Asia Economics Update India will hike policy rates soon The surge in February wholesale prices, published today, means that it is a near-certainty that India will raise policy rates by at least 50bps at the next monetary policy review on 20th April. The... 15th March 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Philippines inching closer to a first policy rate hike The Philippine central bank (BSP) left its key policy rate unchanged at today’s meeting, as expected, but continued to unwind some of the other support measures which are no longer needed. Politics... 11th March 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Politics will stay in the way of Korea rate hikes The Bank of Korea (BoK) left its policy rate at 2.00% today, as expected. BoK Governor Lee’s term ends this month and his replacement is likely to be sympathetic to the government view that monetary... 11th March 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand still on track for mid-year hike The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) as expected left its cash rate unchanged at 2.5% overnight and, crucially, retained its commitment to start lifting rates from around the middle of 2010. The... 11th March 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Thailand moves closer to the exit The Thai policy rate was left unchanged at 1.25% today, as expected. The Bank of Thailand (BoT) acknowledged that the economic momentum built up at the end of last year has carried forward into 2010... 10th March 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia set for a mild monetary tightening Bank Negara (BNM) raised the overnight policy rate by 25bps to 2.25% at today’s meeting. This was contrary to the consensus expectation but in line with our forecast. Economic growth has recently... 4th March 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesian politics is back in the way Bank Indonesia (BI) left rates at 6.5% today, as expected. The major new development is that politics is high profile again and threatens to stall the new reforms Indonesia needs to lift its trend... 4th March 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australian policy rates set to rise again in May The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised its cash rate to 4.00% today, as expected. GDP growth is returning to trend and could even be there already, while core inflation is above target. Policy... 2nd March 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Vietnam’s change not as bad as first appears Today’s headlines that Vietnam is moving toward price controls do not mark a shift away from the free market policy adjustments needed to successfully tackle its inflation and balance of payments... 1st March 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand off to a good start in 2010 The momentum built-up by the Thailand economy at the end of 2009 has carried forward into January. Consumption will be strong for a while but it is investment that will lead GDP growth this year... 1st March 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India starts fiscal consolidation, higher rates will be next Q4 GDP growth published today came in far weaker than expected but the slowdown will be short. Today’s FY10-11 budget aims to cut the fiscal deficit, which is good news. Private sector spending is... 26th February 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia jumps the queue and should hike next week Today was Malaysia’s turn to report Q4 GDP growth far stronger than the consensus and even our more-bullish-than-most expectations. All the positives will probably stay in place in coming quarters and... 24th February 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Singapore budget targets productivity growth The 2010 budget, published today, focused on structural reforms to enhance the already-high flexibility of Singapore’s economy. Global and regional conditions will become more challenging during the... 22nd February 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand’s recovery will be impressive in coming quarters Today’s Thai Q4 GDP data were stronger than our above-consensus forecast, with growth being led by government spending and household consumption. We expect that GDP growth will stay high for a few... 22nd February 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan’s growth surge won’t last Taiwan’s growth looks likely to far outpace expectations in 2010, but economic activity will not feel so healthy on the ground. 22nd February 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India will hike policy rates soon The surge in January wholesale prices, published today, means that it is a near-certainty that India will raise policy interest rates at the next monetary policy review in April. The chance of an... 15th February 2010 · 1 min read
