Asia Economics Update No change in Korean rates on the horizon The Bank of Korea’s (BoK) decision to keep interest rates on hold today was no great surprise given continued low inflation and recent signs of a pick-up in GDP growth. We expect to see rates on hold... 8th August 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asia’s consumers seeing mixed fortunes For all the hype about the rise of the Asian consumer, the recent performance of consumer spending in Asia has been disappointing. The weakness is largely explained by subdued spending in the region’s... 5th August 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update July PMIs point to continued manufacturing weakness The July PMIs for Emerging Asia point to weakening conditions in the region’s manufacturing sectors. Both output and new orders were especially disappointing. We maintain our view that fragile global... 1st August 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Faster growth reduces the need for rate cuts in Korea Data released today show that Korea’s economy picked up in Q2 on the back of stronger consumption and investment. Although low inflation means policymakers still have scope to cut interest rates, with... 25th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Bottoming out? Growth in Emerging Asia, which has slowed sharply since the start of the year, may have bottomed out. According to our GDP Tracker, which uses monthly data for output and expenditure, regional GDP... 24th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asia’s export weakness to continue Exports from Emerging Asia remain lacklustre and continue to hold back the region’s growth. As this Weekly explains, a strong and sustained export recovery is unlikely anytime soon. 22nd July 2013 · 1 min read
China Economics Focus Asia’s diverging growth prospects China’s Q2 GDP data underline the extent to which Asia’s economic landscape has shifted. We expect growth in China to continue to slow over the next couple of years. For India, the worst of the... 17th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korean rates kept on hold, but cut likely before year-end The Bank of Korea (BoK) kept its main policy rate on hold at 2.5% today, as expected. Nevertheless, with inflation set to remain weak and economic growth likely to stay lacklustre, we have pencilled... 11th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economic Outlook Policy approaches turning point Despite China’s ongoing slowdown, growth in the rest of Emerging Asia should pick up over the next couple of years, helped by a combination of loose monetary policy and stronger global demand. The... 5th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update June PMIs provide little encouragement The June PMIs for Emerging Asia suggest the region’s manufacturing sectors continue to struggle. New orders were particularly disappointing. We think fragile global demand will make life difficult for... 1st July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Capital outflows pose economic challenge The main development of the past month has been the big sell-off in financial markets which has been triggered by worries about the consequences of a scaling back of QE in the US. Foreign investors... 26th June 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update May PMIs suggest manufacturing recovery continues to falter The May PMIs for emerging Asia suggest the region’s manufacturing recovery has lost momentum. Most central banks have loosened monetary policy in recent months, but they will not be able to fully... 3rd June 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly NIEs underperformance set to continue One of the most notable features of the Q1 GDP data for Emerging Asia is the continued weak performance of the NIEs (Newly Industrialised Economies, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore). This... 27th May 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Weak growth prompts monetary easing Economic growth slowed nearly everywhere in Asia last quarter. This weakness, alongside low inflation and, in the case of Korea and Australia, worries over currency strength, prompted five central... 22nd May 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Further rate cuts in Korea likely by year-end The Bank of Korea unexpectedly cut interest rates today amid fears over the strength of the global economy and concerns about the weakness of the Japanese yen against the won. Low inflation means... 9th May 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update April PMIs point toward soft recovery The May PMIs for emerging Asia suggest the manufacturing recovery is still struggling for momentum. Importantly, new export orders faltered this month. Loose monetary policy will only partly... 2nd May 2013 · 1 min read