Asia Economics Update Pakistan: external position improving but growth to slow The collapse in the rupee and an aggressive tightening of monetary policy is leading to a welcome fall in Pakistan’s external imbalances. However, with most of the adjustment taking place through a... 5th December 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Nov.) The November PMIs for Emerging Asia indicate that the region’s manufacturing sectors lost further momentum in the middle of Q4. Meanwhile, the weakness in new export orders supports our view that the... 3rd December 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly BoT sounding hawkish, Trump renews auto tariff threat The hawkish minutes from the Bank of Thailand’s (BoT) November meeting reaffirm our view that the central bank will raise rates by 25bp at its December meeting. Meanwhile, the Korean government’s... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Trade war not to blame for Q3 slowdown A lot of commentary has blamed the slowdown in Asian GDP growth in the third quarter on the trade war between the US and China. We think these claims are misguided. The most obvious explanation for... 23rd November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Which countries are running out of fiscal firepower? Most governments in Emerging Asia have room to support their economies by loosening fiscal policy further in the event that growth continues to disappoint. However, a few countries, namely Malaysia... 13th November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Reform boost for Vietnam, regional growth slows The opening up of Vietnam’s economy has gathered pace over the pace couple of months, with the government pressing ahead with a series of reforms which should boost the country’s economic prospects... 9th November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Problems mount for Pakistan as Khan heads off to China Inflation can now be added to the list of problems facing Pakistan after figures published today showed headline inflation rose to a four-year high last month. Meanwhile, the chances of an improvement... 2nd November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly TPP boost to Asia, rate hikes unlikely in Korea The announcement that the Trans-Pacific Partnership will come into force on 30th December is important in a number of ways. Not only should it provide a boost to growth prospects across parts of Asia... 2nd November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Oct.) The October PMIs for Emerging Asia indicate that the region’s manufacturing sectors lost further momentum at the start of Q4. Meanwhile, the weakness in new export orders supports our view that the... 1st November 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Pakistan and IMF start talks, equities set for further falls The head of the IMF, Christine Legarde this week set the tone for what are likely to be tough negotiations with Pakistan when she said the Fund would require Pakistan to be “absolutely transparent”... 12th October 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update How would a deal with the IMF help Pakistan As the price for a deal with Pakistan, the IMF is likely to demand a further sharp tightening in fiscal and monetary policy as well as structural reforms aimed at raising more revenue and improving... 9th October 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update What does the recent jump in oil prices mean for Asia? The biggest impact of a period of sustained higher oil prices would be in India and the Philippines, whose current account deficits would be pushed even more into the red, putting further downward... 4th October 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Pakistan hikes rates, tightening cycle not over yet The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) hiked interest rates by a further 100bp on Saturday and made clear in its policy statement that tackling the country’s mounting external imbalances remain its priority... 1st October 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Aug.) The August PMIs for Emerging Asia suggest that the region’s manufacturing sectors remained lacklustre. Meanwhile, Korean export data suggest export growth in the rest of the region stayed robust last... 3rd September 2018 · 1 min read
Frontier Markets Wrap Frontier recovery remains on track Frontier financial markets have endured a torrid 2018, but this hasn’t been accompanied by a deterioration in the hard activity data. Admittedly, growth in the largest frontier economy, Nigeria... 29th August 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Jul.) Most of Emerging Asia’s PMIs fell in July. However, there were no clear signs in the PMI surveys that suggest the first tranche of US tariffs on Chinese goods that came into effect in early July have... 1st August 2018 · 1 min read