Asia Economics Update Bank of Thailand to stay on hold throughout 2010 The Bank of Thailand (BoT) today left its overnight rate on hold at 1.25%. Its statement was neutral, but Thai markets are still pricing in policy rate hikes over the next year. We expect rates to... 15th July 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Singapore is back but recovery to fade Asia’s first Q2 GDP release showed Singapore surged out of recession, and is likely to be followed soon by stronger GDP data from elsewhere in the region. Singapore’s recovery should continue but... 14th July 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus India set to come back strongly India’s 2008-09 slowdown seems to have been a short pause rather than anything more serious. The economy is picking up again and a long period of sustained high GDP growth looks likely. Current... 10th July 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea unlikely to raise rates soon The Bank of Korea (BoK) left its policy rate unchanged today amid signs that the domestic economy is recovering. Some commentators are expecting rate hikes soon, but we believe the significant... 9th July 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia: Election result looks good for growth President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) almost certainly has done enough to avoid a September run-off in Indonesia’s presidential elections. The result is good for Indonesia’s economy and markets... 9th July 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australian policy rates set to remain low The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left its policy rate unchanged today while retaining a slight easing bias. Recent domestic data have been better than expected, but we forecast renewed... 7th July 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India’s budget: Going for growth, cautious on reform India’s Federal Budget announced today focused on keeping GDP growth on its improving track. The budget deficit and debt issuance target are at the high end of market expectations. 6th July 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Korean recovery to follow the West, not Asia While Korea is in much better shape to weather the 2008-09 global crisis than was the case during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-98, weak external demand and high domestic household indebtedness... 2nd July 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Chinese demand no panacea for Taiwan Taiwanese interest rates have probably bottomed out. But despite optimism about improving economic relations with China, weaknesses closer to home are likely to keep rates at their current level for a... 25th June 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Recovery underway but likely to be subpar (Jun 09) The recovery in exports has continued and there are now signs that domestic demand is bottoming out too given that the deterioration in labour markets in most places has been, and should stay, mild... 18th June 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India's Reserve Bank easing looks over The unexpected strength of April industrial output adds to the evidence that India’s slowdown has passed its worst point. GDP growth should accelerate during the rest of 2009. Weak inflation pressures... 12th June 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update BoK holds, but rate cuts still more likely than hikes The Bank of Korea (BoK) left its key interest rate unchanged today, noting that “proactive fiscal and monetary policy” measures have stabilised GDP. But despite signs of recovery, there are still... 11th June 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Risk appetite to fade as recovery disappoints Today we have revised our key economic forecasts. At the same time, we have updated our projections for currency, bond, equity and commodity markets. The new market numbers are presented in the table... 8th June 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia: more easing ahead Bank Indonesia (BI) cut its key overnight lending rate by 25bps to 7% today, in line with our and consensus expectations. While many analysts believe that rates have bottomed out, we maintain our view... 3rd June 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update RBA holds, but Australian rates still look too high The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left its policy rate unchanged today as expected. But its accompanying statement struck a more dovish note than many others had anticipated. This re-enforces our... 2nd June 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update More signs that Asia's recovery is taking its time The slight fall in China’s official PMI in May is actually fairly encouraging since the index usually falls by much more at this time of year. But Asia’s recovery is only gaining ground slowly, as... 1st June 2009 · 1 min read