Markets

India, the world’s third largest economy measured in purchasing-power parity terms, became a middle-income country in 2007. It has one of the world’s youngest populations, with some 260 million people below the age of 25, and its economy is once...

Singapore’s 2015 general elections will be the most widely contested since independence. Eight opposition parties and a handful of independents will vie for 89 parliamentary seats. A tactical question hangs over many of the 2.46 million eligible voters as they...

In a familiar refrain, EM assets start the week on a soft note, with markets picking up where the left off on Friday. With China markets reopening after a two-day holiday, the Shanghai dropped -2.5% and has fed into wider...

1) Reports suggest the PBOC will impose a 20% reserve requirement on financial institutions trading FX forwards, 2) The HKMA had to intervene this week at the strong side (7.75) of the HKD peg, 3) Swiss authorities are getting involved...

As South-East Asian countries gear up for their ASEAN Economic Community, coming into effect by the end of this year, Indonesia should look into setting up special economic zones together with bordering countries. These special zones are in line with...

Back in 2001, former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill coined the acronym BRIC to highlight the immense economic potential of the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China in the decades to come. They would be the economic...

On 25 August 2015, Singapore’s President Tony Tan officially dissolved the parliament, triggering early parliamentary elections. While these elections, by law, could have waited until January 2017, 2015 is particularly advantageous for the incumbent People’s Action Party (PAP). On 25...

The capital markets are quieter today.  Equities remain heavy, but losses are comparatively mild.  Core bond yields are slightly softer.  The US dollar is firmer against the major and most emerging market currencies.  The news stream is light and the...

It ain’t easy being an autocrat. Take China’s current President and Party Secretary, Xi Jinping. Since coming to power, Xi has shown himself to be unhindered by former norms of collective decision-making, and collective blame. Rather than portraying all decisions...

Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman recently said with reference to China’s President Xi Jinping ‘Are you starting to have the feeling that when it comes to economic policy Xi-who-must-be-obeyed has no idea what he’s doing?’ Nobel Prize winning economist...

Many observers tend to assume that India will play a large and growing part as a great power in a wider ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategic system, that it will use its growing power to balance and limit China’s regional weight. Some caution...

EM is starting the week with a weak tone, though the panic of last week has abated for now.  The bounce in commodity prices seems to have run out of steam, which is not helping market sentiment.  Fed Vice Chair...

1. Turkey has formed an interim government, but the AKP is slipping in the polls.  2. The South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB) is debating FX intervention, but sending confused messages.  3. Korea steps up its rhetoric to contain market volatility...

In September 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to create a society in which ‘all women can shine’. Abe acknowledged that women had long been an underutilised resource in the Japanese economy. He promised to boost female labour participation...

As we come to the end of another financial year-end reporting season and await the deluge of impenetrable financial reports, we can only lament that another year has passed and an important reporting mechanism widely used in many international exchanges,...