, we... 24th July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Election uncertainty in Indonesia to weigh on sentiment The uncertainty surrounding Indonesia’s presidential election looks set to continue after Prabowo Subianto, who looks to have lost the election to Joko Widodo, refused to accept today’s results from... 22nd July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Slowing Indian inflation brings rate cuts back onto table Inflation in India appears finally to be edging in the right direction, making it increasingly likely that the Reserve Bank (RBI) will cut interest rates sooner than most currently anticipate. 14th July 2014 · 1 min read
