Asia Economics Update January PMIs suggest industry faltering The January PMIs for emerging Asia were disappointing. Improving global sentiment should provide a small boost to Asian industry in coming months, but conditions overall are likely to remain weak. 1st February 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Peso strength and rupiah weakness to continue Despite a similarly strong economic performance last year, the currencies of Indonesia and the Philippines have gone in opposite directions, with the peso significantly outperforming the rupiah. In... 28th January 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economic Outlook Gathering momentum? Asian growth looks to have picked up late last year and is likely to fare well in the near term. However, growth in 2013-14 is unlikely to be strong due to lacklustre external demand and structural... 17th January 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Can Indonesia grow by 8%? Indonesia has seen a dramatic improvement in its economic performance over the past decade, thanks mainly to rapid investment growth. The government is trying to raise the economy’s potential growth... 7th January 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Manufacturing in Asia improves, sustained recovery unlikely The December PMIs showed further signs of improvement for Asia’s manufacturers. However, conditions overall remain weak. An improvement in global sentiment should give a boost to manufacturing sectors... 2nd January 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Signs growth has bottomed out in Q4 Data for the past couple of months suggest that GDP growth has picked up slightly in the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, growth still remains weak by historical standards. Subdued global demand will... 19th December 2012 · 1 min read
China Economics Update The US fiscal cliff: implications for Asia The nightmare scenario of the US Congress failing to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff would see growth in Asia’s most trade-dependent countries slow by up to 1 percentage point in 2013. 17th December 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Manufacturing stabilises, but sustained pick-up unlikely ahead Today’s PMIs suggest that conditions within most of Asia’s manufacturing sectors either stabilised or strengthened in November. While conditions could improve further over the next few months, we... 3rd December 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asian currencies undervalued, but still set to weaken Most currencies in Asia look undervalued. However, it would be wrong to conclude that Asia’s currencies are set for rapid appreciation. In 2013, we think an escalation in the euro-zone crisis will... 3rd December 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Interest rates in Indonesia set for prolonged hold Indonesia’s central bank (BI) kept its reference rate at 5.75% today, as expected. With inflation relatively low and economic growth remaining strong, we expect BI to remain on hold for the remainder... 8th November 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Strong growth in Indonesia, but will outperformance last? Indonesia recorded another quarter of strong growth in Q3, with the pace of expansion down only slightly compared with the previous quarter. Weak exports will act as a drag on growth over the next... 5th November 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Manufacturing still stuck in the doldrums Today’s PMI data for Asia showed some small signs of improvement but overall conditions within the region’s manufacturing sectors are still very weak. The likelihood that global demand will remain... 1st November 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Central banks step up policy loosening Over the past month, central banks in South Korea, Thailand, Australia and Pakistan have all cut their policy rates. The moves come in response to continued weakness in exports, which has caused GDP... 19th October 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economic Outlook Bumpy road ahead Although Asia will not be immune from the continuing crisis in the euro-zone and weak global demand, healthy fundamentals and plenty of scope for policy easing mean growth should hold up relatively... 10th October 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Is Indonesia overheating? Rapid economic growth, coupled with strong credit expansion and a worsening current account have led to fears among some commentators that Indonesia’s economy is overheating, and that the central bank... 1st October 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Manufacturing recovery still some way off The September PMIs signal that manufacturing remains weak in Asia. We think that global growth will continue to struggle over the coming year or so and that, against this backdrop, manufacturing... 1st October 2012 · 1 min read