Asia Economics Focus Can the Philippines become a manufacturing powerhouse? The Philippines has been making good progress in developing a competitive manufacturing sector. Low wages, the relocation of labour-intensive manufacturing from China, and recent improvements to the... 24th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Is Emerging Asia about to run into structural constraints? Concerns over structural constraints on growth have come to the fore recently, in the wake of prolonged slowdowns in some of the world's biggest emerging economies. There are some fears that parts of... 24th March 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Weaker domestic demand driving fragile five’s external positions At an aggregate level, the current account deficit of the “fragile five” (Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey) showed a welcome improvement towards the end of last year. But progress has... 21st March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Optimism over India’s elections may be misplaced Recent polls pointing to a rising margin of victory for the opposition BJP in the upcoming elections have boosted business confidence. But we think such optimism may be misplaced, with coalition... 21st March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Has Australia already turned a corner? A recent collection of upbeat data has been taken by a number of commentators as a sign that Australia's economy has turned a corner. Most are expecting faster growth in 2014. But with the economy on... 20th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand’s outlook still healthy, despite Q4 slowdown New Zealand’s economy slowed in Q4, largely owing to the fading impact of the recovery from a drought that hit the country in the first half of last year. Broader indicators suggest the economy is in... 20th March 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack China fears resurface Worries about the impact on other emerging economies of a slowdown in China have risen back to the top of the agenda over the past month. While we do not believe a hard landing is likely, we do expect... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update The kiwi can fly! New Zealand dollar to remain high It is tempting to conclude that the New Zealand dollar is set to fall sharply. After all, on several measures, it is the most overvalued of the G10 currencies. But with the key driver behind the... 18th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lanka’s growth outlook remains strong Sri Lanka recorded another quarter of strong growth in Q4 last year on the back of a continued recovery in external demand and accommodative monetary policy. These factors are likely to continue to... 17th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Inflation in Emerging Asia to remain subdued Inflation in Emerging Asia has fallen back over the past few months and remains low by historical standards. Looking ahead, inflation looks set to remain fairly benign. Currency weakness over the past... 17th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korean rates set for prolonged hold The Bank of Korea (BoK) left interest rates on hold today for the tenth consecutive month in what was Kim Choongsoo’s final meeting as central bank governor. The handover to Lee Ju-yeol, a former... 13th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India on cusp of export rebound With India’s domestic demand held back by tight monetary policy, export demand is likely to play a pivotal role in any economic recovery this year. Recent export data have been disappointing. But a... 12th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Encouraging Indian data unlikely to sway hawkish central bank Today’s industrial production and inflation data show India’s beleaguered economy moving in the right direction, but we doubt the latest drop in inflation will be enough to prompt the Reserve Bank to... 12th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand lowers policy rate, but further cuts unlikely Amid rising downside risks to growth, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) opted to cut its policy rate by 25bps today. With no clear sign that the political impasse will be resolved soon, we expect interest... 12th March 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Trade Monitor Manufacturers outperforming Export growth was more or less flat at an EM-wide level in January, but there’s a growing divergence at a country level, with highly-open manufacturing economies in Central Europe and East Asia... 10th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Rate hikes coming in New Zealand With New Zealand’s economic recovery gaining momentum, inflation rising and house prices booming, the country’s central bank looks set to hike interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in nearly... 10th March 2014 · 1 min read
