Philippine inflation falls back dramatically into the BSP’s target range, thanks to food base effects
The return of transportation and communication deflation in Thailand should be short-lived
Soft start for Singaporean retail sales growth in Q3
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- ASEAN’s PMI slowed noticeably to 51.1 in August from the mid-to-high 51.0 range since May…
- …Vietnam's and Thailand’s PMIs saw the biggest declines from July, but Indonesia is the real worry.
- The deterioration in orders, due to BI’s excessively tight policy stance in Indonesia, is isolated for now.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
Indonesia’s PMI is going from bad to worse, hitting the ASEAN headline
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
Steady headline masks continued food disinflation in Indonesia
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In one line: Unwinding of discrepancy boost in Q2 hides early signs of a revival in consumption.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In one line: Continue to ignore; households are still struggling.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- Indonesia’s main inflation gauges were unchanged in August: the headline at 2.1% and core at 2.0%…
- …But food inflation remains a big drag and will likely pull the headline below 1.5% at the turn of the year.
- The budget deficit has ballooned this year, but 2025 looks set to see only marginal subsidy reductions.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- India’s Q2 GDP was hit largely by the unwinding of the discrepancy boost, hiding a consumer bump.
- The Q3 PMIs so far point to a further slowdown, and business expectations continue to sour rapidly.
- The pressure on households persists, but the gap between liabilities and asset growth is closing.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
BSP PULLS THE TRIGGER ON RATE CUTS
- …INDIA’S FINAL 2024/25 BUDGET IS NO GAME-CHANGER
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In one line: Relax; the trade balance is stabilising.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- Headline inflation in Singapore stayed at 2.4%, as services disinflation offset transportation inflation...
- ...But it is too early to celebrate, since the drop was due to external-facing travel services disinflation.
- Taiwanese retail sales started Q3 disappointingly, but rising wage growth is a promising signal.
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In one line: Slow start to Taiwanese retail spending growth in Q3.
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
Cooling of Singaporean services inflation prone to reversal
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- Malaysian headline inflation benefited from food disinflation, which offset higher services inflation...
- …But this engine of disinflation is likely to stall in the coming months, resulting in the headline rising.
- We still expect the BNM to hold policy rates in 2024, as average inflation is below its forecast.
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- The Bank of Thailand left its policy rate at 2.50% yesterday in another six-to-one split vote…
- …We got this one wrong, but we continue to believe that 50bp of cuts will be made by year-end.
- The MPC is finally worrying about local demand; better late than never, as exports won’t help.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In one line: Still sticking to our call for Q4 easing, but a September move can’t be ruled out.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- In one line: Still believe that cuts are just around the corner.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- Both export and import growth in Malaysia beat consensus by a large margin in July…
- …But the stronger surge in import growth resulted in the trade surplus more than halving.
- Smaller trade surpluses are likely to be typical in H2, but a pick-up in real activity should support GDP.
Moorthy Krshnan (Senior Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
- Thailand’s economy lost momentum in Q2, despite a hefty—but unsustainable—bounce in exports…
- …External demand looks set to stay lacklustre into 2025, weighing further on already-weak capex.
- We remain downbeat on growth, and still see the BoT cutting rates twice before year-end.
Miguel Chanco (Chief EM Asia Economist)Emerging Asia
