Asia Economics Update Thai rates to stay unchanged in 2013 The Bank of Thailand kept its policy rate at 2.50% today. We continue to expect the central bank to keep rates low for the rest of 2013 before gradually tightening in 2014 as growth prospects improve. 21st August 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update A strong rebound in Thailand’s growth is unlikely Thailand’s Q2 GDP data showed continued weakness in the economy, and we do not expect much of a rebound in the second half of the year. Given the central bank’s limited scope to aggressively loosen... 19th August 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asia’s industrial outperformance to continue Asia’s manufacturers have had a hard time since the global financial crisis, and are currentlystruggling through yet another weak patch. However, they have actually done much betterthan their peers in... 19th August 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand's credit growth is a serious risk to the economy Thailand's private sector credit as a share of GDP has increased significantly in recent years, raising concerns about financial stability. Even if a crisis is avoided, current credit growth rates are... 15th August 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asia’s consumers seeing mixed fortunes For all the hype about the rise of the Asian consumer, the recent performance of consumer spending in Asia has been disappointing. The weakness is largely explained by subdued spending in the region’s... 5th August 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update July PMIs point to continued manufacturing weakness The July PMIs for Emerging Asia point to weakening conditions in the region’s manufacturing sectors. Both output and new orders were especially disappointing. We maintain our view that fragile global... 1st August 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Infrastructure projects key for Thailand’s prospects Government plans in Thailand for a series of huge infrastructure projects have the potential to transform the country’s growth prospects. However, as this Weekly explains, success is by no means... 29th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Bottoming out? Growth in Emerging Asia, which has slowed sharply since the start of the year, may have bottomed out. According to our GDP Tracker, which uses monthly data for output and expenditure, regional GDP... 24th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asia’s export weakness to continue Exports from Emerging Asia remain lacklustre and continue to hold back the region’s growth. As this Weekly explains, a strong and sustained export recovery is unlikely anytime soon. 22nd July 2013 · 1 min read
China Economics Focus Asia’s diverging growth prospects China’s Q2 GDP data underline the extent to which Asia’s economic landscape has shifted. We expect growth in China to continue to slow over the next couple of years. For India, the worst of the... 17th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand’s rice subsidy sustainable Thailand’s government can afford to maintain its rice subsidy scheme indefinitely, as long as GDP growth holds up and rice prices do not collapse. However, doing so would put at risk the goal of... 12th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update No more cuts ahead The Bank of Thailand (BoT) kept its policy rate at 2.50% at its meeting today. We believe the central bank’s easing cycle has come to an end, though subdued economic activity means rate hikes do not... 10th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economic Outlook Policy approaches turning point Despite China’s ongoing slowdown, growth in the rest of Emerging Asia should pick up over the next couple of years, helped by a combination of loose monetary policy and stronger global demand. The... 5th July 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Capital outflows pose economic challenge The main development of the past month has been the big sell-off in financial markets which has been triggered by worries about the consequences of a scaling back of QE in the US. Foreign investors... 26th June 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand's government will push for more rate cuts The Bank of Thailand cut its policy rate for the first time since October at its meeting today, under heavy pressure from the government. Another rate cut is likely in the coming months. 29th May 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Weak growth prompts monetary easing Economic growth slowed nearly everywhere in Asia last quarter. This weakness, alongside low inflation and, in the case of Korea and Australia, worries over currency strength, prompted five central... 22nd May 2013 · 1 min read
