Asia Economics Update North Korea, Trump and South Korea’s economy Donald Trump’s decision to accept an invitation to visit North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, represents an extraordinary turn of events, and comes just a few months after the US president was calling... 9th March 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysian rates to stay on hold Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) kept its policy rate on hold at 3.25% today following a hike at its last meeting in January. With inflation slowing, growth likely to cool further and the currency strong... 7th March 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Philippines: Rate hikes unlikely despite rise in inflation Despite inflation rising to its highest rate in nearly four years in February, the central bank seems in little hurry to tighten monetary policy. We continue to believe that interest rates in the... 6th March 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Direct impact of US steel tariffs is small The imposition of US tariffs on steel and aluminium would have little direct impact on Asian economies. The bigger risk is that they represent the latest steps towards a damaging trade war. 2nd March 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Are the good times over for Asian equities? Asian equities have recovered much of their losses over the second half of this month but a sustained rebound is unlikely. We expect most stock markets to only edge higher over the rest of the year. 28th February 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea on hold, for now The Bank of Korea (BoK) today unsurprisingly kept its policy rate on hold at 1.50% for its second straight meeting, and the accompanying statement and governor’s press conference suggest the central... 27th February 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lanka: rates cuts not far off Sri Lanka’s central bank (CBSL) left rates on hold today but, in contrast to the consensus, we think that rate cuts will come onto the agenda soon. 15th February 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Thailand in no rush to adjust policy The Bank of Thailand’s (BoT) decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 1.50% today was no surprise given the backdrop of an improving economy but very weak price pressures. There was nothing in... 14th February 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update No changes to Philippines policy rate in 2018 Despite January’s jump in inflation, the Philippines central bank (BSP) left rates on hold at its first meeting of the year. While most analysts think that BSP will be forced to tighten policy this... 8th February 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Equities and currencies make strong start to 2018 Asian equities and currencies have had a strong start to 2018, but we doubt that their recent performance will be sustained. 31st January 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update What do high oil prices mean for Asia? The recent jump in oil prices does not alter the outlook for Asia’s economies. But if prices were to rise significantly further, we would be most concerned about the impact on India and Sri Lanka. 29th January 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia: more rate hikes unlikely Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) raised its key policy rate by 25bps to 3.25% today, but with growth set to slow, inflation benign and the currency continuing to strengthen, we suspect this will be a... 25th January 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Revised TPP deal still good news for Asian members The agreement to press ahead with the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership is important in a number of ways. Not only should it provide a decent boost to growth prospects across parts of Asia, but it... 24th January 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update What do US tariffs mean for Asia? US tariffs on imports of solar cells and washing machines are likely to cause some short-term disruption in parts of the region, most notably Malaysia, Korea and Vietnam. However, the overall impact... 23rd January 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Further rate cuts in Indonesia likely by mid-year Today’s decision by Bank Indonesia (BI) to leave interest rates unchanged at 4.25% came as no surprise. Although the central bank’s accompanying statement suggests that further easing is not imminent... 18th January 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea on hold, tightening will be gradual The Bank of Korea (BoK) kept its policy rate on hold at 1.50% today, and the governor’s accompanying press conference signalled aggressive tightening is not in the pipeline. With the economy set to... 18th January 2018 · 1 min read