Markets

Malaysia’s leadership must be extremely satisfied on two counts: their success in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the parliament’s favourable position on the agreement. It is amazing that Malaysia has negotiated to preserve the Bumiputera agenda, obtain a...

India’s 2015–2020 foreign trade policy aims to increase merchandise exports from US$450 billion in 2013–14 to US$750 billion by 2020. This will be difficult to achieve. More than a year of negative exports growth has raised concerns about India’s ability...

As the Communist Party of Vietnam prepared for its five-year national congress, suspense built over who would take over the party’s helm. When the curtain was finally lifted on 25 January 2016, supporters of populist Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung...

1) Indonesia announced it will allow full foreign ownership in many local industries in an effort to boost foreign investment, 2) The Thai military government called a referendum on the new constitution on July 31, 3) Poland’s ruling Law and...

On 14 January 2016, Indonesian supporters of so-called Islamic State (IS) militant group launched a coordinated bomb and gun assault in the heart of Jakarta. The attack is a game changer for terrorism in Indonesia. However, Indonesia’s leaders are closing...

The day after the 12th national Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam announced the suspension of its two governing board members. The men allegedly committed ‘wrongdoings in management’, a term...

Australia’s 2015 Intergenerational Report assumed that labour productivity would grow at an average annual rate of 1.5 percent over the period 2015 to 2055. This is slightly lower than the growth in labour productivity over the last decade because multifactor...

China’s diminished growth prospects have figured prominently in recent commentaries about global economic conditions and world stock markets (e.g. Frankel 2016). The general view, with which I concur, is that China will grow in the future at a much slower...

Two weeks after the terrorist attack in front of the Sarinah Department Store in central Jakarta, a clearer picture is emerging of the key figures behind the operation and its significance for Indonesian jihadism. Two weeks after the terrorist attack...

After a meltdown in Asia, the global capital markets are stabilizing in Europe.   The US S&P managed to recoup about half of its losses before the close yesterday, but this gave not comfort to Japanese investors.  The yen's strength and...

Unlike other emerging economies, strong investor sentiment and the meltdown in crude oil prices bolstered India’s growth in the last financial year. Though the projected growth rate for 2016 shows a slight decline of 0.1 percent, the World Bank predicts...

EM assets for the most part fared well last week, and positive sentiment should carry over into this week.  China reported January foreign reserves over the weekend, and they fell less than expected to $3.231 bln.  China markets are closed...

One of the biggest annual celebrations around the world is upon us. February 8 marks the start of the Lunar New Year in China. Also known as the Spring Festival, it is the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar,...

The Philippine presidential campaign period officially begins on 9 February. But amid the same old spiels about political piety, not one of the five presidential candidates — current Vice-President Jojo Binay, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Grace Poe...

Chinese markets will be closed next week for the Lunar New Year celebration.  However, over the weekend, China will report its January reserve figures.  The market suspects that the PBOC burnt through another $120 bln of reserves.  China's reserves stood...