Asia Economics Update First signs of a dovish shift at the Bank of Korea The Bank of Korea today left its policy rate unchanged (at 3.5%), and while Governor Rhee left open the possibility of further interest rate hikes, there are signs that some members of the central... 19th October 2023 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Tighter fiscal policy in Malaysia , BoK on hold again Malaysia’s budget for 2024, which was unveiled in parliament today, envisages a modest tightening of fiscal policy. Tighter policy will weigh on an economy which is already being hit hard by the slump... 13th October 2023 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Update Asian Tigers: AI boost will not offset drag from demographics The Asian Tiger economies of Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan are likely to be among the biggest beneficiaries of the emergence of new AI technologies. But the boost will not be enough to offset... 9th October 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Korea: weak activity data but inflation worries mount The latest activity data from Korea were downbeat. Although industrial production grew strongly, the manufacturing PMIs, along with the export figures and retail sales data, all point to continued... 5th October 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Korea: drag from weak construction set to continue Construction spending in Korea is falling sharply as developers respond to an oversupply of new homes by cutting back on new projects. The sector’s weakness will remain a major drag on economic growth... 3rd October 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Manufacturing PMIs, Korean trade, Indonesia CPI The PMIs for September suggest that manufacturing activity across Emerging Asia remained weak last month. Worryingly, the PMIs point to a further rise in price pressures across the region, with the... 2nd October 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economic Outlook Economic weakness to prompt policy easing in 2024 GDP growth across most of Emerging Asia has struggled over the past year and we expect growth to remain weak in the near term as tight monetary policy at home and subdued activity abroad weigh on... 25th September 2023 · 34 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Bad news on inflation Headline inflation across Emerging Asia jumped last month due to a rise in food and fuel price inflation. We have raised our inflation forecasts for a number of countries to reflect the deterioration... 8th September 2023 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Update Inflation in Korea set to resume downward trend soon The jump in inflation in August was driven by temporary factors and we don’t think this marks the start of a sustained rise in inflation, especially since core inflation continued to drop back... 5th September 2023 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Weak data from Korea puts pressure on BoK This week’s data dump from Korea suggests the economy weakened at the start of Q3, increasing the chances that the BoK will cut interest rates soon. 1st September 2023 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Update Manufacturing PMIs & Korea Trade (August.) Manufacturing PMIs across most of Emerging Asia stood well inside contractionary territory in August. Weak foreign goods demand, elevated interest rates at home and bloated inventory levels suggest... 1st September 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Higher food prices pose risk to disinflation process Inflation across Emerging Asia should continue to decline over the coming months. However, the risks are to the upside amid uncertainty over the outlook for food prices. And while we are sticking with... 15th August 2023 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korea labour market weakness, Singapore Q2 GDP The slowing labour market in Korea adds to the evidence that the economy is struggling, and supports our view that the central bank will cut interest rates before the end of the year. Meanwhile... 11th August 2023 · 8 mins read
Asia Economics Update Manufacturing PMIs & Korea Trade (July.) Manufacturing PMIs remained in contractionary territory across most of Emerging Asia last month and the underlying data point to further weakness ahead. Falling new orders, bleak employment prospects... 1st August 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Korea: GDP data worse than it looks GDP growth in Korea rebounded in the second quarter, but the data was far worse than it looks, with all of the major sub-components contracting. With weak global demand set to drag on exports and high... 25th July 2023 · 3 mins read
