Asia Economics Update What to make of Singapore's negative interest rates? Singapore’s short-term swap offer rates (SOR) turned negative last week, prompting questions as to whether this amounts to an implicit policy easing. We think not. The negative short-term SOR is... 17th August 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea's central bank in wait-and-see mode The Bank of Korea (BoK) kept its base rate at 3.25% today, as expected. Volatility in the financial markets and concerns over the outlook for the global economy are likely to keep the BoK on the... 12th August 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update How quickly would Asia recover from another global downturn? Fear is growing in Asia over the outlook for the global economy. Although not our forecast, another sharp fall in global output would see Asia hit hard initially. However, as in 2009, Asia’s strong... 11th August 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank Indonesia extends pause amid market jitters Bank Indonesia (BI) kept its reference rate on hold at 6.75% today, as expected. Declining headline inflation and greater uncertainty over the outlook for the global economy were the main factors... 10th August 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asian governments will continue buying US debt Even before S&Ps downgrade of US debt on Friday, many governments in Asia had been stepping up efforts to diversify their foreign exchange reserves away from US dollars. However, as long as Asian... 9th August 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Are emerging markets immune? Despite benefiting from generally better fundamentals, no emerging market (EM) is immune from the deepening problems in the US and Europe. Growth everywhere is likely to slow over the next year and... 9th August 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia’s robust growth highlights overheating risks Today’s Q2 GDP data for Indonesia confirm that growth remained brisk, underpinned by rising commodity exports and resilient domestic demand. We maintain our view that further monetary tightening at... 6th August 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Have Australia’s shoppers gone on strike? Sluggish retail sales have prompted media reports that Australia’s shoppers have gone on strike. However, overall consumer spending has held up much better. The upshot is that we do not expect the... 6th August 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update The Philippines targeting investment grade The Philippines has seen its fiscal deficit fall sharply during the first six months of the year. Although revenue growth has been growing strongly, the fact that government spending has fallen... 4th August 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Emerging Asia PMIs fall sharply Purchasing Manager Indices (PMIs) released over the past two days for India, Taiwan, Australia and Singapore all worsened considerably. Manufacturing across Asia is likely to remain subdued for the... 3rd August 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Monetary policy in Pakistan becomes increasingly haphazard In an unexpected move, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) at the weekend cut its main policy rate by 50bp to 13.5%. The cut came despite continued strong inflationary pressures, and follows growing... 2nd August 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand’s “insurance cut” to be reversed in September The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has signalled that its policy rate will soon be raised from a post-earthquake emergency level, provided its worst fears for the global economy do not materialise... 29th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update One more rate rise this year in the Philippines The Philippines’ central bank (BSP) kept its overnight rate on hold at 4.5% today, however, it did still tighten monetary policy by raising the reserve requirement ratio. Although inflation is above... 29th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea’s growth slows, but policymakers will focus on inflation Today’s Q2 GDP data from Korea confirm that the economy grew at a slower pace in the second quarter than it did in the first. Nonetheless, we believe that Korea’s policymakers will continue to focus... 28th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Reserve Bank of India hikes and remains hawkish The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surprised markets with a 50bp rate hike today, lifting the repo rate to 8.0%. With the accompanying policy statement reinforcing the RBI’s hawkish policy stance, we now... 27th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update High inflation in Singapore will not bring more MAS tightening The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) revised up its 2011 inflation forecast last week while data out today show that inflation rose in June. Nonetheless, talk of runaway price pressures looks... 26th July 2011 · 1 min read
