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 Weekly What will Korea's election mean for its economy? A presidential election will take place in Korea on Wednesday. Despite the political differences between the two frontrunners, their economic policies have much in common. As such, we think the... 17th December 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea's central bank has more work to do The Bank of Korea (BoK) kept its policy rate at 2.75% today, as was widely expected. Korea’s economic slowdown has bottomed out, but we think growth is unlikely to rebound strongly and that inflation... 13th 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 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 Economics Update More policy stimulus on the way in Korea The Bank of Korea (BoK) cut its policy rate by 25bp to 2.75% today, as expected. Growth has slowed sharply and is unlikely to rebound strongly anytime soon. With inflation set to remain low, there is... 11th 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 Update Bank of Korea likely to cut again The Bank of Korea (BoK) unexpectedly held its policy rate at 3% today. Nevertheless, we still believe that global growth will continue to disappoint and that more policy stimulus will be needed to... 13th September 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Is inflation about to reach a turning point? Headline inflation rates across emerging Asia, which had been trending lower this year, look set to pick up in coming months. Nonetheless, inflation in the region is unlikely to rise sharply and... 11th September 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asia's consumers far from immune to global problems We expect global demand to stay weak in coming quarters and for labour markets and consumer confidence in Asia to soften as a result. Central banks in the region are likely to ease further, which... 31st August 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea not done cutting rates The Bank of Korea (BoK) held its policy rate at 3.0% today. Nonetheless, we believe that global growth will continue to disappoint and that more policy stimulus will be needed soon to support Korea’s... 9th August 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea’s weak growth to prompt more policy loosening Today’s GDP data from Korea show that the economy grew at a sub-trend pace in the second quarter. Given that tackling inflation is no longer policymakers’ top priority, more stimulus measures are... 26th July 2012 · 1 min read
