Asia Economics Weekly Taiwan election, Thailand’s currency dilemma Given her huge lead in the opinion polls, it will come as a major surprise if Tsai Ing-wen is not re-elected for a second and final term as Taiwan’s president on Saturday. However, whether Tsai can... 10th January 2020 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly BoK to cut again, Sri Lanka on slow road to recovery Minutes from the Bank of Korea’s (BoK) November rate meeting reveal that while only one of the seven members of its Monetary Policy Board voted for a cut, other members also struck a dovish tone. We... 20th December 2019 · 9 mins read
Asia Economics Focus What to expect in 2020 and how we differ from consensus Growth in Emerging Asia has struggled over the past year. While most economies should stage a modest recovery over the coming quarters on the back of looser fiscal and monetary policy, with China... 19th December 2019 · 9 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Nov.) PMIs for Emerging Asia (ex. China) were slightly more positive in November, suggesting that while industry remains weak it is starting to recover. The continued improvement in PMIs for China provides... 2nd December 2019 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update A slow recovery ahead GDP growth was either flat or picked up slightly in most parts of Emerging Asia last quarter, and we think regional growth will rise gradually over the coming year helped by a slow recovery in exports... 22nd November 2019 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Pakistan: Current account improves as inflation rises A sharp fall in the rupee and a series of aggressive interest rate hikes has led to a welcome fall in Pakistan’s external imbalances. However, with growth slowing sharply and inflation close to multi... 20th November 2019 · 3 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Oct.) PMIs for Emerging Asia (ex. China) softened slightly last month and continue to suggest that industry remains weak. The PMIs for China gave mixed signals, but on balance provide some hope for a pickup... 1st November 2019 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korea budget boost, inflation remains low in August The announcement yesterday of plans for a large fiscal boost in Korea’s draft 2020 budget has led us to revise up our Korea growth forecast for next year to 2.5%, from 2.0% previously. That said, we... 30th August 2019 · 7 mins read
Asia Chart Pack Political risk back on the agenda Despite the poor global outlook, GDP growth across Emerging Asia actually picked up slightly in the second quarter, and our forecast is for a further gradual recovery over the remainder of the year... 26th August 2019 · 16 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly New currency forecasts, trade war escalates, rate cuts While we had been expecting an escalation in US-China trade tensions, China’s decision to allow the renminbi to weaken through 7.0/US$ in response to Trump’s latest tariffs means events are moving... 8th August 2019 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Update Time to worry about the crisis in Kashmir? The fall in Pakistan’s stock market today is the first sign that investors are starting to become concerned about the escalating crisis in Kashmir. The most likely outcome is that tensions are dialled... 7th August 2019 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Update Pakistan: further rate hikes needed to combat inflation Pakistan’s central bank (SBP) today raised its benchmark interest rates by a further 100bp amid continued concerns about high inflation and the country’s current account deficit. With inflation set to... 16th July 2019 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Will an IMF deal solve Pakistan’s problems? The policy tightening and structural reforms that Pakistan has agreed to as the price of a deal with the IMF are likely to lead to a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the near-term but should also... 4th July 2019 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Update What would US rate cuts mean for Asia? Expectations that the US will soon start to cut interest rates have provided a boost to Asian currencies in recent weeks. But if we are right that slowing growth in the US and the escalating trade war... 18th June 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Weaker growth is here to stay With productivity slowing and working age populations set to start falling across most of Asia, we expect regional growth to slow to just 3.5% in a decade’s time. This compares with average growth of... 12th June 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Philippines inflation, Asia’s “currency manipulators” Signs that Philippines inflation continued to tumble in May suggest that the easing cycle there has further to run. Meanwhile, easing is also likely in Malaysia, Korea and Singapore in the second half... 31st May 2019 · 1 min read