Asia Economics Weekly Bank of Korea set to hike again The Bank of Korea (BoK) meets this week and we expect it to raise its base rate by 25bp to 2.50%. Monetary policy remains stimulatory and the BoK has grown increasingly concerned about rising price... 6th September 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asia's manufacturing boom is easing to a pace that can last The manufacturing PMIs declined in August. The global upswing is shifting to a slower pace but we expect that the industrial sector expansion in Asia will stabilise at trend rather than collapse. 3rd September 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea's pause to be short-lived The Bank of Korea (BoK) held its policy rate at 2.25% today but maintained its tightening bias. The broad-based domestic economic recovery should continue despite external risks, while inflation is... 12th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea's central bank has little reason to pause While today’s labour market data showed that Korea’s unemployment rate rose in July, the details of the report are encouraging. In addition, we believe that the policy rate is not the appropriate tool... 11th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly What will the Bank of Korea do? The Bank of Korea (BoK) meets on Thursday and the question is whether its policy rate will be hiked for the second month in a row. Developments since the previous meeting have been broadly positive... 9th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How severe is Korea’s slowdown likely to be? GDP growth in Korea probably slowed in Q2 and is likely to stay on a weaker track in coming quarters. The economic upswing should not come under serious threat, but exports and manufacturing growth... 26th July 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea’s private sector takes the lead Korea’s GDP growth slowed in Q2 and is likely to stay on a weaker track in coming quarters. The recovery is unlikely to stall and we still expect the Bank of Korea (BoK) to lift its policy rate in... 26th July 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly The first Bank of Korea rate hike is close The Bank of Korea (BoK) meets this week and the decision whether to hike or not looks to be finely-balanced. We expect the policy rate to be unchanged at 2.0%, although the chance of a July move is... 5th July 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Crisis in North to increase Korean re-unification costs The Bank of Korea (BoK) released its latest annual estimates of the North’s economy late last week. In short, the North-South income gap remains massive. The shift away from free market reform in the... 29th June 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea leads the way on capital controls Curbs on capital flows recently announced in Korea are designed to reduce extreme swings in the won and are not an attempt to influence where the currency will move over the long run. Korea is a... 15th June 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea will probably start to tighten in Q3 The Bank of Korea (BoK) left its policy rate at 2.0% today, as expected. The turmoil in the markets and the European debt crisis weighed heavily in the decision to stay on hold. However, the local... 10th June 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Bank of Korea to hike soon, but not this month Korea’s central bank meets on Thursday and is likely to keep its policy rate on hold. The Bank of Korea (BoK) will probably wait for market volatility, stemming from an escalation in tensions with... 7th June 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economic Outlook Asia to keep going its own way (Q2 10) We expect the world recovery will lose momentum in 2010-11 but do not anticipate that the recent turmoil in the markets will derail the global upswing. The implication for Asia is that the regional... 27th May 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea laying ground work for tightening The Bank of Korea (BoK) left its policy rate at 2.0% today, as expected. The economy is picking up strongly and inflation pressures are rising. However, BoK Governor Kim is sympathetic to the... 12th May 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Fiscal frontloading lifts Korean growth Korea’s GDP accelerated in Q1 and growth is set to stay high in Q2. Inflation pressures should rise during the course of the year and the risk is that the Bank of Korea continues to move slowly and... 27th April 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea’s labour market strengthens Bank of Korea (BoK) Governor Kim shares the government view that policy rate rises should be delayed until the labour market improves significantly. The large employment gain in March, reported today... 14th April 2010 · 1 min read
