Asia Economics Update More policy tightening required in India Today’s price data from India show that both headline and core inflation rose further in June. What’s more, we expect the headline rate to reach double-digit levels in the third quarter. While growth... 15th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Singapore’s economic weakness will be short-lived Singapore’s advance estimate of GDP in the second quarter shows that the economy contracted due to weakness in the manufacturing sector. However, the expansion should resume in the second half of this... 15th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea’s policy rate has further to rise The Bank of Korea (BoK) held its base rate at 3.25% today, as expected. Nonetheless, the policy rate is still below pre-crisis levels, while core inflation has further to climb. The upshot is that the... 15th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand’s central bank to focus on fiscal developments The Bank of Thailand (BoT) raised its repo rate by 25bp to 3.25% today, as expected. Fiscal policy is likely to be looser under the incoming government than the outgoing administration. The upshot is... 14th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank Indonesia to resume rate hikes later this year Bank Indonesia (BI) kept its reference rate at 6.75% today, as expected. Declining headline inflation and greater uncertainty about the outlook for the global economy were the two main factors behind... 13th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update How big a worry is the suspension of US aid for Pakistan? The US government announced on Sunday that it has suspended $800m in military aid to Pakistan amid a further deterioration in the relationship between the two countries. The announcement is clearly a... 12th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Singapore’s growth to improve later this year Singapore’s latest GDP figures will be released on Thursday and are likely to show that the economy contracted in the second quarter. However, this should be seen in the context of strong growth... 12th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lanka’s central bank focused on supporting growth The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) kept its policy rates on hold today, as expected. Growth slowed at the start of the year due to heavy floods, while headline inflation has been trending lower and... 9th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia’s monetary tightening has not ended Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) kept its policy rate at 3.0% today whereas both we and the consensus had anticipated a 25bp hike. Malaysia’s central bank instead opted to raise its reserve requirement... 8th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australia’s cash rate more likely to rise than fall The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held its cash rate at 4.75% today, as was widely anticipated. A run of poor economic data has prompted market participants to expect that the next move in the cash... 6th July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Manufacturing growth to slow, but not sharply Manufacturing output across Emerging Asia is likely to grow at a sluggish pace in the near term given the weakness in global demand. However, output and orders continue to rise in most countries in... 5th July 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Focus Can Asia avoid the middle-income trap? Most of emerging Asia should continue to grow rapidly for at least another decade, and much longer if the right policy choices are made. The key exception is China where, despite a bright long-run... 5th July 2011 · 1 min read
Global Economics Focus Capital flows to emerging markets: an accident waiting to happen? Fears of a widespread bubble in emerging markets look overdone, but there are growing signs that rapid capital inflows are stoking problems in several countries. We think the biggest risks lie in... 2nd July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Managing inflation and avoiding asset bubbles Inflation remains high across much of the region and policy rates have moved up in India, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand in recent weeks. More policy tightening is on the way in Asia. However, concerns... 1st July 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan’s slow tightening cycle still has far to go Taiwan’s slow pace of interest rate hikes is likely to continue into next year against a backdrop of strong economic growth and lingering property price concerns. 1st July 2011 · 1 min read
