Julie Nicol

Julie Nicol is the Office Administrator in Singapore, working closely with the London office as well as providing support to the local sales team.

Japan Economics Weekly

Bank of Japan remains too optimistic about inflation

While there are good reasons to believe that inflation will continue to recover in coming months, the Bank of Japan’s most recent forecasts from January are far too optimistic. Downward revisions to...

13th April 2017 1 min read

Asia Economics Update

Korea holds rates, prolonged pause likely

The Bank of Korea (BoK) kept its policy rate unchanged at 1.25% today, and with the economy starting to show signs of improvement and underlying price pressures benign, we think the BoK will maintain...

13th April 2017 1 min read

China Data Response

Consumer & Producer Prices (Mar.)

Consumer price inflation remained tepid last month, suggesting that there was more to the drop in February than just seasonal factors. Producer price inflation remains rapid but has begun to come off...

12th April 2017 1 min read

Japan Chart Pack

Price expectations too weak to reach 2% inflation

The labour market continues to tighten and firms are reporting the most severe capacity shortages in years. Underlying inflation is therefore set to recover after approaching zero at the start of this...

12th April 2017 1 min read

India Economics Update

Rising inflation could prompt repo rate hike

Consumer price inflation is likely to have risen again in March, due in large part to another acceleration in food inflation. Further ahead, rising core price pressures could prompt the RBI to follow...

7th April 2017 1 min read

Japan Data Response

Labour Cash Earnings (Feb.)

February’s data on labour cash earnings were a mixed bag. While growth in regular earnings slowed, wages of part-time worker grew at the fastest pace in years. The key point though is that much faster...

7th April 2017 1 min read

Japan Economics Update

Bank of Japan unlikely to tighten anytime soon

The Bank of Japan left policy settings unchanged today as widely anticipated and Governor Kuroda remained cautious about the prospect of hitting the inflation target. While the consensus is...

16th March 2017 1 min read

Asia Economics Update

Asia will not follow the Fed’s lead

For most economies in Emerging Asia it will be local factors, not the actions of the US Federal Reserve, which will determine the next moves by the region’s central banks.

16th March 2017 1 min read

India Economics Update

Trade position continues to improve

India’s monthly trade deficit narrowed to a six-month low in February. Looking ahead, with imports of key commodities such as gold and oil likely to stay subdued by past standards, the trade deficit...

16th March 2017 1 min read

India Economics Update

BJP victory in Uttar Pradesh brightens reform prospects

The landslide victory for Prime Minister Modi and the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh state assembly election suggests that political goodwill towards the ruling national party remains intact, and boosts...

13th March 2017 1 min read

Bank of Japan Watch

Talk of policy tightening will prove premature

The Bank of Japan may upgrade its near-term outlook for inflation at its meeting this week. With inflation picking up again, a rising number of analysts now expect the Bank to tighten policy in coming...

13th March 2017 1 min read

Japan Data Response

Machinery Orders (Jan.)

Machinery orders weakened in January but their link with business investment has been poor lately. While capital goods shipments suggest that investment may have risen further this quarter, a marked...

13th March 2017 1 min read

Japan Economics Weekly

Will four more years of Abenomics make a difference?

Prime Minister Abe is set to become Japan’s longest serving Prime Minister and could plausibly now serve until 2021. While his government had some early successes in removing roadblocks to stronger...

10th March 2017 1 min read

China Data Response

Consumer & Producer Prices (Feb.)

Producer prices rose at their fastest pace since 2008 last month. But consumer price inflation remains well below the government’s 3% threshold.

9th March 2017 1 min read

Asia Economics Update

China’s retaliation to THAAD adds to economic risks in Korea

Chinese retaliation over South Korea’s plans to deploy a US anti-missile defence system (THAAD) is an added concern for Korea’s already struggling economy. While the overall impact could be quite...

9th March 2017 1 min read

Japan Data Response

Labour Cash Earnings (Jan.)

The steady growth in overall labour cash earnings in January masks the strongest increase in base pay in almost two decades. Nonetheless, wages would still have to rise considerably faster to meet the...

9th March 2017 1 min read