Asia Economics Weekly Bank of Thailand to resist pressure to cut interest rates The government is putting pressure on the Bank of Thailand (BoT) to cut interest rates in order to weaken the baht, which has been the best performing currency in Asia so far this year. The central... 22nd September 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Will tougher sanctions on North Korea work? The United Nations has agreed a new set of sanctions on North Korea, which while falling short of what was originally demanded by the US, constitute the strongest sanctions ever imposed on the country... 12th September 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Aug.) Emerging Asia’s PMIs for August suggest the region’s manufacturing sectors gained a little bit of momentum last month. In particular, there were signs of improvement in both Korea and Taiwan – the two... 1st September 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Will other central banks follow Bank Indonesia? Despite the current subdued rates of inflation across most of Emerging Asia, we don’t expect many of the region’s central banks to copy Bank Indonesia, which yesterday surprised markets by cutting... 23rd August 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Jul.) Emerging Asia’s PMIs for July suggest the region’s manufacturing sectors started Q3 on a subdued note. Focussing on the two economies where the PMIs most closely track the hard data, Taiwan’s... 1st August 2017 · 1 min read
Frontier Markets Wrap Frontier recovery still on track The recovery in frontier economies continued over the first half of this year. GDP growth averaged around 2.0% y/y in Q1, twice the rates seen in mid-2016. It would have been stronger still were it... 31st July 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Watch Second half of the year bodes well for coffee Last month, the spread between arabica and robusta coffee prices fell to its lowest level in over ten years. Elsewhere, France recently announced that it will curb the use of palm oil in biofuels... 25th July 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Trade Monitor EM export growth to slow, but not collapse EM export growth ticked up in May, but the big picture is that the sharp acceleration caused by the rebound in global commodity prices over the past year or so is now behind us. We don’t expect EM... 14th July 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Vietnam rate cut fuels financial risks Vietnam’s decision to cut interest rates today risks fuelling a further surge in credit growth, increasing the risk of a sharp rise in non-performing loans further down the line. We think the rate cut... 7th July 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economic Outlook How long will the recovery last? A pick-up in exports will lift growth in Emerging Asia to a five-year high in 2017, but mounting domestic headwinds means that this is unlikely to be sustained. We expect growth to slow in 201819... 6th July 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Jun.) The June PMIs for Emerging Asia suggest that the region’s manufacturing sectors remained in decent health. The pick up in the PMI readings in Taiwan and Korea – the two economies where the PMIs most... 3rd July 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Asian financial crisis twenty years on There are more differences than similarities between the situation now and the position many Asian countries found themselves in on the eve of the Asian financial crisis 20 years ago. But there is no... 30th June 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Vietnam GDP (Q2) Vietnam’s economy is regaining momentum, helped by a recovery in the agriculture sector. Looking ahead, with exports likely to remain strong and private sector credit still expanding at a rapid clip... 29th June 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Philippines: Duterte undermining country’s economic prospects One year since coming to power, President Duterte of the Philippines has not been the disaster for the economy that some feared. His wisest move has been to hand over responsibility for economic... 23rd June 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (May) Most of Emerging Asia’s manufacturing PMIs slipped in May, but we doubt this marks the start of a significant downturn in Asian manufacturing. 1st June 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economic Outlook Stronger exports to boost growth in 2017 Buoyant global demand should help to support growth across most of Emerging Asia over the coming quarters, but mounting domestic headwinds mean a strong rebound is not on the cards. Although the... 11th April 2017 · 1 min read
