Asia Economics Weekly Economic weakness to continue into H2 A few places have already published second quarter GDP figures, and the rest of the region will follow over the coming weeks. Although the data are likely to show GDP growth picked up in around half... 21st July 2023 · 8 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Thai election farce, BoK’s hawkish hold, El Niño risks The winner of Thailand’s election, Pita Limjaroenrat of the Move Forward Party, on Thursday failed to secure enough votes in parliament to become the country’s next prime minister. This raises the... 14th July 2023 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly El Niño key upside risk to inflation in Asia Inflation across Asia continued to slow in June and is likely to fall further over the coming months. The key risk to the outlook is the weather – El Niño conditions have arrived in the Pacific and... 7th July 2023 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Pakistan agrees IMF deal, but will they stick to it? The agreement of a loan deal between Pakistan and the IMF today should put the economy back on a more secure footing and limit the biggest downside risks. However, past experience suggests that the... 30th June 2023 · 10 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly BNM to stay on the sidelines, BSP hints at rate cuts Inflation in Malaysia fell again last month, which supports our view that the central bank’s tightening cycle is now over. But with growth likely to hold up better than elsewhere in the region, and... 23rd June 2023 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Good news for the BoK, worst now over for Sri Lanka The minutes of the Bank of Korea’s May monetary policy meeting, published this week, confirm that the central bank is becoming increasingly concerned about the growth outlook. And with inflationary... 16th June 2023 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Thai inflation below target, tourism rebound continues Inflation in Thailand fell back sharply last month and is now below the central bank’s target, further supporting our view that the BoT’s tightening cycle is now over. Tourism across Asia has... 9th June 2023 · 8 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korea’s economic woes rumble on The latest activity data for Korea were downbeat and support our view that the economy is set to weaken in the second quarter. Meanwhile, house prices fell further in May and are now down about 10%... 1st June 2023 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Weak start to Q2, hawkish BoK, Vietnam rate cut Recent national accounts data confirmed that most economies struggled in the first quarter of the year. The latest monthly activity data suggest that Q2 is shaping up to be another weak quarter... 26th May 2023 · 9 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Vietnam friend-shoring boost, Thai election muddle Decoupling between China and the US is presenting opportunities for countries that are able to adapt their economies to shifting global supply chains. So far, the main beneficiary of these shifts has... 19th May 2023 · 9 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly BSP meeting on a knife edge, Thailand election The BSP’s meeting on Thursday is likely to be a close call, but with inflation in the Philippines firmly on the way down and the economy slowing, we think the central bank will finally hit the pause... 12th May 2023 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly More good news on inflation Price pressures across Emerging Asia are continuing to ease. While headline inflation has been on a broadly downward trend since around the third quarter of last year, the most encouraging development... 5th May 2023 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Auto rebound unlikely to last, new currency forecasts Automotive production across Asia, which was badly hit during the pandemic by a shortage of semiconductor components, is now rebounding rapidly as this constraint unwinds. This is providing a boost to... 28th April 2023 · 8 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Is the rebound in China boosting growth elsewhere? Despite China’s strong economic recovery last quarter, goods exports to the country from elsewhere in Asia fell in Q1. A big part of the reason is that China’s rebound was driven by just three sectors... 21st April 2023 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Philippines straddling US-China rift, IMF too optimistic So far, the Philippines appears to be successfully straddling the geopolitical divide as it tries to improve its political and military ties with the US, while also building on its strong economic... 14th April 2023 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly MAS decision on a knife edge, Thai inflation falling The Monetary Authority of Singapore is likely to leave its policy settings on hold at its scheduled meeting next week, with concerns about the growth outlook set to outweigh lingering worries on... 6th April 2023 · 6 mins read