South Korea unemployment likely rose in February

Mar 16, 2015 06:32 am UTC| Commentary

South Korea is scheduled to release February job-market data on 18 March.Standard Chartered notes its forecasts as follows: We expect the unemployment rate to have increased 0.2ppt to 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis...

New Zealand Q4-2014 GDP growth likely remained robust

Mar 16, 2015 06:29 am UTC| Commentary

Statistics New Zealand is scheduled to release Q4-2014 GDP data on 19 March.Standard Chartered notes its forecasts as follows: We expect GDP growth to have remained robust at 3.2% y/y (0.6% q/q), but slightly slower...

Japan trade data likely disappointed in February

Mar 16, 2015 06:27 am UTC| Commentary

Japan will release its February trade data on 18 March.Standard Chartered notes its forecasts as follows: We expect exports to have contracted by 1.0% y/y after they spiked 17% y/y in January, and imports to have...

Bank Indonesia to cut rate in March

Mar 16, 2015 06:23 am UTC| Commentary

Bank Indonesia (BI) will hold its policy meeting on Tuesday, 17 March.Standard Chartered notes its forecasts as follows: We expect BI to cut the BI rate and the BI overnight deposit facility (FASBI) rate by 25bps each...

BoJ to ease again in April at the earliest

Mar 16, 2015 06:20 am UTC| Commentary

Lower global oil prices have put downward pressure on domestic prices, making it difficult for the central bank to meet its 2% inflation target even by end-2016, more than three years after it launched its current monetary...

Singapore's NODX growth seen modest in Jan-Feb

Mar 16, 2015 06:15 am UTC| Commentary

Singapore will release February non-oil domestic export (NODX) data on 16 March.Standard Chartered notes its forecasts as follows:We expect NODX to have contracted 1.6% y/y versus a 4.3% increase in January, owing to the...

South Africa's current account deficit to highlight ongoing vulnerability

Mar 16, 2015 06:12 am UTC| Commentary

South Africas current account (C/A) deficit for Q4-2014 will be released on Tuesday.With mining and manufacturing both hobbled by the electricity crisis, there has been little evidence of an S.Africas export recovery since...