27 Apr 2021
International Economy
It is projected that the global economy will record a solid recovery in post-pandemic 2021 as reflected by the International Monetary Fund’s decision to revise upward its 2021 growth forecast for the global economy to 6.0 percent from the prior estimate of 5.5 percent; the recovery will be led by la... Read more
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26 Apr 2021
KResearch projects that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will maintain its policy rate within the range of 0.0-0.25 percent at its meeting on April 27-28, 2021. While the US economy has shown signs of recovery following expedited vaccination efforts, with business activities able to return to normal amid t... Read more
16 Apr 2021
China’s economy in 1Q21 grew 18.3 percent YoY, sharply higher than 4Q20 which saw 6.5 percent growth YoY, setting the highest quarterly year-on-year growth in 29 years since China began to publish such data in 1992. This surge was primarily attributed to a low base in 1Q20, during which China’s ec... Read more
12 Apr 2021
Amid positive signs seen in the global economic recovery due to concerted efforts of many countries in combating the COVID-19 pandemic via rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, which have allowed them to ease lockdown restrictions, Myanmar is experiencing political turmoil at home. The country’s image in t... Read more
31 Mar 2021
Vietnam’s economy in 1Q21 grew 4.48 percent YoY, below expectations, owing to the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on consumption and the service sector in early 2021. As a consequence of the outbreaks, the Vietnamese government issued measures to temporarily shut down businesses including restaurants,... Read more
23 Mar 2021
Turkey’s lira encountered a massive selloff when the Asian stock market opened on Monday (March 22, 2021). The lira depreciated beyond 8.0000, hitting its lowest level in four months at 8.4706 lira per dollar, or an estimated drop of 15 percent from the closing price on Friday (March 19). This plung... Read more
22 Mar 2021
In the government policy statement reported at the National People’s Congress held in early March 2021, China’s Premier, Li Keqiang, announced that China would target an economic growth of more than 6 percent p.a. in 2021. KResearch is of the view that the setting of such a relatively low economic g... Read more
16 Mar 2021
KResearch assesses that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will likely maintain its policy rate at 0.0-0.25 percent during the upcoming FOMC meeting that is slated for March 16-17, 2021. Although the US economy exhibits signs of recovery, it may take a while to fully bounce back, thus prompting the Fed to... Read more
3 Feb 2021
More dynamic relationships between Myanmar and Western powers were imperative in the development of Myanmar’s economy over the past decade. As a result, it has reported relatively impressive economic growth on the back of increased foreign investment, thus helping bolster its exports and allowing My... Read more
25 Jan 2021
KResearch projects that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will keep the US policy rate within the range of 0.00-0.25 percent, without announcing any additional monetary easing tools, at the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting to be held on January 26-27, 2021. While the Fed is expected to ... Read more
18 Jan 2021
The economy of China in 4Q20 grew by 6.5 percent YoY, amounting to full-year growth that exceeded the projection, at 2.3 percent YoY. The figures reflect China’s success in efficiently controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and implementing both monetary and fiscal stimuli in a timely and effective manne... Read more
28 Dec 2020
Four years have passed since the United Kingdom held a referendum in which the majority voted to withdraw from the European Union (EU), on June 23, 2016. The UK and the EU have finally concluded their negotiations over the Brexit deal prior to the end of the transition period on December 31, 2020. G... Read more
22 Dec 2020
In the latest currency manipulation report published by the US Department of the Treasury in December 2020, Vietnam was designated as a currency manipulator because it fulfilled three benchmarks set by the US. These include an intervention in the currency-exchange market as evidenced by Vietnam’s ne... Read more
9 Dec 2020
KResearch projects that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will keep the US policy rate within the range of 0.00-0.25%, and it is unlikely that the Fed will announce any additional tools for quantitative easing (QE) at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting to be held on December 15-16, 2020. ... Read more
19 Nov 2020
Presently, Thailand is already a member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is the world’s largest free trade agreement (FTA). This is most welcome news because the RCEP will likely help enhance Thailand’s competitiveness over the short term, although the country’s long-... Read more
13 Nov 2020
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, comprises 15 member states, namely the 10 ASEAN countries and their Plus 5 which consists of China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. RCEP member states were finally able to wrap up their longstanding negotiations, which had been... Read more
