Asia Economics Update Asia's manufacturing growth slow Manufacturing PMIs for March, released overnight and today, remained buoyant for India, but declined in Korea, Taiwan and dropped even more sharply in Australia. New export orders accelerated for both... 1st April 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Japan's crisis unlikely to hit Emerging Asia's growth hard Economic growth in the region has remained healthy, while inflation has continued to climb. The disruption stemming from Japan’s 11th March earthquake and tsunami has increased uncertainty around the... 31st March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan rate outlook hinges on property Following today’s expected rate hike, the outlook for monetary policy in Taiwan depends largely on what happens to property prices. As things stand, rates are likely to rise again at the next... 31st March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lanka set to sustain above-trend growth this year Data released today show that Sri Lanka’s economy grew by 8.0% in 2010 as a whole, as we had long been expecting. The central bank (CBSL) left policy rates unchanged at its meeting in March, but we... 30th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Vietnam to continue focusing on inflation risks Vietnam’s Q1 GDP figures were released today and show that growth eased at the start of the year. We expect the expansion to stay on a weaker track this year given policymakers’ ongoing efforts to... 29th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Pakistan's economic reforms push back monetary tightening The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) left its policy rate unchanged at 14.0% over the weekend. The fiscal adjustment programme appears to be back on track and means that there is less urgency for SBP to... 28th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly India and Indonesia central banks will continue to hike Mostcentral banks across the region will continue tightening policy settings thisyear, although the pace of policy normalisation will vary between countries. Wecompare the policy outlook for the... 28th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update More rate hikes on the way in the Philippines The Philippines’ central bank (BSP) raised its key policy rate by 25bp to 4.25% today, as expected. Rising food and fuel prices suggest that inflation will continue to accelerate in coming months and... 24th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand set for a challenging year Today’s Q4 GDP figures confirm that New Zealand’s recovery was struggling to gain traction at the end of last year. Growth will be weak in the near term following the recent earthquakes, but we expect... 24th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How will the disaster in Japan affect the region? There is no doubt that Japan has suffered a human tragedy, and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected. The resulting economic impact on the rest of Asia-Pacific will be varied across... 21st March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Reserve Bank raises rates as core inflation rises The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the repo rate by 25bp to 6.75% today, as expected. In response to the RBI’s concerns about core inflation, we have revised our rate hike expectations upwards to 7... 17th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly India to raise repo rate despite falling inflation We expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to hikes its key policy rates on Thursday. However, the spike in food prices appears to be unwinding, while recent activity figures have been weak. These... 14th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank Negara shifts back into tightening mode Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) left its policy rate unchanged at 2.75% today, in line with the consensus view but contrary to our expectations of a hike. Nonetheless, BNM resumed policy tightening by... 11th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand's cash rate to rise sooner than markets expect The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) yesterday cut its cash rate by 50bp to 2.5% in response to last month’s devastating earthquake in Christchurch. The RBNZ made it clear that it intends to stay in... 11th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korea’s central bank has more work to do The Bank of Korea (BoK) lifted its policy rate by 25bp to 3.0% today, as was universally anticipated. Policymakers are rightly focused on tackling local price pressures, which are not solely due to... 10th March 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update More Bank of Thailand tightening to come The Bank of Thailand (BoT) raised its policy rate by 25bp to 2.5% today, as expected. As with elsewhere across the region, keeping a lid on inflation is the key concern for policymakers. We expect... 9th March 2011 · 1 min read