- Singaporean retail sales growth jumped to 8.4% in February, from 1.6% in January…
- …Bolstered by Lunar New Year festive demand falling in February, compared with January in 2023.
- We still expect a gradual moderation in retail sales this year as wage and employment growth slows.
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- The big drop in Vietnamese GDP growth to 5.7% in Q1 was due mainly to seasonal noise unwinding…
- …Trade enjoyed a robust start to the year, but the same cannot be said for household spending.
- We push back our expectation for the first BI cut to Q4, given rising and stubborn food inflation.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In one line: A y/y bounce inflated by base effects, but trends at the margin are finally turning.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- We now see GDP growth in Singapore rising to 2.6% in Q1, after 2.2% in Q4…
- …Supported by the ongoing recovery in external demand and higher tourist arrivals.
- We’ve also upgraded our 2024 growth forecast to 2.2%, from 1.7%, underpinned by healthier trade.
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
8% GROWTH IN INDIA AN UNSUSTAINABLE FACADE
- …TAIWAN’S SURPRISE HIKE SHOULD BE A ‘ONE-AND-DONE’
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- Ignore the narrowing of Thailand’s customs trade deficit in February; the broad trend is deterioration…
- …Year-over-year export growth is topping out , with a number of major markets still very sluggish.
- Don’t get carried away by the jump in Taiwanese retail sales growth in February to nearly 10%.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- Singaporean headline inflation increased to 3.4% in February, from 2.9%, on festive demand…
- …But, with goods disinflation well-behaved and one-off increases factored in, inflation is likely to fall.
- In Malaysia, new water tariffs caused headline inflation to rise in February, to 1.8% from 1.5%.
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
Lunar New Year demand boosts headline CPI in Singapore
New tariff adjustment mechanism pushes up utilities inflation in Malaysia
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- The China Plus One wave is becoming clear in FDI, with flows into ASEAN outpacing those into China…
- …But Singapore’s huge magnetic pull skews the regional story; Vietnam is a clear winner, otherwise.
- India’s PMIs enjoyed a solid bounce in Q1, pointing to only a minor slowdown in GDP growth from Q4.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In one line: Anticipated hike to electricity tariffs spooks the CBC into a surprise hike.
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
India's manufacturing PMI jumps to a 17-year high, but so what?
The rebuild of inflationary pressures in services is becoming harder to ignore
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In an unexpected move, the Taiwanese central bank raised its discount rate to 2.000% yesterday…
- …Its main worry appears to be the impending rise in electricity tariffs, likely to come in April.
- The improving economic outlook has given the CBC space, but this hike is likely 'one -and- done'.
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In one line: Still waiting for the first of a couple green lights.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- Bank Indonesia left the BI rate unchanged at 6.00% yesterday, as universally expected.
- Its ongoing insistence on the need to safeguard the IDR is unwarranted; the carry trade has long turned.
- The Board’s thinking on GDP is becoming more muddled; expect to see the first 25bp cut in June.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
Malaysian export growth slumps in February on seasonal effects
Singapore's February exports hide continued recovery in electronics
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- Singaporean exports fell into the red in February; blame Lunar New Year seasonal distortions...
- ...Export growth will likely resume its recovery path, albeit at a more gradual pace for most of H1.
- Malaysian export growth slowed in February, dragged down by a sharp drop in re-exports.
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In one line: A one-off, or is the lumpy slide in non-oil imports finally over?
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
The early 2024 misery in Indonesian exports continues
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
