Markets

Banking activity is growing rapidly in China’s $30tn banking system and even though the country faces a sluggish economy, its banking system consists of some of the largest banks of the world. The combined value of Industrial and Commercial Bank...

US prices are falling.  The 0.7% decline in US consumer prices was the largest monthly drop since December 2008.  Consumer prices in January fell 0.1% from a year ago.  The last time the year-over-year CPI was negative was when the...

Since September 2013, China has been operating a new form of free trade zone (FTZ) based in a small area of Shanghai, called the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (SPFTZ). Only 28 square kilometres in area, the SPFTZ is...

The tale of the recent February Delhi assembly elections shows how quickly political fortunes can decline. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recorded a landslide victory at the 2014 national elections and won a majority of seats in...

When India opted for constitutional democracy in 1947, few gave it much of a chance. India’s diversity was overwhelming and it was home to some of the world’s poorest. But India’s democracy has succeeded beyond the expectations of even the...

Japan’s inward foreign direct investment (FDI) is extremely low in comparison with that of other developed countries and even its Asian neighbours. Japan’s inward foreign direct investment (FDI) is extremely low in comparison with that of other developed countries and...

Will it be China or the US? One is Australia’s largest trading partner, the other its traditional security ally. But what happens if Australia is forced to choose between them — will economics or history win out?Malcolm Fraser, the former...

How effective was Indonesia in addressing poverty and inequality in the decentralisation period?In the first decade of the decentralisation period, from 2001–10, Indonesia’s GDP grew at an average annual rate of only 5.4 percent. This was significantly slower than during...

With some of the big near-term uncertainties gradually being cleared up (Greece and Ukraine), we think EM assets could get some traction this week. That said, EM FX will remain vulnerable and liable to selloffs should the dollar bullish-trend resume...

No more ‘business-as-usual’ is the Jokowi government’s message in the 2015 budget. Cut fuel subsidies, ramped up infrastructure spending, and rising revenues. These three steps deliver a 1.9 percent fiscal deficit, down from 2.2 percent in 2014. This leaves space...

An endless line of water that starts from a shallow stream, grows into a big river, and then flows into the ocean. That’s how Vietnam’s former deputy prime minister, Vu Khoan, described the progress made by Vietnam and South Korea...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased its policy stance, cutting interest rates before it was expected to do so. This generated unnecessary controversy from the media and market analysts, who alleged political pressure lowered policy rates. But the...

A pressing policy question facing Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders at their summit in April 2015 and beyond is whether the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) can be sustained without more effective institutions. This article explores the link between...

After decades of the fastest economic growth in the world, China’s economy has started to slow down. This is perhaps inevitable, given an average annual growth rate of around 10% was sustained for almost thirty years following the economic reforms...

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Temasek, one of Singapore’s two sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), along with the Government Investment Corporation (GIC). Set up in 1974 as part of the newly independent city-state’s nation- building effort, Temasek has evolved...