Asia Economics Update Aggressive rate cuts unlikely in Indonesia With inflation set to stay elevated until the end of the year and the current account deficit likely to remain a source of vulnerability, today’s rate cut by Bank Indonesia is unlikely to signal the... 17th February 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Household debt concerns to keep Korean rates on hold The Bank of Korea (BoK) today left its policy rate on hold at 2.0% after the government softened its pressure for further loosening. Looking ahead, we think persistent concerns about high household... 17th February 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Philippines unlikely to join Asian rate cutting cycle Despite the recent drop in inflation, the central bank in the Philippines is unlikely to join a number of other central banks in the region that have loosened monetary policy since the start of the... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Rate cut in Australia won't be the last The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut its cash rate for the first time since mid-2013 today, taking it down by 25 basis points to 2.25%. Given the RBA’s change of stance and the likelihood that the... 3rd February 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asian equity markets make winning start to 2015 Emerging Asian equity markets have got off to a strong start to the year, while the performance of Asian currencies has been much more mixed. 30th January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand's central bank takes a more neutral stance The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) kept its policy rate at 3.5% today and suggested there is now far less certainty its next move will be a hike. We are not expecting any changes in 2015 or 2016. 29th January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia’s rate pause to continue through 2015 The Malaysian central bank (BNM) unsurprisingly kept its policy rate on hold at 3.25% today, and is unlikely to make any changes during the rest of this year. There are some concerns about the pace of... 28th January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Falling inflation not enough to trigger Thai rate cut The Bank of Thailand (BoT) left interest rates unchanged at 2.0% today despite the recent drop in inflation. While dissent within the monetary policy committee has raised the odds of a rate cut, we... 28th January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Jokowi’s first 100 days: a promising start Indonesia’s new president, Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi) has made an encouraging start to hispresidency. But tougher challenges lie ahead, while a corruption scandal is raising questions about... 28th January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Singapore moves early to counter deflation concerns In an unscheduled decision, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today loosened monetary policy by reducing the slope of its target band for the nominal effective exchange rate (NEER). The change... 28th January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Pakistan's rate cut likely to be the last for some time The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) cut its policy rate by 100bp to 8.5%, the lowest since 2005, over the weekend. Although inflation and money supply growth have both slowed sharply in recent months, we... 26th January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand rate hikes looking more and more distant The recent drop in oil prices is not the only reason to think that consumer price inflation will remain low in New Zealand over the next couple of years. Domestic price pressures are also fading. We... 21st January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia’s new fiscal and growth targets are achievable Most economies in Emerging Asia will benefit from falling oil prices. The big exception is Malaysia, where the government today revised its 2015 forecasts for the budget deficit, GDP growth and the... 20th January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea's policy rate hold to continue The Bank of Korea (BoK) today left its policy rate on hold at 2.0%, and lowered its 2015 GDP growth and inflation forecasts. Although the forecast downgrades may fuel speculation about rate cuts, we... 15th January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Change in Sri Lankan leadership brings uncertainty Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena has emerged victorious in Sri Lanka’s presidential election. Markets have responded favourably, perhaps not so much to the result itself as to encouraging... 9th January 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update GST will add to headwinds, but won't derail Malaysia's economy The introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) in April marks an important step towards strengthening Malaysia's public finances over the medium term. And while it will put upward pressure on... 7th January 2015 · 1 min read
