Asia Economics Weekly Fiscal caution in the Philippines and Indonesia Despite the poor outlook for economic growth and relatively healthy fiscal positions, the Philippines and Indonesia have both recently unveiled relatively cautious budgets for 2020. 23rd August 2019 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Global recession fears, Indonesia to move capital city Weak data earlier this week from China and Europe and the fall in long term bond yields in the US have helped raise fears of a sharp slowdown in global economic growth. But even if the global economy... 16th August 2019 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly New currency forecasts, trade war escalates, rate cuts While we had been expecting an escalation in US-China trade tensions, China’s decision to allow the renminbi to weaken through 7.0/US$ in response to Trump’s latest tariffs means events are moving... 8th August 2019 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Mixed Q2 GDP figures, China tourism clampdown For the countries that have already reported second quarter GDP figures, the numbers have been a mixed bag – growth picked up in Korea and Taiwan, but slowed in Singapore and Hong Kong. We only have a... 2nd August 2019 · 8 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly MAS to loosen soon, Malaysia restarts rail project The recent deterioration in the economic data from Singapore adds weight to our view that monetary policy will be loosened before the central bank’s next scheduled meeting in mid-October. Meanwhile... 26th July 2019 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korea minimum wage U-turn, who will cut rates next? Having hiked the minimum wage aggressively in 2018 and 2019, the Korean government earlier this week announced a very small increase in the minimum wage for next year. The policy shift comes in... 19th July 2019 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Thailand: worries about a strong baht grow Policymakers and exporters in Thailand are once again voicing concern about the strength of the baht, and earlier today the central bank announced some new measures to put downward pressure on the... 12th July 2019 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korea-Japan spat, Vietnam in the spotlight again The restrictions that Japan has announced on the sale of certain technology products to Korea could, if fully implemented, have a significant effect on Korea’s economy. However, past experience... 5th July 2019 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Trump threatens Vietnam, Singapore forecast cut Vietnam has emerged as the biggest winner of the US-China trade war, but the country would be hit hard if Trump followed through on his threat to impose tariffs on imports from Vietnam. Meanwhile, the... 28th June 2019 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Growth continues to weaken, rates to be cut further After a very weak first quarter that saw GDP growth in many countries drop to a post-financial crisis low, the most recent data suggest growth across Emerging Asia has continued to slow. Weak growth... 21st June 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly BoK hints at rate cuts, tourism slumps in Sri Lanka Policymakers in Korea finally seem to be coming around to our view that rate cuts are needed to support the struggling economy after BoK Governor hinted that the central bank “must take appropriate... 14th June 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Indonesia unlikely to cut rates, Thai PM returns Bank Indonesia has given further hints that it is preparing to cut interest rates, but given the poor outlook for the rupiah, we think the policy rate will remain unchanged this year. Meanwhile... 7th June 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Philippines inflation, Asia’s “currency manipulators” Signs that Philippines inflation continued to tumble in May suggest that the easing cycle there has further to run. Meanwhile, easing is also likely in Malaysia, Korea and Singapore in the second half... 31st May 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Won weakness, election season over The 6% decline in the Korean won since the start of the year does not pose a major threat to the economy. However, policymakers are clearly irked by the decline in the currency, with officials from... 24th May 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Philippines loosens further, Pakistan back to the IMF The recently announced cut to the reserve requirement ratio in the Philippines should provide a boost to economic growth and suggests that further cuts to the policy rate are likely soon. Meanwhile... 17th May 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly More of the same in Indonesia, Thai election result In his first major policy speech since his re-election President Joko Widodo promised to press ahead with plans to boost infrastructure spending, reduce bureaucracy and open up the economy to foreign... 10th May 2019 · 1 min read
