Markets

Last year could be remembered as a glorious year for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.  As Abe ended 2014 with a surprise visit to Yasukuni Shrine, provoking harsh criticism from close neighbours, many anticipated that the most daunting task for...

The winner of the upcoming 2016 Philippine elections looks set to inherit an underwhelming legacy of lacklustre GDP growth and a shortage of infrastructure. Once again, government under-spending on projects, lower exports, outflow of portfolio investments and stagnant agricultural production...

As China’s anti-corruption drive is expanding from the public and corporate sector to financial institutions, some argue that it is hurting economic growth. In reality, it is the rule of law that can ensure China’s resilient growth. As China’s anti-corruption...

In his first calendar year as Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi focused on economics. Through high profile trips abroad and ambitious proposals at home, Modi maintained an air of energy and initiative, but the results were modest. Meantime, domestic...

It has been a rather challenging year for the Malaysian economy. Political disruptions and economic shocks have rocked the nation.  Prime Minister Najib Razak has been strenuously committed to undertaking fiscal reform. He has repeatedly stressed the importance of reducing...

EM starts the week under broad-based pressure.  We downplay reports of competitive devaluations under way because of China’s FX moves, however.  Many in EM in experiencing negative terms of trade shocks, and so their currencies are expected to depreciate.  We...

Developments in China seemed to overshadow other considerations as investors returned from the New Year.  The offices were open and desks manned, yet many did not appear to be prepared to re-deploy resources.  The lack of participation helps explain last...

On 18 December 2015, the Abe administration announced details of the much-anticipated agriculture, forestry and fisheries-related supplementary budget. It contains a list of expenditure items designed to assist the agricultural sector to respond to the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership...

1) Chinese policymakers introduced circuit-breakers for its equity markets on Monday, but then suspended them on Thursday, 2) PBOC finally fixed USD/CNY lower (albeit marginally) Friday after eight straight days of higher fixings, 3) Tensions have risen on the Korea...

In architecture, there is a dictum that ‘form follows function’. The architect decides a building’s use and then designs the building for those purposes. In Vietnam’s process of economic reforms, the reverse is often the case — ‘function follows form’....

The Shanghai stock market has had a rough start to the New Year. Bourses are down and trading was halted on its opening day after the market plunged, triggering the new circuit-breaker mechanism designed to limit volatility. It looks as...

Chinese shares and the yuan stabilized with the apparent help of the government's guiding hand, but global markets are still on the defensive.  The euro extended yesterday's decline through the $1.08 level.  The next immediate technical objective is near $1.0730. ...

Singapore’s ruling party, the People’s Action Party (PAP), enters 2016 enjoying the comfort of a magnificent electoral victory in the 2015 general elections. In that election — the first since the death of patriarch Lee Kuan Yew — the PAP...

On 28 December, the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea announced that the issue of comfort woman was ‘resolved finally and irreversibly’. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed anew ‘his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women...

Last year was a year of retrospection and affirmation for Singapore. Marking the country’s 50th year of independence, 2015 saw a yearlong series of state-sponsored events and projects to celebrate the nation’s achievements. The effect was a carefully choreographed campaign...