Thai economy slows in March, but seen improving in future – C.bank
Thailand’s economy slowed down in March compared with the previous month, as exports declined but the service sector continued to improve, driven by higher foreign tourist numbers, the central bank said on Friday.
Economic activity is expected to have improved in April and exports should gradually get better along with a recovery in the economies of trading partners, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) said in a statement.
In the first quarter, the economy continued to improve from the previous period, mainly due to the tourism sector which bolstered services and private consumption, the BOT said.
Last month, the BOT trimmed its projections for economic growth to 3.6 percent this year and 3.8 percent next year, down from earlier forecasts of 3.7 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.
But it raised its forecasts for foreign tourist arrivals to 28 million this year and 35 million next year, up from 25.5 million and 34 million, respectively. That compared with a record of nearly 40 million visitors in pre-pandemic 2019.
Thailand recorded a current account surplus of $4.8 billion in March, after a surplus of $1.3 billion in the previous month.
IMF raises 2023 economic outlook for Asia, sees China and India making up half of global growth
The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for Asia-Pacific, saying the region’s growth will be primarily driven by China’s recovery and “resilient” growth in India. This comes as the rest of the world braces for slower growth from tightened monetary policy and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Organization predicts Asia-Pacific’s gross domestic product to expand 4.6 percent this year, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than its forecast in October, according to its May regional economic outlook released Tuesday.
The IMF’s upgraded outlook would mean the region would contribute around 70 percent of global growth, it said. The region expanded 3.8 percent in 2022.
Why everyone in business loves India right now
When Tim Cook arrived in India earlier this month to open Apple’s first physical store in the country, he was welcomed like a hero.
The CEO was greeted with cheers and applause, presented with a vintage Macintosh and held court with the country’s officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Cook’s visit, the latest by a top global executive, exemplifies the rising tide of interest that corporations and governments are showing in doing business with India. Just days after his landmark trip, Pret A Manger, a trendy British sandwich chain, set up its first outlet in the commercial capital of Mumbai, as it bet on the country’s growing middle class.
India will surpass China to become the world’s most populous nation this weekend, according to calculations from the United Nations, in a milestone that will only cement its growing image as darling of the global economy.
Its new status has cast attention on whether its economy will harness that demographic strength to displace China in other ways.
Bangladesh’s economic miracle is in jeopardy
Squeezed on three sides by India and on the fourth by the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, the world’s eighth-most populous country, is both a much-praised model of development and a significant regional economy. Since a brutal war of independence from Pakistan in 1971, it has made remarkable social and economic progress.
A billiard-table-flat land on the combined floodplain of some of Asia’s biggest rivers, the country was once a byword for poverty, famine and natural disasters. Today, with a population of 170m, devastating human losses to cyclones are, thanks to shelters and warning systems, a thing of the past. So, too, are widespread food shortages. Child mortality rates are slightly better than the global average and half those of Pakistan.
Indonesia economy likely grew 4.95pc on year in q1
Indonesian annual economic growth likely slowed to its weakest in more than a year in January-March and shrank on a quarterly basis as lower commodity prices hit exports and higher interest rates restricted domestic demand, a Reuters poll found.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy grew 4.95 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, according to the median forecast of 23 economists polled April 26-May 2. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts ranged from 4.23 percent to 5.20 percent.
In Japan, an uphill climb for PM Kishida’s ‘new capitalism’
Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s new capitalism seeks to supplant the long-standing neoliberal policies that have dominated Japan since the 1980s, including the country’s more recent shift to “shareholder capitalism.” Instead, the Kishida administration is pursuing a more inclusive “stakeholder capitalism” and aims to stimulate a “virtuous cycle of growth and distribution” to increase wages nationwide and revitalize a slowly eroding middle class.
Today, the Kishida administration faces significant economic challenges amid an increasingly complex regional security and geopolitical environment. Japan’s most pressing demographic and societal challenges, including a rapidly aging population, declining birth rate, and workplace gender inequality, have also put added pressure on the country’s economy and welfare state.
Malaysia central bank may hit pause after surprise rate hike
Malaysia’s central bank unexpectedly raised its benchmark interest rate (MYINTR=ECI) on Wednesday, as it looks to manage persistent inflation amid strong domestic demand.
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) lifted its overnight policy rate by 25 basis points to 3 percent, confounding economists expectations for an extended pause.
