Asia Economic Outlook Asia Outlook: Rate cuts and trade uncertainty We expect economic growth across the region to remain subdued, with most economies set to record below-trend and below-consensus growth this year. While lower interest rates will provide some support... 25th March 2025 · 28 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korea: dovish central bank as political turmoil continues The Bank of Korea’s latest minutes highlight growing concern over the economy. Given the deteriorating outlook, we expect the BoK to cut rates by a further 75bps this year, a more dovish stance than... 21st March 2025 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Asia Weekly: Further easing ahead in Pakistan and Sri Lanka Pakistan’s central bank cut interest rates by 100bps at its scheduled meeting earlier this week. But with the economy recovering, inflation concerns continuing to linger and the central bank sounding... 31st January 2025 · 8 mins read
Asia Economic Outlook Asia Outlook: More rate cuts coming We expect another year of below-trend and below-consensus GDP growth in most of Asia in 2025, as tight fiscal policy and weak exports weigh on output. In China, a slowdown in construction will act as... 13th December 2024 · 28 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korea dodges recession (just), Sri Lanka in deflation The Bank of Korea pushed back strongly against the prospect of further cuts in the near term when it lowered interest rates earlier this month. But the weakness of the Q3 GDP figures underlines that... 25th October 2024 · 7 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Focus EM debt restructurings: light at the end of the tunnel? Several EMs have reached provisional agreements with creditors to restructure their sovereign debts in recent months, including Zambia, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Ghana. In principle, restructurings... 17th October 2024 · 21 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Pakistan latest IMF deal, CBSL on hold The loan deal that was confirmed this week between the IMF and Pakistan envisages a further sharp tightening of fiscal policy. This drag from fiscal policy is the main reason why we think GDP growth... 27th September 2024 · 7 mins read
Asia Economic Outlook Policy easing to gather pace We are expecting another year of below-trend economic growth in 2025 across Asia, as subdued exports, worsening labour markets and tighter fiscal policy weigh on demand. Inflation is back to target... 23rd September 2024 · 28 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Sri Lanka election risks, new Indonesia rate forecast Sri Lanka has enjoyed a steady, if unspectacular recovery from the 2022 debt default crisis. However, this progress could be put at risk depending on the results of this weekend’s presidential... 20th September 2024 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korean weakness, CBSL rate cut, Vietnam uncertainty The Korean GDP data published earlier this week highlighted how unbalanced the economy has been since the pandemic. Exports have been very strong, but domestic demand has struggled. Meanwhile, Sri... 26th July 2024 · 8 mins read
Asia Economic Outlook Policy easing to begin soon We expect economic growth in most countries in Asia to slow in the second half of 2024, as tighter fiscal policy, high interest rates and weaker global growth all weigh on demand. Inflation is back to... 20th June 2024 · 28 mins read
Asia Chart Pack Emerging Asia Chart Pack (May 2024) Headline inflation across most of Emerging Asia is now either below or only slightly above central bank targets. Nevertheless, policymakers have struck a slightly more hawkish tone recently due to... 30th May 2024 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Singapore slowdown, Thailand’s weak recovery GDP growth in Singapore slowed sharply in the first quarter of the year, and the outlook for the rest of 2024 is very poor, with a weakening labour market, tighter fiscal policy and subdued global... 24th May 2024 · 6 mins read
Asia Economic Outlook Asian central banks waiting for the Fed With inflation easing and domestic demand struggling in much of emerging Asia, central banks are likely to start cutting interest rates soon. The one remaining concern for policymakers is the fear of... 27th March 2024 · 27 mins read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lanka: easing cycle has further to go The Central Bank of Sri Lanka today cut interest rates by a further 50bps and hinted at further rate cuts to come. With inflationary pressures under control and the economic recovery struggling, more... 26th March 2024 · 2 mins read
