Asia Economics Weekly High oil prices will not lift inflation The pick-up in oil prices in recent weeks has caused some to fear that inflation in Asia will soon rise sharply. These fears are over-blown. Even if oil prices stayed at current levels, inflation... 26th March 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack A promising start to 2012, but will it last? Growth in emerging Asia looks to have picked up in Q1. Strength in the US is helping to offset weakness in Europe for Asia’s exporters. There are encouraging signs of domestic demand improving early... 20th March 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Does the US still matter to Asia? The recent run of improved data from the US has led us to raise our US GDP growth forecasts for 2012 and 2013. But we believe that improved prospects for the US will make little difference to emerging... 19th March 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India takes modest steps to correct budget deficit The Indian budget for 2012/13, presented to parliament today, incorporates some significant tax hikes and should be viewed positively by the markets and the central bank. The main concern, though, is... 16th March 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Reserve Bank of India leaves repo rate unchanged The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left its repo rate unchanged at today’s meeting and took a hawkish tone in its policy statement. Given that measures of activity have picked up recently and inflation... 15th March 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update How have last year's natural disasters affected Asia? Asia was hit by several natural disasters in 2011, most notably the tsunami that struck Japan in mid- March. These events were foremost human tragedies, but they also had an economic impact. While... 12th March 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly What to expect from India’s budget After a dismal year for fiscal policy, India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will try to reestablish his credentials for sound fiscal management when he presents the budget to parliament on Friday... 12th March 2012 · 1 min read
Commodities Update India’s ban unlikely to prevent further falls in cotton prices The spot price of the benchmark Memphis cotton price have jumped more than 5% to around 87 cents per lb after India, the world’s second largest producer and exporter of cotton, banned exports of the... 6th March 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Policymakers in wait-and-see mode The trend in Asia has been towards loosening policy recently. However, signs of stronger global growth and the pick-up in oil prices are likely to persuade central banks across the region to keep... 5th March 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update February PMIs suggest industrial slowdown has bottomed out February PMIs for Asia were positive, boosting hopes that the region’s industrial sector is now on the road to recovery. However, with global growth likely to disappoint this year, any rebound in... 2nd March 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India’s growth rate slows, recovery likely to be gradual Data published today reveal a further drop in India’s GDP growth in the last quarter of 2011. Moreover investment has stalled, setting back hopes that trend growth will rise towards Chinese levels. 29th February 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Capital inflows are a threat to Asia The return of global risk appetite has helped to push up asset prices across Asia. If we are correct that the crisis in the euro-zone will worsen again later this year, global risk appetite is likely... 28th February 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update How vulnerable is Asia to high oil prices? Recent oil price increases are not a big threat to emerging Asia. The inflationary impact will be small even if prices remain at current levels. Asian economies are relatively oil-dependent but their... 28th February 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Risks to growth still skewed to the downside Almost all countries in emerging Asia have now released their Q4 GDP figures. Growth slowed across most of the region, mainly due to weakness in external demand. The recent improvement in the US, a... 23rd February 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus How would emerging Asia cope with a euro break-up? The major impact of euro-zone break-up on emerging Asia would come from the resulting weakness of export demand. If the break-up was relatively smooth and the US continued to grow, as we think is... 23rd February 2012 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update How bad were the Q4 GDP data for emerging Asia? Economic growth in the final quarter of last year was disappointing for most economies in emerging Asia. Although risks to growth are generally on the downside, a closer look at Q4 GDP data suggests... 22nd February 2012 · 1 min read
