Asia Economics Update Are Vietnam's policy-makers losing the plot? October data from Vietnam have brought a sharp acceleration in annual inflation and another increase in the merchandise trade deficit. Nevertheless, the authorities continue to target faster credit... 2nd November 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Services will cushion Singapore's economic slowdown Singapore’s labour market stayed strong in Q3 while the October manufacturing sector PMI, published today, picked up and suggests that the slowdown in industry and exports is close to bottoming out... 2nd November 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australia's monetary tightening has a long way to go The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) unexpectedly hiked its cash rate by 25bp to 4.75% today. While the exact timing was a surprise, the resumption of monetary tightening was only a matter of when, not... 2nd November 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India's tightening cycle is just about finished The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as expected, today lifted both the repo rate and reverse repo rate by 25bp. However, inflation will probably slow soon and the RBI is increasingly concerned about high... 2nd November 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand's economic upswing still in good shape Thailand data published late last week and earlier today show that activity continues to expand at a brisk pace while inflation remains low. The GDP expansion should stay on track in 2011 and the... 1st November 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asia's industrial slowdown unlikely to turn into a slump Manufacturing PMIs for Asia’s smaller economies and Australia generally declined further in October. The impact of tough external conditions in the US and Europe will continue to come through in... 1st November 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australia's cash rate still likely to move up soon Yesterday’s Q3 consumer price data from Australia were softer than the Reserve Bank (RBA) and consensus had expected. Inflation pressures are still likely to rise over the long run but the RBA would... 28th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand still on track to lift rates in early 2011 The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), to no-one’s surprise, today kept policy rates unchanged at 3.0%. In coming months, we expect that the activity data will surprise on the upside while the RBNZ... 28th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea's growth to be slower but better balanced Data published today show that Korea’s GDP growth slowed in Q3. The economy will stay on a slow track for some time and in 2011 overall now looks set to expand at a sub-trend pace. Nevertheless, the... 27th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update The Philippines' debt rating upgrade looks close All of the three major ratings agencies have recently announced that the Philippines’ sovereign foreign debt is under review for possible upgrade. We expect that at least one of the three will upgrade... 26th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Singapore adjusts to more normal and sustainable growth Industrial production data released today in Singapore surprised on the upside and suggests that Q3 GDP will be revised to show a less severe drop when new figures are published in November. The... 26th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand's monetary tightening still has further to go The Bank of Thailand (BoT) held its policy rate at 1.75% today but maintained a tightening bias. Domestic demand looks well placed to drive GDP growth, while the strong recovery should increasingly... 20th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Rates to remain on hold in Sri Lanka The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) kept its policy rates on hold at today’s meeting, as expected. Inflation has ticked up in recent months but is unlikely to become a threat any time soon. For this... 19th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia targets reform ahead of fiscal consolidation The budget plans for 2011 announced in Malaysia late last week aim to ensure that the economic upswing continues and showed once again that the top priority was the implementation of new measures to... 18th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Tightening cycle in India nearly over Inflation data published today in India showed that price pressures are still high while the recent weakness in the industrial production figures is probably overstated. We expect that the Reserve... 15th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea focused on growth, but rates will still rise The Bank of Korea (BoK) held its policy rate at 2.25% today, as expected. The economy is losing some momentum but growth should not stall, while the won is climbing and is doing some of the... 14th October 2010 · 1 min read