4 Nov 2020
Preliminarily, products and businesses with ties to the US market will likely benefit from this historic election after braving the COVID-19 crisis this year, setting them on the path towards economic recovery in 2021. Indeed, the degree of recovery depends on the policies under the new president wh... Read more
3 Nov 2020
Various polls and projections all show that Joe Biden, the democratic presidential candidate, will win the 2020 US presidential election on November 3, 2020. Biden’s victory and the Democrats’ domination in both the House of Representatives and Senate would be a boon for the overall US economy as th... Read more
30 Oct 2020
We at KResearch assess that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will likely keep its policy rate steady at 0.0-0.25 percent during its FOMC meeting slated for November 4-5, 2020 because the US economy has begun to rebound, thus lessening its pressure to cut the Fed Funds rate further. In addition, the Fed ... Read more
22 Oct 2020
Special attention is being paid to the 2020 US presidential election, in particular visions and policy guidelines of presidential candidates to revive the US economy as the country is battling the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. KResearch is of the view that if Joe Biden, who is leading in the US e... Read more
19 Oct 2020
The Chinese economy in 3Q20 grew 4.9 percent YoY, continuing the positive trend from 2Q20, which saw 3.2 percent growth YoY. This expansion can be attributed to the gradual recovery experienced by the private sector, particularly domestic tourism activities that have only recently regained their vi... Read more
23 Sep 2020
In September 2020, China sent a positive signal in regard to its economic development plan that laid out the country’s strategies for the next five years, from 2021 through 2025. Of particular interest is China’s return to stockpiling commodities with an emphasis on food security. Such actions will ... Read more
14 Sep 2020
KResearch has assessed that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will continue to keep interest rates in a range of 0.0-0.25 percent at the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting which will be held on September 15-16, as the Fed is thought to have already used all the tools necessary to sustain the ... Read more
10 Sep 2020
Ever since the results of the EU Referendum on June 23, 2016, led to the planned withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU, the event that all parties concerned have hoped for is a negotiation to finalize the economic and trade relations between the UK and the EU going forward. However, after th... Read more
2 Sep 2020
Mr. Jerome Powell, the US Federal Reserve chairman, announced a major monetary policy shift at the latest Jackson Hole conference (August 27, 2020). The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) reached a unanimous decision in approving longer-run goals and monetary policy strategy adjustment. The shift ... Read more
24 Jul 2020
KResearch projects that the Fed will continue to maintain the interest rate at 0.0-0.25 percent at its upcoming monetary policy meeting on July 28-29, 2020. The measures that have already been taken should be sufficient to sustain the US economy, which is weakening and will likely take a long time t... Read more
17 Jul 2020
Over the course of the past two years that have been dominated by the US-China trade war, the US has been unable to reduce its trade deficit with China to the targeted level. Shifting the focus to Thailand, Thai export businesses incurred a net loss of USD 1.1 billion in related products. ... Read more
The Chinese economy reverted to growth of 3.2 percent YoY in 2Q20, versus the 6.8 percent YoY contraction reported for 1Q20, thanks to the government’s effective measures in combating the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, thus allowing economic activity in the country to return to normalcy. Its indus... Read more
9 Jun 2020
The US economy continues to experience increased risk despite recovering signs seen after Washington began easing lockdown measures in May 2020. The US Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 43.1 in May, rising over the 41.5 reported for April while unemployment slipped to 13.3 percent in May, ... Read more
7 May 2020
A majority of ASEAN member states overall may experience fragile supply chains as a result of their dependency on imports of intermediate products from sources that are highly competitive in terms of costs, namely China, plus technologies from countries that own advanced technologies, such as South ... Read more
27 Apr 2020
The US economy is experiencing markedly elevated risk from the spread of COVID-19. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that the US economy in 2020 may contract by 5.9 percent, a decline comparable in severity to that of the Great Depression in 1930. The US economy severely contracted afte... Read more
22 Apr 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a negative impact on CLMV economies through their dependency on foreign-sourced revenue from tourism and exports. Countries which are heavily dependent on foreign revenue are facing more negative effects during this crisis.... Read more
