Asia Economics Weekly Falling commodity prices to keep Asian inflation low Declines in commodity prices have helped push down inflation across Emerging Asia in recent months. We expect inflation to remain low over the next year, which will leave room for central banks to... 24th October 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Indonesia’s new president has his work cut out Joko Widodo, the outgoing mayor of Jakarta, who takes over as Indonesia’s president on Monday, is seen by some as the man to turn the country’s fortunes around. But while he has attracted plenty of... 17th October 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How our forecasts differ from consensus and the IMF In this Weekly we look at how our GDP forecasts differ from consensus and those recently released by the IMF. In most countries our 2015 growth forecasts are not far out of line, but there are four... 10th October 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly What next for monetary policy in Singapore? The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is expected to keep its exchange rate policy on hold at its upcoming bi-annual policy meeting. In any case, the most important changes to monetary conditions... 3rd October 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Which countries stand to gain most from lower oil prices? Lower oil prices should provide a boost to the economies of Emerging Asia. However, some countries are likely to benefit more than others. Indonesia and Thailand stand to gain the most, while Malaysia... 26th September 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Credit growth in Emerging Asia still unsustainable We have been arguing for some time that Emerging Asia’s credit binge is unsustainable, and that credit growth will need to slow for a crisis to be avoided. While there are encouraging signs that... 19th September 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Strong jobs figure does not alter the picture for Australia Data released last week showed that Australia added more jobs in August than in any other month on record. But the jump does not change the broader picture of labour market weakness, and it does not... 12th September 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Property price bubbles a key risk There are signs property prices are coming off the boil in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. That said, prices in these three economies still look significantly overvalued, and a slump in prices... 5th September 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asian growth could finally be set for a pick-up Emerging Asia's GDP data for the second quarter proved to be a mixed bag, with most economies in South East Asia picking up, but the Newly Industrialised Economies having some problems. We expect some... 1st September 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Mr Modi’s "first 100 days" prove underwhelming India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is approaching the end of his first hundred days in office on 3rd September with a worrying sense of drift rather than direction. Hopes that he would make a... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asian inflation likely to stay subdued Inflation remains subdued across most of Asia, and we see little danger of it accelerating significantly any time soon. As such, we only expect rate hikes in a few economies before the end of 2014 . 18th August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Does Korea need lower interest rates? A sharp slowdown in the Korean economy last quarter and dovish rhetoric from the central bank has raised expectations that interest rates will be cut at Thursday’s scheduled policy meeting. With the... 11th August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Consumer spending in Emerging Asia set for recovery Emerging Asia’s consumers have been struggling in recent months. Tight labour markets and improving growth prospects point to some pick-up going forward, but high levels of household debt in a number... 4th August 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Fuel subsidy reform an early test for Indonesia’s Jokowi Financial markets have welcomed the election of Joko Widodo as Indonesia’s president, but there is still great uncertainty over his policy priorities and his ability to push through his own agenda. Mr... 28th July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How much do commodities matter to Malaysia? As one of the region's few net commodity exporters, there are some concerns that Malaysia is vulnerable to a fall in commodity prices. But Malaysia is not as dependent on commodities as is often... 18th July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Singapore manufacturing will continue to struggle Singapore’s manufacturing exports have been a consistent weak point in the economy over recent years. A recovery in global demand should help, but the problems are more than cyclical. In fact, the... 14th July 2014 · 1 min read
