Asia Economics Update India's industrial sector slowing to a crawl The slowdown in India’s industrial sector growth to 3.8% y/y in May (from a revised 6.2% y/y in April) was worse than even we had expected. Recent monetary tightening suggests that the outlook for the... 11th July 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea turns to forex intervention to fight inflation The Bank of Korea (BoK) held official rates at 5.00% today, as widely expected. The accompanying statement highlighted the growing dilemma facing the BoK. But successful interventions to prop up the... 10th July 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack India’s aggressive tightening yet to impress markets (Jul 08) The Reserve Bank of India can be forgiven for having initially taken a less hawkish stance towards inflation. GDP growth was thought to be slowing more quickly than revised data indicate. And few had... 9th July 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Next rate move in Australia will be a cut We think that Australian interest rates will be cut by the end of this year and eventually fall to 6% (from 7.25%) by the end of 2009. In contrast, the markets are currently pricing in a 75% chance... 2nd July 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India tries to get ahead of the curve with more rate hikes The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today announced a 50bp hike in the repurchase rate, to 8.5%, and plans for two 25bp hikes in the cash reserve ratio next month, taking it to 8.75%. The move is an... 24th June 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Asia - Korea bucks the trend as Asia turns hawkish (Jun 08) Recent actions by several Asian countries to limit the cost of fuel subsidies highlight the stresses that high oil prices are causing in emerging economies. India, Indonesia and Malaysia (as well as... 9th June 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia: more tightening in the pipeline Indonesia’s latest round of fuel price hikes was designed to safeguard fiscal sustainability and is therefore positive in the long run. However, a worsening near-term inflation outlook is likely to... 28th May 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Is India turning its back on liberalisation? A surge in populist policies and government interventions has sparked concerns that Asia’s third largest economy is turning its back on liberalisation. The moves follow on from the failure of the... 21st May 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus How will Singapore fare in a US recession? The diversification of Singapore’s exports base and a much healthier outlook for domestic demand should help the city state to avoid recession this year, despite the downturn in the US. 21st May 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Can Asia sustain its growth momentum? We believe that the rapidly developing Asian economies will be able to continue growing strongly even as the US slows. Asian economies are closely enough linked to the US such that there will... 20th May 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korean rates still headed for 4.50% Today’s decision by the Bank of Korea (BoK) to hold the official 7-day repo rate at 5.00% reflected concerns about oil price-induced inflation and the still relatively high liquidity levels in the... 8th May 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Has Asia really escaped the subprime crisis? The Asian financial system has so far proved to be fairly resilient to the US subprime crisis. Asian exposure to opaque asset-backed securities has been well below that of other (primarily Western)... 7th May 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Asia - High inflation derails central bank plans (May 08) Inflation has re-emerged as a unifying theme across many Asian economies in recent weeks. Driven by the continuing high international oil and food prices, persistent upside surprises to inflation have... 6th May 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indian rates on hold but industry will still feel the pinch The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) defied market expectations by keeping interest rates on hold today and instead announcing another increase in the cash reserve ratio, to 8.25% (with effect from 24th... 29th April 2008 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Will Indonesia buck the trend and raise rates? The recent equities and government bonds sell-off in Indonesia has prompted comparisons with an episode in August 2005, when concerns over the fiscal impact of rising oil prices triggered a similar... 8th April 2008 · 1 min read
