India’s fiscal position eases into August
Oct 01, 2015 02:07 am UTC| Commentary
Indias cumulative fiscal deficit in first five months of FY15/16 scaled back on higher non-tax revenues support, while expenditure remained on track. Helped by a rare fiscal surplus in Aug, the Apr-Aug fiscal deficit...
Loan growth has moderated again in Singapore
Oct 01, 2015 01:57 am UTC| Commentary
Loan growth has moderated again in Singapore. After a modest uptick to 2.2% YoY in the previous month, overall loan growth slipped to 1.5% in August. This is mainly driven by a sharp drop in business loan growth to 0.2%,...
Hong Kong's August retail sales data are due this Friday
Oct 01, 2015 01:36 am UTC| Commentary
Hong Kongs August retail sales data are due this Friday. Retail sales values and volumes are expected to contract 8.5% YoY and 4.5% respectively, versus the 2.8% contraction and 1.9% growth in July respectively. The...
Oil price collapse has negatively affected the Norwegian economy
Oct 01, 2015 00:57 am UTC| Commentary
The oil price collapse has negatively affected the Norwegian economy, which depends on its petroleum industry for roughly one-fifth of the countrys GDP and half of its export receipts. While Norway is entering into the oil...
South Korea’s sovereign creditworthiness is improving
Oct 01, 2015 00:43 am UTC| Commentary
In mid-September, Standard Poors upgraded the countrys credit rating by one notch to AA- on the back of a sound economic growth outlook as well as a decline in the banking sectors external debt and a lower share of...
A monetary easing bias remains in place in New Zealand
Sep 30, 2015 23:27 pm UTC| Commentary Central Banks
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) reduced the benchmark overnight cash rate by 25 basis points (bps) in September following two equivalent cuts in June and July, taking the key rate to 2.75%. Inflationary pressures...
Japan’s sovereign creditworthiness is weakening
Sep 30, 2015 23:17 pm UTC| Commentary
In mid-September, Standard Poors downgraded Japans sovereign credit rating by one notch to A+, assessing that the governments strategy to revive economic growth and end deflation has not been successful enough to support...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget
Why Germany ditched nuclear before coal – and why it won’t go back
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight