Asia Economics Update More Bank of Thailand tightening on the way The Bank of Thailand (BoT) raised its policy rate by 25bp to 1.75% today, as expected. The economy has shrugged off the political crisis and domestic demand should improve even as exports slow. The... 25th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand's economy shrugs off the political crisis Thailand’s GDP growth came in stronger than our above-consensus forecast in Q2. Export growth will slow from now on but a slump is unlikely while domestic demand is set to stay strong. It is now... 23rd August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asia, not the politics, will drive Australia's outlook The hung parliament outcome of Australia’s weekend election will inevitably hit local markets for a time but the long-run impact should be small. The main political parties have similar fiscal... 23rd August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Pakistan to ask for more IMF help Pakistan was already struggling to keep the IMF on-side and the floods have changed the near term economic outlook so much that it makes sense to re-write the current adjustment programme. GDP growth... 20th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lankan central bank continues to focus on growth In a surprise move, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) cut its reverse repo rate earlier today. Inflation has continued to slow while market interest rates have not come down as much as was... 20th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan's upswing still strong but not for much longer Q2 GDP data, released today, confirm that Taiwan’s economy will be one of the world’s best performers in 2010. However, weaker external demand will increasingly weigh on growth from now on. Policy... 19th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia on course for a soft-landing Data released today showed that Malaysia’s economy expanded at a slower pace in Q2 than in Q1. The upswing will continue to lose momentum in coming quarters but the risk that the expansion stalls is... 18th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India's Reserve Bank tightening still has far to go Recent India data show that inflation pressures have eased while the gain in industrial production has slowed sharply. External risks have climbed too. Nevertheless, non-food inflation is unlikely to... 16th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea's pause to be short-lived The Bank of Korea (BoK) held its policy rate at 2.25% today but maintained its tightening bias. The broad-based domestic economic recovery should continue despite external risks, while inflation is... 12th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea's central bank has little reason to pause While today’s labour market data showed that Korea’s unemployment rate rose in July, the details of the report are encouraging. In addition, we believe that the policy rate is not the appropriate tool... 11th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia's rapid economic growth will be sustained Indonesia’s GDP growth accelerated to 6.2% y/y in Q2. We expect continued strong growth in coming quarters, led by domestic private sector demand. We maintain our forecast that monetary tightening... 5th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australia's monetary tightening is not over The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held its cash rate at 4.5% today, as was universally anticipated. We expect the mining boom to bring above-trend GDP growth over the next few years and there is... 3rd August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asia's industrial sector slowing to a sustainable pace Manufacturing PMIs for emerging Asia and Australia were a mixed bag in July. The world economy is shifting onto a weaker track as policy stimulus is removed, which in turn means that Asia’s industrial... 2nd August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Pakistan makes the right move Pakistan’s central bank (SBP) today lifted its discount rate by 50bp to 13.0%. The move was a surprise but a rate hike has been the big risk for some time given double-digit inflation and the large... 30th July 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand's economy ended Q2 on a high Bank of Thailand (BoT) monthly indicators for June have confirmed that the economy has bounced back strongly, which is what we always expected would be the case. Exports and manufacturing should... 30th July 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Vietnam's muddled policy-making gets what is deserved The Fitch downgrade of Vietnam’s foreign currency debt, announced today, was no surprise. Over the last six months domestic policies have see-sawed between fighting inflation and boosting growth while... 29th July 2010 · 1 min read
