Asia Economics Weekly Export outperformance won't reignite Vietnam's economy Vietnam's exports have been a rare bright spot for its struggling economy in recent years, mainly owing to the country's success in attracting foreign manufacturers that want a low-cost alternative to... 31st March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Asia's consumer sector is picking up After enduring a slump for much of 2013, retail sales in Emerging Asia (ex. China) appear to have turned a corner. Growth has picked up strongly across most countries in the region in recent months... 26th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Is Emerging Asia about to run into structural constraints? Concerns over structural constraints on growth have come to the fore recently, in the wake of prolonged slowdowns in some of the world's biggest emerging economies. There are some fears that parts of... 24th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia’s rate hike around the corner Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) kept its policy rate unchanged at 3.0% today as expected, but with the economy gradually gaining a firmer footing, a 25bp rate hike is unlikely to be far away. 6th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Export recovery to support growth in Asia GDP data for the fourth quarter of 2013 showed that regional growth was unchanged from Q3. Improving prospects for exports bode well for the outlook, but domestic demand needs to cool in some... 3rd March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asian currencies rebound, rupiah leads the way Following sharp falls in January, Asian currencies and equity markets have rebounded over the past month. Meanwhile, government bond yields have been broadly flat. 27th February 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia making progress in escaping middle income trap Malaysia has made decent progress in its bid to transition to high-income status by 2020. However, further reforms to enhance economic competitiveness are crucial to sustaining strong growth. 27th February 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Interest rates to stay lower than consensus expects Asian central banks have, for the most part, left interest rates on hold recently, with India the only major central bank in the region to adjust monetary policy over the past month. India raised... 25th February 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly India and Indonesia – not so fragile? After coming through the latest bout of market turmoil with surprising resilience, it could be time for Indonesia and India to hand in their membership of the so-called ”Fragile Five”. Importantly... 24th February 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Prolonged political crisis holding back growth in Thailand Following an inconclusive general election, Thailand’s power vacuum is likely to persist for a couple more months at least. Most attention has been focused on the potential short-term economic... 17th February 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Export sector to drive Malaysia’s growth The acceleration in Malaysia’s economy in the final quarter of 2013 reinforces our view that the central bank is likely to tighten monetary policy sooner rather than later. While policy tightening... 12th February 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Five reasons to be positive about the Philippines The Philippines economy came through the disruption caused by Typhoon Haiyan reasonably well, posting healthy growth in the final quarter of 2013. The outlook is also bright, with long term growth... 3rd February 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia tightening cycle to start in first half of 2014 Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) unsurprisingly kept its policy rate unchanged at 3.0% at its meeting today. But with the economy gradually gaining traction, we think the next move in rates is likely to... 29th January 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Asia escaping the worst of recent EM turmoil Asia has escaped the worst of the latest sell-off in EM assets. What’s more, some of the economies that were hit hardest during the turmoil of last summer have proved more resilient this time around. 29th January 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Asia is struggling for momentum Emerging Asia is continuing to struggle. While rising demand from the developed world is helping some economies, most notably Korea, it looks like the region as a whole ended the year on a lacklustre... 27th January 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Indian inflation subsides as RBI considers policy reform A good harvest appears to have dampened food price inflation in India. As a result, consumer and wholesale prices both fell sharply at the end of 2013. While inflation is likely to ease further over... 27th January 2014 · 1 min read