Some economists now see the move marking the end of the current tightening cycle as price pressures ease along with slowing global growth that will likely hurt the export-driven economy.
BNM had kept rates unchanged at its two previous meetings this year, as it sought to assess the impact of four consecutive hikes totalling 100 basis points in 2022.
Golomt bank: the open bank vision driving a brighter future for Mongolia
Mongolia, a mineral-rich nation strategically located between China and Russia, is bouncing back strongly from a pandemic slump – with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecasting its economy to grow 5.4 percent in 2023.
While its development remains heavily dependent on coal, Mongolia’s potential for sustainable development through renewable energy is enormous. The ADB estimates its combined wind and solar potential to be enough to meet not only its own energy demand – but also northeast Asia’s needs with suitable transmission infrastructure.
One of the chief ways the landlocked nation can invest in a brighter future of sustainable and inclusive growth is through transition to a digital economy, which can reduce its dependence on commodities exports and drive less carbon-intensive industries.
“The Mongolian economy stands to benefit enormously from further digitalisation, which can boost productivity and support economic diversification,” according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which in 2022 launched a partnership to boost Mongolia’s digital economy.
Administrative hurdles for Nepal’s integrated social registry
Governments worldwide have used Social Protection Programmes (SPPs) to strategically assist marginalised and vulnerable citizens to cope with hardships and social exclusion. SPPs typically include a mix of contributory schemes, including insurance pensions and non-contributory schemes, such as cash transfers and subsidies. Advancing SPPs is integral to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda — Sustainable Development Goal 10 specifically calls for leveraging SPPs to reduce inequality.
Less than half of the global population has access to SPPs. The situation in developing economies like Nepal is much worse, where, on aggregate, only one-third of citizens access SPPs. Nepal provides an interesting case because SPPs have been considered instrumental in its recovery from three significant crises in the new millennium — a decade-long civil war that ended in 2006, the 2015 Earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Integrated Social Registry (ISR) collates demographic and household-level socio-economic data in one database. In order to modernise SPPs and civil registration structures, the Nepalese government approved an Integrated National Framework on Social Protection in 2022.
Philippines’ innovation economy and clean energy transition
US President Joseph Biden said he will send a “first of its kind” presidential trade and investment mission to the Philippines.
Biden made the remark following his bilateral meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Washington.
The US leader noted Manila and Washington’s “strong partnership” and “deep friendship, one that has been enriched by millions of Filipino-Americans and the communities all across the United States.”
“We’re tackling climate change, we’re accelerating our countries’ chances… and we’re standing up for our shared democratic values and workers’ rights… and together we’re deepening our economic cooperation,” Biden told Marcos.
Hong Kong holds edge over Singapore
A Study rating perennial rivals Hong Kong and Singapore as business hubs gives the overall edge to Hong Kong thanks to factors such as its financial prowess and talent pool, while pointing out Singapore’s advantage in technology and detailing shifts in the two cities’ office rental markets.
The study, released by property consultancy CBRE on Tuesday, rated Hong Kong and Singapore across seven broad categories. Hong Kong came out on top in three: the scale of its financial industry, its availability of talent and its ample supply of office space.
Sri Lanka crisis: central bank lays out extent of economic problems
Sri Lanka’s central bank has laid out the extent of the country’s worst economic crisis in more than 70 years.
In its annual report, the bank outlined how last year wages failed to keep up with the soaring cost of everything from food to fuel.
“Several inherent weaknesses” and “policy lapses” helped to trigger the severe economic problems that engulfed the South Asian nation, the bank says.
The bank now expects the economy to return to growth next year.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka forecast the economy will shrink by 2 percent this year, but expand by 3.3 percent in 2024.
The prediction is more optimistic than the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which forecast a contraction in 2023 of around 3 percent and growth of 1.5 percent next year.
The central bank’s report also outlined how headline inflation reached almost 70 percent in September as prices of fresh fruit, wheat and eggs more than doubled.
At the same time the cost of transportation and essential utilities such as electricity and water rose even faster.
Last year, the economy shrank by 7.8 percent and the country defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time since independence from the UK in 1948.
Defaults happen when governments are unable to meet some or all of their debt payments to creditors.
This damaged its reputation with lenders, making it even harder to borrow money on the international markets.
“The Sri Lankan economy faced its most onerous year in its post-independence history,” the report said.
An “unsustainable” economic model “steered the country towards a multifaceted disaster,” it added.