Asia Economics Update How bad is Vietnam’s fiscal position? Vietnam’s fiscal position has deteriorated in recent years. Debt levels would be even higher if contingent liabilities of the banking sector and state-owned enterprises are included. The biggest risk... 21st November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Recent free-trade initiatives are over-hyped The goal of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) of establishing a fully-integrated economic community by 2015, with complete free flow of goods, services and investment, is likely to... 21st November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Growth falters in Q3 With the exception of Indonesia, Q3 GDP figures published across emerging Asia so far have been weak. Exports have been hit by low demand from the West, and growing fears for the global outlook are... 17th November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Rising downside risks to growth in India Wholesale price data for October, released today, suggest India’s inflation rate is still not at a turning point. Meanwhile, recent evidence shows economic activity has slowed more steeply than... 14th November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How important are remittances for emerging Asia? Concern is growing that the ongoing debt problems in the euro-zone could lead to another global financial and economic crisis. Remittances should provide a relatively stable source of income... 14th November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Central banks of Korea and Malaysia to cut rates in 2012 Policy rates were left unchanged in Korea and Malaysia today, but both central banks are becoming increasingly concerned about the downside risks for exports. We expect policymakers in both countries... 11th November 2011 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Rice prices to drop sharply as Thai floods recede Thailand, the world’s largest rice exporter, has lost up to a quarter of its main rice harvest due to recent floods. However, ample global stockpiles, improved harvests in other major rice producing... 11th November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank Indonesia is cutting rates too aggressively Bank Indonesia (BI) unexpectedly cut its policy rate today by 50bp to 6.0%. Following a 25bp cut last month, strong third quarter GDP growth and continued rapid credit expansion, we think the central... 10th November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia's economy to outperform Indonesia’s economy continued to grow strongly in the third quarter amid buoyant domestic demand and booming exports. Although global demand looks unlikely to remain so supportive for long, Indonesia... 7th November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Where and why we differ from the consensus We have below-consensus forecasts for interest rates and GDP growth in emerging Asia next year. The main reason for the difference relates to our views on growth in the developed world and commodity... 7th November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Assessing the fallout from Thailand's flood disaster Thailand’s flood situation deteriorated in early November, with water breaking through defences and flowing further into Bangkok and its surrounding provinces. Agriculture, manufacturing and tourism... 7th November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australia's central bank to cut further The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lowered its cash rate by 25bp to 4.5% today,moving its policy settings towards a more neutral rather than restrictive stance. We expect conditions outside of the... 1st November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Emerging Asia PMIs point to further slowdown October manufacturing PMIs for Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, Korea and India released today remained weak, and are at or around their lowest levels since the 2008-09 global financial crisis. With... 1st November 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Export weakness not Taiwan's only concern Taiwan always struggles when global demand slows and the coming year will be no exception. But the relative weakness of Taiwan’s labour market is a second reason to think that GDP growth in 2012 will... 31st October 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How vulnerable is Asia to another financial crisis? Despite the deal agreed by European leaders last week, we are far from sanguine about prospects for the euro-zone and expect further turmoil in global financial markets. In the event of another... 31st October 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea’s growth to be sluggish next year Today’s Q3 GDP data from Korea confirm that the economy grew at a sub-trend pace in the third quarter. Growth is unlikely to pick up sharply over the next few quarters amid weak global conditions... 28th October 2011 · 1 min read
