Asia Economics Update Sri Lankan central bank continues to focus on growth In a surprise move, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) cut its reverse repo rate earlier today. Inflation has continued to slow while market interest rates have not come down as much as was... 20th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan's upswing still strong but not for much longer Q2 GDP data, released today, confirm that Taiwan’s economy will be one of the world’s best performers in 2010. However, weaker external demand will increasingly weigh on growth from now on. Policy... 19th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia on course for a soft-landing Data released today showed that Malaysia’s economy expanded at a slower pace in Q2 than in Q1. The upswing will continue to lose momentum in coming quarters but the risk that the expansion stalls is... 18th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India's Reserve Bank tightening still has far to go Recent India data show that inflation pressures have eased while the gain in industrial production has slowed sharply. External risks have climbed too. Nevertheless, non-food inflation is unlikely to... 16th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Malaysia staying with above-trend growth Malaysia’s Q2 GDP figures are released on Wednesday and are likely to show that the economy continued to expand at a rapid pace in y/y terms, albeit not as fast as in Q1. Exports and industrial growth... 16th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea's pause to be short-lived The Bank of Korea (BoK) held its policy rate at 2.25% today but maintained its tightening bias. The broad-based domestic economic recovery should continue despite external risks, while inflation is... 12th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea's central bank has little reason to pause While today’s labour market data showed that Korea’s unemployment rate rose in July, the details of the report are encouraging. In addition, we believe that the policy rate is not the appropriate tool... 11th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly What will the Bank of Korea do? The Bank of Korea (BoK) meets on Thursday and the question is whether its policy rate will be hiked for the second month in a row. Developments since the previous meeting have been broadly positive... 9th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia's rapid economic growth will be sustained Indonesia’s GDP growth accelerated to 6.2% y/y in Q2. We expect continued strong growth in coming quarters, led by domestic private sector demand. We maintain our forecast that monetary tightening... 5th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australia's monetary tightening is not over The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held its cash rate at 4.5% today, as was universally anticipated. We expect the mining boom to bring above-trend GDP growth over the next few years and there is... 3rd August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Australia’s cash rate still likely to rise later this year The Reserve Bank (RBA) meets on Tuesday and is almost certain to keep its policy rate on hold at 4.5%, given that Q2 consumer price data were softer than expected. Nonetheless, the mining boom will... 2nd August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asia's industrial sector slowing to a sustainable pace Manufacturing PMIs for emerging Asia and Australia were a mixed bag in July. The world economy is shifting onto a weaker track as policy stimulus is removed, which in turn means that Asia’s industrial... 2nd August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Pakistan makes the right move Pakistan’s central bank (SBP) today lifted its discount rate by 50bp to 13.0%. The move was a surprise but a rate hike has been the big risk for some time given double-digit inflation and the large... 30th July 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand's economy ended Q2 on a high Bank of Thailand (BoT) monthly indicators for June have confirmed that the economy has bounced back strongly, which is what we always expected would be the case. Exports and manufacturing should... 30th July 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Vietnam's muddled policy-making gets what is deserved The Fitch downgrade of Vietnam’s foreign currency debt, announced today, was no surprise. Over the last six months domestic policies have see-sawed between fighting inflation and boosting growth while... 29th July 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand's central bank likely to pause early The Reserve Bank (RBNZ) lifted its cash rate by 25bp to 3.0% overnight, as expected. Exports should remain a bright spot but domestic indicators have been softer than anticipated by the RBNZ and will... 29th July 2010 · 1 min read
