Asia Economics Update Thailand: growth beats expectations, but economy set to slow Thailand’s growth accelerated in the first quarter of the year, but the economy faces growing headwinds from the conflict in Iran and the surge in global energy prices. Despite recent government... 18th May 2026 · 3 mins read
China Rapid Response China Activity & Spending (Apr. 2026) Domestic headwinds look to have intensified last month, especially when it comes to construction activity. But with external demand picking up and the electronics sector in an upswing, we still think... 18th May 2026 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Tax changes not a major threat to housing market Some commentators have been arguing that the tax changes announced in last week’s Budget will end the 30-year super cycle in housing. By contrast, we’re not convinced that the attractiveness of... 18th May 2026 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly BI meets amid rupiah weakness, Malaysia’s resilience While it is likely to be a close call, we expect Bank Indonesia to keep policy rates unchanged at its upcoming meetings despite rupiah weakness, preferring instead to rely on FX intervention to... 15th May 2026 · 6 mins read
China Economics Update Trump-Xi summit: Truce continues, substance lacking While we are still waiting for full details on what was agreed at the summit between Presidents Trump and Xi, it seems mostly just to have cemented the existing trade truce. This should ensure near... 15th May 2026 · 6 mins read
India Economics Weekly One battle after another for INR, pump prices hiked Policymakers’ concerns about the depreciation of the rupee have again come to the fore this week, but the hike in gold import tariffs has done little to prevent the currency from sliding further... 15th May 2026 · 4 mins read
China Economics Weekly Don’t take a deal at face value, AI investment ramps up A key outcome of President Trump’s previous trip to China in 2017 was a package of “trade and investment deals” that the White House valued at more than $250bn. But the bulk of these deals never... 15th May 2026 · 6 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Hawkish BoJ lifts 10-year yield to three-decade high The 10-year JGB yield climbed to a three decade high this week in response to hawkish signals from the Bank of Japan and reports that the government will compile a supplementary budget to keep the... 15th May 2026 · 7 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Live chance of a rate hike at RBA’s June meeting Business surveys suggest that inflationary pressures continue to gain momentum in Australia. Although some of the increase in firms’ pricing intentions likely reflects noise, the RBA will still be... 15th May 2026 · 5 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Fuel price shock driving EM inflation higher Inflation data for April released across EMs suggest that the energy price shock has pushed fuel inflation up materially and that surveys of firms’ inflation expectations are rising sharply. So far... 14th May 2026 · 3 mins read
China Rapid Response Bank Lending & Broad Credit (Apr.) The net increase in new credit slumped in April. While that partly reflects the usual seasonal pattern, year-on-year growth in aggregate financing to the real economy (AFRE – the PBOC’s preferred... 14th May 2026 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Could the Iran crisis pull the plug on Asia’s chipmakers? If disruption to energy imports resulted in power shortages in South Korea or Taiwan, governments in both places would prioritise chipmakers over households so that chip production could continue to... 14th May 2026 · 3 mins read
China Economics Update Iran war may help rather than hurt China’s growth Despite high global energy prices, China’s economy is stronger now than at the start of the year. An AI-related boost to investment and electronics exports is playing a role. But China has also... 13th May 2026 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Rapid Response Australia Wage Price Index (Q1 2025) Although wage growth eased a touch in Q1, a look under the hood suggests that wage pressures could soon bubble up again. As a result, we still think the RBA has more work to do. 13th May 2026 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Budget leaves RBA to do the heavy lifting on inflation The Australian government’s 2026/27 Budget does little to move the needle on fiscal policy. Although Commonwealth coffers will benefit from a windfall driven by higher commodity prices, much of this... 12th May 2026 · 4 mins read
Global Economics Update First signs of advanced economy fallout from Iran war The marked increase in inflation across advanced economies has yet to cause real spending to contract, but the widespread decline in consumer sentiment and hiring intentions points to worse to come... 12th May 2026 · 3 mins read
