Asia Economics Update Malaysia’s central bank to resume easing soon Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) left its main policy rate on hold at 1.75% today, but with the economy likely to remain weak for some time to come, we doubt this marks the end of the Bank’s easing cycle. 10th September 2020 · 3 mins read
Asia Chart Pack Second wave unlikely to completely derail recoveries Having been among the fastest in the world at controlling the initial outbreak, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Korea are all at different stages of a second wave of infections. With new infections in Hong... 26th August 2020 · 14 mins read
Asia Data Response Malaysia GDP (Q2) Malaysia’s economy contracted by much more than we had expected in Q2, but monthly GDP data suggest that most of the slump had unwound by the end of the quarter. We think the economy will shrink by 5... 14th August 2020 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Will Asia benefit from China’s strong rebound? China’s rapid economic recovery from the Global Financial Crisis did not play as big a role as is commonly assumed in supporting growth in the rest of Asia. We doubt a strong rebound in China from the... 24th July 2020 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Update More easing to come from Malaysia’s central bank Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) cut its main policy rate by 25bps to 1.75% today, and with the economic recovery still in its infancy, we doubt this marks the end of the central bank’s easing cycle. 7th July 2020 · 3 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Jun.) The PMIs point to an improvement in manufacturing conditions last month, although many readings are still low and suggest that overall manufacturers continue to struggle. 1st July 2020 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Focus Which countries will rebound fastest? The high-frequency data that we track suggest that while economic activity is picking up across most of the region, the pace of recovery varies significantly by country. We expect China, Singapore... 8th June 2020 · 11 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (May) We suspect that PMI readings do not accurately reflect the change in industry conditions last month, but they are still indicative of the fact that output remains very depressed. 1st June 2020 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Bumps in Korea’s recovery, how to interpret the PMIs A couple of new outbreaks of coronavirus in Korea’s capital city, Seoul, has led to renewed fears of a second wave of infections. The recent spike appears to have put the recovery on hold and has led... 29th May 2020 · 5 mins read
Asia Data Response Malaysia GDP (Q1) Malaysia Q1 GDP figures were slightly better than expected but will provide little comfort, with the economy set to contract much more sharply this quarter as depressed domestic demand and an... 13th May 2020 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Infections ease, but recovery proving slow Though there are notable exceptions, there are some encouraging signs that new infections of the coronavirus are falling in many places in Emerging Asia. The slowing spread of the virus should allow... 8th May 2020 · 6 mins read
Asia Economics Update Further rate cuts likely in Malaysia Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) today cut its policy rate from 2.50% to 2.00%, and with the outlook for growth very poor, we think the central bank will ease policy again in the coming months. 5th May 2020 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia reopening won’t prevent sharp downturn Malaysia reopened most of its economy today following nearly seven weeks of lockdown, but with consumer behaviour unlikely to return to normal quickly and global demand very weak, the economy is still... 4th May 2020 · 3 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Apr.) The manufacturing PMIs for Asia sank sharply in April and are unlikely to have bottomed out yet in many places. Any recovery in industry thereafter is set to be very slow going. 4th May 2020 · 2 mins read
Asia Chart Pack South Asia and Indonesia are a big worry We remain deeply concerned about the rapidly rising number of cases of coronavirus across South Asia as well as Indonesia. A failure to contain the virus would have significant economic consequences... 27th April 2020 · 9 mins read
Asia Economics Update Will a drop in remittances cause further pain? The scale of job losses and falls in incomes caused by coronavirus containment measures across the world – but particularly in the US and the Gulf – is likely to weigh heavily on remittance inflows... 16th April 2020 · 3 mins read
