Emerging Markets Economics Update Assessing the early evidence of “friend-shoring” in EMs One way in which EMs may benefit from the fragmentation of the global economy into US- and China-aligned blocs is via “friend-shoring”. There appears to be evidence that the US is importing a higher... 19th July 2023 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Thai election farce, BoK’s hawkish hold, El Niño risks The winner of Thailand’s election, Pita Limjaroenrat of the Move Forward Party, on Thursday failed to secure enough votes in parliament to become the country’s next prime minister. This raises the... 14th July 2023 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Update BoK to change course soon The Bank of Korea today left interest rates unchanged (at 3.5%) and the accompanying statement and press conference were more hawkish than we had anticipated. Accordingly, we are pushing back the... 13th July 2023 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Fall in inflation keeps BoK rate cut in play Further falls in inflation and the weakness of the most recent activity data support our view that the Bank of Korea (BoK) will shift to loosening monetary policy sooner than when others expect. 4th July 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Manufacturing PMIs & Korea Trade (June.) Manufacturing PMIs declined across most of Emerging Asia and the underlying data point to further weakness ahead. Falling new orders and elevated inventory levels are likely to continue to weigh on... 3rd July 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economic Outlook Slower growth, falling inflation and interest rate cuts GDP growth has slowed sharply across most of Emerging Asia since the middle of last year and looks set to remain weak over the coming quarters, as tight monetary policy at home and subdued activity... 22nd June 2023 · 34 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Good news for the BoK, worst now over for Sri Lanka The minutes of the Bank of Korea’s May monetary policy meeting, published this week, confirm that the central bank is becoming increasingly concerned about the growth outlook. And with inflationary... 16th June 2023 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Thai inflation below target, tourism rebound continues Inflation in Thailand fell back sharply last month and is now below the central bank’s target, further supporting our view that the BoT’s tightening cycle is now over. Tourism across Asia has... 9th June 2023 · 8 mins read
FX Markets Update Won weakness likely to continue this year Dismal economic growth has established the Korean won as one of the worst-performing emerging market (EM) currencies against the dollar this year. We expect Korea’s bleak growth prospects and... 8th June 2023 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Korea’s economic woes rumble on The latest activity data for Korea were downbeat and support our view that the economy is set to weaken in the second quarter. Meanwhile, house prices fell further in May and are now down about 10%... 1st June 2023 · 5 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs & Korea Trade (May.) Manufacturing PMIs declined in most countries in Emerging Asia. Weak demand and elevated inventory levels are likely to continue to weigh on manufacturing output in Asia over the coming quarters. 1st June 2023 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Weak start to Q2, hawkish BoK, Vietnam rate cut Recent national accounts data confirmed that most economies struggled in the first quarter of the year. The latest monthly activity data suggest that Q2 is shaping up to be another weak quarter... 26th May 2023 · 9 mins read
Asia Economics Update Hawkish BoK, but early cuts still possible The Bank of Korea today left interest rates unchanged (3.5%) for a third consecutive meeting, and pushed back against the possibility of early interest rate cuts. However, with inflation falling back... 25th May 2023 · 3 mins read
