Asia Economics Update Philippines: Rate hikes unlikely despite rise in inflation Despite inflation rising to its highest rate in nearly four years in February, the central bank seems in little hurry to tighten monetary policy. We continue to believe that interest rates in the... 6th March 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Feb.) The February PMIs for Emerging Asia suggest the region’s manufacturing sectors remained in decent health. While the surveys point to rising prices, the big picture is that inflation in most of these... 1st March 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Philippines: Time to worry about the weak peso? A low level of foreign currency debt in the Philippines means the recent weakness of the peso is not a major concern. In fact, despite the current worries about rising inflation, policymakers appear... 23rd February 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update No changes to Philippines policy rate in 2018 Despite January’s jump in inflation, the Philippines central bank (BSP) left rates on hold at its first meeting of the year. While most analysts think that BSP will be forced to tighten policy this... 8th February 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Jan.) Emerging Asia’s PMIs for January suggest the region’s manufacturing sectors gained momentum at the start of 2018. Encouragingly, the headline readings for Taiwan and Korea – the two economies where... 1st February 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Philippines GDP (Q4) The Philippines’ economy cooled off a bit in Q4, with growth easing to 6.6% y/y. We expect the economy will slow further this year, weighed upon by moderating export growth and sluggish investment. 23rd January 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Is the Philippines overheating? Rapid economic growth, surging imports and strong credit growth have fuelled fears that the Philippines is overheating and that the central bank will soon be forced to hike interest rates to bring the... 22nd January 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Dec.) The December PMIs for Emerging Asia suggest that the region’s manufacturing sectors remained in good health. Focusing on the two economies where the PMIs most closely track the hard data, Taiwan’s... 2nd January 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update No rate hikes next year in the Philippines The Philippines central bank (BSP) left rates unchanged at 3.0% today while also downplaying fears that the economy is overheating. While both financial markets and the consensus are expecting... 14th December 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Nov.) The November PMIs for Emerging Asia suggest that the region’s manufacturing sectors rebounded strongly last month. Encouragingly, the headline readings for Taiwan and Korea – the two economies where... 1st December 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Philippines GDP (Q3) The Philippines’ economy strengthened further in Q3, with growth coming in at 6.9% y/y. However, we expect the economy to slow next year. Although exports and government spending are likely to remain... 16th November 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Oct.) The October PMIs for Emerging Asia suggest that the region’s manufacturing sectors lost some momentum at the start of Q4. The headline readings for Korea and Taiwan – the two economies where the PMIs... 1st November 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Investment could be a future weak spot for the Philippines The Philippines should remain one of the region’s fastest growing economies over the coming years. But with signs that the worsening political climate is starting to discourage investment, economic... 27th October 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Malaysia’s budget won’t be a giveaway bonanza While Malaysia has made good progress in bringing down its budget deficit, there remains limited room for a pre-election giveaway in the 2018 budget, which is due to be announced on 27th October... 26th October 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How do our forecasts differ from the consensus and the IMF? For most countries, our forecasts are a little bit below those of both the consensus and the IMF. However, there are three economies, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Pakistan where we think other... 13th October 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Sep.) Emerging Asia’s PMIs for September suggest the region’s manufacturing sectors ended Q3 on a solid note. Focussing on the two economies where the PMIs most closely track the hard data, Taiwan’s... 2nd October 2017 · 1 min read