Asia Economics Focus Pakistan: Major challenges await new government Whichever party wins Pakistan’s upcoming general election will take over an economy on the brink of a balance of payments crisis. Growth is likely to slow sharply regardless of who wins Wednesday’s... 20th July 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Philippines: A two-year progress report on President Duterte Two years after coming to power, President Duterte of the Philippines has not been the disaster for the economy that some feared. Growth has remained strong, while economic policy has been left in the... 26th June 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Election could make Malaysia’s problems worse Despite facing a resurgent opposition, Prime Minister Najib Razak is favourite to win a third term in a general election due on 9 th May. A victory for Najib would probably lead to a short-term fiscal... 30th April 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Asia’s Tiger economies are getting harder to follow Despite the growing protectionist threat from the US, a combination of rising automation and the migration of some productive capacity into the cheaper interior mean that China is likely to remain a... 10th April 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 Economics Focus ASEAN: still searching for purpose at 50 As ASEAN approaches its 50th anniversary, we see little prospect of it transforming itself into the kind of single market and production base which its supporters hope will one day enable it to rival... 31st July 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Domestic problems start to mount A pick-up in exports should help lift growth in Emerging Asia (excluding China and India) to a seven-year high this year, but mounting domestic headwinds mean growth is likely to slow in 2018. 5th July 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Assessing the impact of a war in Korea The most important impact of a full-scale conflict on the Korean peninsula would be a massive loss of life. But there would also be significant economic consequences. In this Focus we discuss the... 17th May 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Will Korea’s election put the economy on a new path? In addition to the growing geopolitical crisis on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s next president, who will be elected on 9 th May, will face a mounting number of economic challenges, including... 4th May 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Bangladesh: The next Asian Tiger? Bangladesh has been one of the region’s top performing economies in recent years, but it is still someway short of meeting the government’s 8% growth target. If Bangladesh is to replicate the success... 3rd April 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Can manufacturing revive growth in Indonesia? A strong manufacturing sector would go some way to reviving the economic fortunes of Indonesia. However, the challenges are formidable, and unless more progress is made on liberalising the labour... 2nd February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Time to worry about a foreign currency debt crisis in Asia? The sharp rise in the US dollar since Donald Trump’s election victory has led to renewed concerns over the rapid build-up in foreign currency (FX) debt in Emerging Asia. For most countries, FX debt... 5th December 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Household debt mountain to weigh on Asian consumers A surge in household borrowing has provided a key support to economic growth across large parts of Emerging Asia over the past few years. Worst case scenarios of a financial crisis are unlikely to... 3rd November 2016 · 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 be soon be forced to hike interest rates to bring... 5th September 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Is the worst over for Indonesia and Malaysia? Economic growth in Malaysia and Indonesia has slowed markedly over the past couple of years. While we think the worst is now over for the region’s two main commodity producers, a strong rebound is... 2nd August 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Domestic strength can’t keep propping up Emerging Asia Economic growth in Emerging Asia has remained remarkably steady over the past year, even as export demand has stalled. However, policy support and lower oil prices will not continue to prop up... 2nd June 2016 · 1 min read
