Asia Economics Update Malaysia’s rate hold to continue Following its move to cut rates in response to rising downside risks to growth at its last meeting in July, Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) today left its policy rate unchanged at 3.0%. With growth... 7th September 2016 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Fiscal deficit target is under pressure The rapid expansion of the government deficit in the early part of this fiscal year is a common occurrence, as revenues tend to get ramped up in the latter months. However, unlike in previous years... 7th September 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Is the Philippines overheating? Rapid economic growth, surging imports and strong credit growth have fuelled fears that the Philippines is overheating and that the central bank will be soon be forced to hike interest rates to bring... 5th September 2016 · 1 min read
India Economics Update New RBI governor faces hard task in meeting targets CPI inflation data for August are likely to show that the headline rate eased a touch, but remained some way above the Reserve Bank’s 5.0% target for March 2017. With the new governor, Dr Urjit Patel... 5th September 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How big a threat is Zika to Singapore? The outbreak of the Zika virus in Singapore has dominated local headlines, but while it is an important public health issue the economic impact will be limited. 2nd September 2016 · 1 min read
India Economics Focus How to think about monetary policy after Rajan The appointment of Dr Urjit Patel as the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gives a strong indication of policy continuity at the central bank, and strengthens our view that the easing... 2nd September 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update EM manufacturing recovery pauses in August The EM manufacturing PMI dropped back in August, but we aren’t too concerned: the fall was relatively modest and the survey remains well above its level a few months ago. What’s more, there are... 1st September 2016 · 1 min read
India Data Response Manufacturing PMI (Aug.) India’s manufacturing PMI rose in August, but the reading still only points to subdued growth in industrial output. The big picture is that local manufacturers continue to face structural constraints... 1st September 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Aug.) The August PMIs for Emerging Asia suggest manufacturing conditions in the region remain lacklustre. Focusing on the two economies where the PMIs most closely track the hard data, there are signs of... 1st September 2016 · 1 min read
India Data Response GDP (Q2) Today’s release of another set of strong GDP data will do little to dispel doubts aboutthe quality of the national accounts numbers. 31st August 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asian markets calm following Yellen’s comments Asian financial markets generally shrugged off last Friday’s comments from US Fed Chair Janet Yellen, in which she suggested the likelihood of an early rate hike in the US has increased. 31st August 2016 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Resetting reform priorities after the GST The passage of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill this month, 10 years after its introduction, was arguably the biggest legislative victory to date for the Modi government. Looking ahead, the... 31st August 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lanka holds rates, but further tightening still likely The central bank in Sri Lanka (CBSL) today left interest rates on hold despite a continued acceleration in credit growth, high inflation and a weak currency. We think another interest rate hike is... 30th August 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Activity Monitor Recovery resumes Our EM GDP Tracker suggests that, after a brief pause in May, the recovery in EM growth resumed in June. The latest improvement has been driven by a pick-up in activity in Emerging Asia and Latin... 30th August 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update EM food inflation to edge down, but it won’t collapse We expect food inflation in large parts of the EM world to ease in the coming months, which will provide some relief to policymakers in a number of high inflation economies, including Russia, Colombia... 26th August 2016 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Strong vehicle sales not a sign of consumption revival The recent surge in sales of new vehicles is likely to have been driven by industry-specific policies to reduce pollution by taking old vehicles off the road rather than a more general boom in... 26th August 2016 · 1 min read