Asia Economics Weekly Spike in inflation nothing to worry about The sharp rise in headline inflation across Emerging Asia is unlikely to be the trigger for the region’s central banks to start tightening monetary policy. The increase is almost entirely due to an... 3rd March 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Stocks rise, currencies and bond yields steady While most equity markets in the region rose for the second straight month in February, Asian currencies and bond yields largely held steady. Most Asian equity markets have recorded decent gains over... 28th February 2017 · 1 min read
Frontier Markets Wrap Signs of improvement in frontier economies The recent improvement in the global economic backdrop has been mirrored by a pick-up in growth across frontier markets. National accounts data released by early-reporting frontiers over the past... 24th February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Will the export recovery last? A jump in export demand provided a boost to economic growth in the region’s most trade dependent economies last quarter, with Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore all expanding at their fastest pace in... 24th February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea holds rates, but easing cycle not over The Bank of Korea (BoK) kept its policy rate unchanged at 1.25% today, but with the economy struggling for momentum and underlying price pressures benign, we think it will resume its easing cycle... 23rd February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack A bad month for Indonesia A number of developments over the past month have cast a shadow over Indonesia’s prospects. The first was the publication of GDP figures for the final quarter of last year which showed a slowdown in... 23rd February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Thailand GDP (Q4) Thailand’s economy ended 2016 on a subdued note. A combination of lacklustre external demand, high household debt and continued political uncertainty will keep growth subdued in the quarters ahead. 20th February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Can Korea’s exports offset domestic demand weakness? The sharp turnaround in Korea’s headline export growth in recent months owes more to a rebound in commodity price inflation than a recovery in underlying demand. Looking ahead, a combination of... 17th February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Singapore GDP (Q4 Revised) Today’s revised estimate of Singapore’s fourth quarter GDP confirmed that the economy ended last year on a solid note. However, we expect Singapore’s growth to soften this year against a backdrop of... 17th February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank Indonesia holds again, rates unlikely to change this year Bank Indonesia kept its policy rate on hold at 4.75% today, and we think that worries about inflation will prevent the central bank from loosening policy any further over the rest of the year too. 16th February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Malaysia GDP (Q4) Malaysia’s economy continued to gain momentum in the final quarter of last year, but against a backdrop of lacklustre external demand, high household debt and limited scope for additional policy... 16th February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Hong Kong and Singapore: a tale of two housing markets The gradual deflation of what had looked like a housing bubble in Singapore has left the economy in much better shape to cope with rising interest rates. The contrast with Hong Kong, where property... 10th February 2017 · 1 min read
EM Markets Chart Pack Recent recovery likely to prove a false dawn Financial markets in the emerging world have maintained their strong start to the year. But we don’t expect this to be sustained, as the Fed resumes its tightening and geo-political uncertainty... 8th February 2017 · 1 min read
India Economics Update RBI brings loosening cycle to an end The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) decision to keep interest rates on hold today was in line with our non-consensus forecast and it signals the end of the loosening cycle. Looking ahead, with... 8th February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lanka holds rates, but hikes likely soon The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) kept rates on hold at its meeting today, but against a backdrop of rapid credit growth, rising inflation and a weakening currency, we think it is only a matter of... 7th February 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Indonesia GDP (Q4) Indonesia recorded another quarter of disappointing growth in the final quarter of last year. With commodity prices likely to remain depressed and policymakers running out of scope to stimulate the... 6th February 2017 · 1 min read
