Asia Economics Update Bank Indonesia to keep monetary policy tight Bank Indonesia (BI) today unexpectedly hiked interest rates in response to continued weakness in the rupiah. Looking ahead, even if the currency starts to recover soon, monetary policy will still need... 12th September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Rates on hold in the Philippines, but hikes likely next year With no sign that strong economic growth is feeding through into higher consumer price inflation, the central bank in the Philippines (BSP), as expected, opted to keep interest rates unchanged today... 12th September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korean rates set for prolonged hold The Bank of Korea (BoK) kept interest rates on hold today amid signs that the economy is starting to recover. Looking ahead, with inflation set to remain subdued, we think the central bank will keep... 12th September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand rate hike still looks some way off The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) kept its policy rate unchanged at 2.5% today. A rate hike is likely in 2014, but tightening is unlikely to be aggressive. 11th September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Falling current account surpluses are not to be feared Current account deficits in India and Indonesia have rightly caused some concern, but elsewhere in Asia the trend towards smaller current account surpluses should be welcomed. 9th September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Central bank in Malaysia to hike rates next year Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) kept its policy rate unchanged at 3.0% at its meeting today. We expect the BNM to keep rates on hold for the rest of the year before hiking by 25bp as it looks to reduce... 5th September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update What should we make of India’s latest reforms? The new governor of India’s central bank has arrived with a package of reforms that should settle the nerves of investors. However, the government has not been playing its part, making little progress... 5th September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australia’s mining slowdown is inevitable Australia’s GDP growth remained slightly below trend in Q2. We expect growth to slow further over the coming quarters as the economy struggles to cope with cooling mining investment. 4th September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Currency weakness will not lead to inflation spike in Asia The recent sell-off in Asian currencies has sparked fears that the region is about to suffer a sharp spike in inflation. We think this is unlikely. While exchange rate depreciation can push up the... 3rd September 2013 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update EM PMI signals modest improvement in manufacturing Our EM-wide PMI suggests that emerging market manufacturing improved a little last month. The recovery in the euro-zone in recent months appears to have boosted external demand, particularly in... 3rd September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australia likely to cut rates before the end of the year The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept its policy rate on hold today, as expected. However, we still expect further loosening before the end of the year, and think that rates will remain very low in... 3rd September 2013 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update BRIC GDP growth propped up by Brazil rebound in Q2 At an aggregate level, the second quarter GDP data suggest that the BRIC economies held up relatively well in Q2. However, this was largely due to a surprisingly strong rebound in Brazil. In the other... 2nd September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update August PMIs show Asian manufacturing sectors still struggling The August PMIs for Emerging Asia show that, outside of China, the region’s manufacturers are continuing to struggle, with the headline numbers now below 50 across the region. 2nd September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Is India’s economy heading the way of its currency? Today’s GDP figures underline that India’s economy was already fragile before the recent rout of the rupee. Given the ongoing turmoil, economic conditions look likely to get worse before they get any... 2nd September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Rupee and rupiah take a hit, signs of resilience elsewhere Asia has borne the brunt of the EM currency sell-off this month with the Indian rupee and Indonesian rupiah the worst performers in the emerging world. The currencies of Thailand and the Philippines... 29th August 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Slower growth in Indonesia likely after recent rate hikes The extent of the latest rout in emerging market currencies has prompted comparisons with previous crises, such as that in the autumn of 2008. But we suspect some recovery may be around the corner... 29th August 2013 · 1 min read
