Asia Economics Update Thailand's monetary tightening still has further to go The Bank of Thailand (BoT) held its policy rate at 1.75% today but maintained a tightening bias. Domestic demand looks well placed to drive GDP growth, while the strong recovery should increasingly... 20th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Rates to remain on hold in Sri Lanka The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) kept its policy rates on hold at today’s meeting, as expected. Inflation has ticked up in recent months but is unlikely to become a threat any time soon. For this... 19th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia targets reform ahead of fiscal consolidation The budget plans for 2011 announced in Malaysia late last week aim to ensure that the economic upswing continues and showed once again that the top priority was the implementation of new measures to... 18th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Bank of Thailand will still probably tighten The Bank of Thailand (BoT) announces its policy rate decision on Wednesday. The repo rate has been hiked at the past two meetings, and we expect another 25bp increase to 2.0%. The surge in the baht... 18th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Tightening cycle in India nearly over Inflation data published today in India showed that price pressures are still high while the recent weakness in the industrial production figures is probably overstated. We expect that the Reserve... 15th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea focused on growth, but rates will still rise The Bank of Korea (BoK) held its policy rate at 2.25% today, as expected. The economy is losing some momentum but growth should not stall, while the won is climbing and is doing some of the... 14th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Singapore tackles the inflation risk The currency war has yet to pull in Singapore. Data released today showed a large q/q annualised drop in Q3 GDP but the big surprise was the decision of the Monetary Authority of Singapore to tighten... 14th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update North Korea; probably the worst top job in the world Public appearances in recent days have confirmed that Kim Jong-eun, the youngest son of Kim Jong-iI, has become North Korea’s new leader-in-waiting. It is good news for the region that a leadership... 13th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update What lies ahead for the Aussie dollar? The Australian dollar is close to hitting parity against the US dollar, a level last reached in mid-1982. Interest rate differentials will probably remain the main driver of where the exchange rate... 12th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Currency war in Emerging Asia; we are still not there yet We expect more intervention and FX reserves accumulation in Emerging Asia as well as further regulatory controls to curb capital inflow. However, the regional approach will most probably remain a... 11th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Singapore to keep policy tight Singapore Q3 GDP, released on Thursday, is likely to show a sharp fall in q/q annualised terms but this will mainly just be pay-back from the spectacular gains seen in the first half of this year... 11th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update The Philippines is in no rush to lift policy rates As expected, the Philippines’ central bank (BSP) kept its key policy rate on hold at 4.0% today. The upswing will probably stay strong while inflation risks will climb next year. But currency... 7th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australia's monetary policy tightening to resume soon The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) unexpectedly held its cash rate at 4.5% today. Nonetheless, the RBA did state that rate hikes are likely if the economy develops in line with its main-case... 5th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank Indonesia on hold but not for much longer As expected, Bank Indonesia (BI) today held the policy rate steady at 6.5%. Monetary conditions have actually tightened in recent months given that rupiah appreciation has more than offset the fall in... 5th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Can high growth in India survive the state sector problems? India got there just in time and yesterday’s opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games proved to be a big success. Nevertheless, the poor preparation for the Games does highlight the growing... 4th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Indonesia to bide its time on policy rate hikes Bank Indonesia (BI) is almost certain to keep its reference rate at 6.5% on Tuesday. GDP growth remains strong but the economy is expanding close to its trend rate of 6% pa rather than at a faster... 4th October 2010 · 1 min read
