Asia Economics Weekly Korean labour market not as healthy as it looks At face value, the Korean labour market figures for December paint an encouraging picture, with total employment rising to a new record high. However, a detailed examination of data reveals just how... 14th January 2022 · 9 mins read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea turning even more hawkish The Bank of Korea (BoK) is far from done, after making its first back-to-back rate hike since 2007 today. We now expect a total of four 25bp hikes in 2022, taking the policy rate to 2.00%. 14th January 2022 · 3 mins read
Asset Allocation Update EM equities may continue to underperform in 2022-23 We think that emerging market (EM) equities will continue to underperform their developed market (DM) peers over the next couple of years, even if that underperformance is far less stark than it was... 13th January 2022 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Update What to expect in Emerging Asia in 2022 Asia will be – contrary to consensus expectations for widespread hikes – the only EM region in which the median central bank isn’t tightening this year. 10th January 2022 · 4 mins read
China Economics Update A guide to political events in 2022 Korea, the Philippines and India are each holding elections this year that will play a role in setting fiscal and structural reform priorities, including the possible introduction of a universal basic... 10th January 2022 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Update Industry momentum strong going into 2022 Manufacturing PMIs and timely trade data reveal that Asia’s export-focussed industry gained momentum at the turn of the year. While the Omicron variant presents a key threat to the outlook, it is... 4th January 2022 · 2 mins read
Asia Chart Pack What Omicron means for monetary policy in Asia Most countries in Emerging Asia have now recorded cases of Omicron, and the experience from elsewhere in the world suggests that it is only a matter of time before there is widespread community... 22nd December 2021 · 14 mins read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea facing a policy dilemma We expect the Bank of Korea to continue raising interest rates next year, but the worsening near-term prospects for growth mean the outlook for monetary policy has become less clear cut. 6th December 2021 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update How big a threat is Omicron to Asia? Asian economies, like those elsewhere, have adapted to living with COVID-19 restrictions so that the impact of any tightening would be smaller than it was last year. And unlike in many EMs, there is... 2nd December 2021 · 3 mins read
Asia Data Response Korea Trade (Nov.) Korean export values surged to record highs in November helped by temporary factors but also strong underlying growth. Exports should remain elevated for at least the next few months, helped by a... 1st December 2021 · 2 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Nov.) November Manufacturing PMIs suggest that the rebound in industry from the Delta wave in South East Asia continued last month, and we suspect it has further to run. Drop-In: India – How much scarring... 1st December 2021 · 2 mins read
Asia Data Response Korea Activity Data (Oct.) Korea’s economy is likely to have already rebounded from the downbeat October revealed in activity data today. But prospects for continued improvements have diminished, as a resurgence in virus cases... 30th November 2021 · 3 mins read
Asia Chart Pack Omicron fears stall plans to reopen borders Amid all the uncertainty caused by the arrival of Omicron, one thing we can say with some conviction is that the new variant is further bad news for the region’s beleaguered tourism industry. Up until... 29th November 2021 · 15 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Recent rate hikes not the start of a trend Attention over the past week has been on the region’s more hawkish central banks, following rate hikes in Korea and Pakistan. Both countries, along with Sri Lanka (which unexpectedly left rates... 26th November 2021 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea to hike at least three more times in 2022 Today’s move by the Bank of Korea is likely to mark the second hike of at least five, in a tightening cycle that began in August and will extend well into next year. 25th November 2021 · 3 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Focus Why is inflation different in Asia? Inflation hasn’t emerged as a concern across Emerging Asia in the same way it has in the rest of the emerging world, in part because food price inflation in Asia is much lower, but also because the... 22nd November 2021 · 10 mins read
