Asia Economic Outlook Tightening cycles to be short lived as headwinds grow Further interest rate hikes are likely across the region in the near term, and we have raised some of our year-end forecasts to reflect growing concern among the region’s policymakers about inflation... 20th July 2022 · 34 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs, Korea Trade, Indonesia CPI Manufacturing PMIs for June fell back mainly due to the weakness of external demand. We think weaker global growth will remain a drag on exports over the coming months and that the region’s industrial... 1st July 2022 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan: tightening cycle to be gradual Taiwan’s central bank today raised interest rates by 12.5bp (to 1.50%) and appeared to indicate that rates would be raised further this year due to concerns about rising inflation. But we think the... 16th June 2022 · 3 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs, Korea Trade (May) Manufacturing PMIs for May suggest that cost pressures remain high, but there were more encouraging signs on the external front, with new export orders showing signs of stabilising. Meanwhile, Korean... 1st June 2022 · 2 mins read
Asia Chart Pack Pakistan edges closer to IMF deal Talks between Pakistan and the IMF ended last week without agreement, but the subsequent decision by the government to cut back fuel subsidies has cleared one of the major hurdles towards a deal being... 30th May 2022 · 15 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs, Korea Trade (Apr.) Regional Manufacturing PMIs point to a further worsening of industry conditions, chiming with Korean trade data which suggest a major softening of external demand. Both reinforce the view that... 3rd May 2022 · 3 mins read
Asia Economic Outlook New headwinds emerge Our GDP growth forecasts are generally above the consensus, but with higher commodity prices and weaker global demand set to weigh on economic recoveries, growth across much of Emerging Asia will be... 28th April 2022 · 35 mins read
Asia Data Response Taiwan GDP (Q1, provisional) A further pickup in exports drove continued strong Taiwanese GDP growth in Q1, but we expect the economy to lose momentum over the coming quarters as the external sector weakens and COVID-19 weighs on... 28th April 2022 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Signs of exports softening, new governor at the BoK There are growing signs that demand for the region’s exports are starting to soften. Weaker external demand will add to the headwinds facing the region’s economies, which are already being hit by the... 22nd April 2022 · 6 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Inverted yield curves a poor signal for EM downturns While yield curves have inverted in a number of emerging markets (and look likely to do so in several others in the coming months), they don’t have a good track record in predicting recessions in the... 6th April 2022 · 4 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs, Korea Trade (Mar.) While Korean trade data show exports remained buoyant, regional Manufacturing PMIs point to lost momentum. With headwinds to export-focussed industry mounting, there are tougher times ahead. 1st April 2022 · 3 mins read
Asia Chart Pack Omicron recedes, but other headwinds emerge Successful vaccination campaigns allowed governments to keep economies open during the recent Omicron waves, and our Mobility Trackers suggest that activity held up much better than we had originally... 29th March 2022 · 15 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly More dovish signals from South East Asia Dovish comments from policymakers over the past week support our view that central banks in South East Asia will buck the trend of global tightening and leave interest rates unchanged over the coming... 25th March 2022 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Update Strong Asian export data, but will it last? Taiwan new export orders picked up again in February, but we don’t expect this strength to continue as high oil prices start to weigh on consumer spending around the world. Meanwhile, the risks to... 21st March 2022 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan hikes rates, but further tightening to be gradual Taiwan’s central bank today unexpectedly raised its main policy rate by 25bps to 1.375%, but we doubt this is the start of an aggressive tightening cycle given the mounting downside risks to growth... 17th March 2022 · 3 mins read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs, Korea Trade (Feb.) February Manufacturing PMIs and Korean trade data show that regional industry had another strong month. This should offset some of the Omicron-related weakness in service sectors this quarter. 1st March 2022 · 2 mins read
