Asia Economics Weekly Poor outlook for Korea, investment surges in Vietnam With President Moon-Jae-in doubling down on his labour market policies, job growth in Korea is likely to remain weak. We think the economy this year will grow at its slowest pace since 2009. Meanwhile... 11th January 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Weak end to 2018, rate cuts likely in the Philippines Data published over the past week show that Emerging Asia ended 2018 on a soft note, a trend we expect to continue into 2019. Meanwhile, a further sharp drop in inflation in the Philippines in... 4th January 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Key challenges facing Bangladesh after the election The Awami League led by Prime Minister Hasina is widely expected to win the general election on 30 th December. Low wages and a rapidly growing workforce mean Bangladesh should continue to pick up low... 21st December 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Thailand to hike rates, peso to fall further The Bank of Thailand (BoT) is likely to raise its policy rate for the first time since 2011 at its meeting on Wednesday due to concerns about accelerating credit growth. Meanwhile, having widened to a... 14th December 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Trade war on hold? Inflation falls in Thailand The cease fire struck almost a week ago between China and the US has lifted hopes that a damaging trade war between the two countries will be averted. But even if the truce beaks down, we don’t think... 7th December 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly BoT sounding hawkish, Trump renews auto tariff threat The hawkish minutes from the Bank of Thailand’s (BoT) November meeting reaffirm our view that the central bank will raise rates by 25bp at its December meeting. Meanwhile, the Korean government’s... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Trade war not to blame for Q3 slowdown A lot of commentary has blamed the slowdown in Asian GDP growth in the third quarter on the trade war between the US and China. We think these claims are misguided. The most obvious explanation for... 23rd November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Philippines: inflation to drop, external risks building Recent dovish comments from the Deputy Governor of the central bank of the Philippines (BSP), Diwa Guinigundo, which mention falling inflation expectations and the BSP having the “the flexibility to... 16th November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Reform boost for Vietnam, regional growth slows The opening up of Vietnam’s economy has gathered pace over the pace couple of months, with the government pressing ahead with a series of reforms which should boost the country’s economic prospects... 9th November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly TPP boost to Asia, rate hikes unlikely in Korea The announcement that the Trans-Pacific Partnership will come into force on 30th December is important in a number of ways. Not only should it provide a boost to growth prospects across parts of Asia... 2nd November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly No quick fix for Pakistan, Korea slowdown to persist Pakistan this week secured a US$6bn loan from Saudi Arabia and has plans to court Chinese money. These deals may help paper over the cracks, but they won’t solve the economy’s balance of payments... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Reform hopes in Malaysia, tourists shun Thailand The election of former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim to the parliamentary seat of Port Dickinson last weekend bodes well for reform prospects in the country. A slump in Chinese... 19th October 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Pakistan and IMF start talks, equities set for further falls The head of the IMF, Christine Legarde this week set the tone for what are likely to be tough negotiations with Pakistan when she said the Fund would require Pakistan to be “absolutely transparent”... 12th October 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Inflation in the Philippines to peak soon Inflation in the Philippines rose to a fresh nine-year high in September, but even if it starts to drop back over the coming months, pressure is likely to remain on the central bank (BSP) to tighten... 5th October 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Indonesia and Philippines hike rates, who’s next? The Philippines and Indonesia hiked interest rates on Thursday, and it is only likely to be a matter of time before other central banks in the region follow them. Pakistan’s central bank is likely to... 28th September 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Rates hikes coming in the Philippines, markets resilient Rising inflationary pressures in the Philippines mean the country’s central bank is likely to raise interest rates by 50bp at its meeting next week. Bank Indonesia is also likely to raise rates, but... 21st September 2018 · 1 min read