17 Apr 2020
The Chinese economy contracted by 6.8 percent (YoY) in 1Q20, marking the first time that the Chinese economy has experienced a contraction since statistical reports began in 1992. The main reason for this phenomenon is the stringent COVID-19 disease control and prevention measures issued by the Chin... Read more
3 Apr 2020
The novel coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow in severity, with most parts of the world seeing no signs of easing or control of viral spread in the near future. The pandemic has plunged the world economy into a state of higher negative risk, as it enters a recession this year. Governm... Read more
4 Mar 2020
The Federal Reserve (Fed) trimmed its policy rate by 0.50 percent to 1.00-1.25 percent at an emergency meeting, March 3, 2020. The move suggests that the Fed has a more “negative” view towards the impact of the COVID-19 on household and business spending, plus the US economy overall, prompting it to... Read more
19 Feb 2020
The competiveness of Thai exports to CLMV has trended lower compared to dynamic exports of other Southeast Asian countries. Export share of other Southeast Asian countries in CLMV surged to over 50 percent in 2019, increasing from just 17 percent reported for 2018 or within only three years. The de... Read more
30 Jan 2020
The transmission of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (n-CoV) continues to escalate, prompting the Chinese authorities to take extreme measures to prevent the virus from spreading. For example, they locked down 18 cities in Hubei province by closing off access to the cities and transportation in the provi... Read more
27 Jan 2020
We at KResearch view that improving signs seen in the US economy overall will continue to provide the Fed room to keep its policy rate steady at least until 1Q20. However, the US manufacturing sector has not substantially recovery despite the signing of the first phase of a broader trade pact betwee... Read more
17 Jan 2020
China’s economy, in 4Q19, slowed from the previous quarter to grow 6.0 percent YoY, driven by positive factors from the latest development of the US trade conflict with China. The partial agreement was attributed to the turnaround of China’s export and manufacturing sectors in 4Q19 with acceleration... Read more
16 Jan 2020
The US-China phase 1 trade pact was officially inked on January 15, 2020, lifting hopes that their 2-year tensions could ease. However, the US and China will continue to experience higher tariffs, in particular China, as some of its exports to US are still subject to additional tariffs at the rate o... Read more
6 Jan 2020
The US-Iran tensions have ramped up after General Qasem Soleimani, the Iran’s top commander, was killed in Baghdad on January 3, 2020, shooting up the international benchmark Brent crude on January 6, 2020 by 7 percent as compared to the level registered at the end of 2019. This conflict is being cl... Read more
13 Dec 2019
The preliminary result of the UK election on December 12, 2019 shows that Boris Johnson's Conservative party has secured a majority, and he will remain prime minister. Moreover, the Conservative party has gained a comfortable majority, winning 364 seats (of the total 650 seats) in the House of Commo... Read more
9 Dec 2019
KResearch expects that the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOCM) will likely resolve to keep its policy rate unchanged pending an economic assessment while also unveiling its new economic growth and interest rate forecasts at the final meeting of 2019. We expect that the Fed may maintain its 2020... Read more
25 Oct 2019
We at KResearch expect that the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) may cut its policy rate by another 0.25 percent at its meeting scheduled for October 29-30, 2019. Although the Fed resolved to steadily trim its policy rates at the latest two meetings and announced the purchase of short-term tr... Read more
21 Oct 2019
The Chinese economy grew 6.0 percent YoY in 3Q19, representing the slowest growth in almost 30 years and declining from the 6.2 percent pace recorded during 2Q19. The disappointing economic performance, which stands at the lower end of China’s growth target, will likely force the government to intro... Read more
9 Oct 2019
Vietnam’s automotive industry is set to grow substantially over the next 5-7 years and this will likely attract additional investments in its car production. Although Vietnam is far behind other ASEAN member states in many aspects, in particular its car production, KResearch views that its car produ... Read more
20 Sep 2019
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has announced a plan to release its own central bank digital currency (CBDC) with an aim to increase the role of the Chinese Yuan on the world market and to combat money laundering. The new currency will be retail CBDC that Chinese can use in lieu of cash. It will ... Read more
16 Sep 2019
Drone attacks on Saudi Arabia’s two major oil refineries on Saturday, September 14, 2019 have driven up Brent crude oil price in the futures market by almost 12 percent. The incident has sparked fears among investors worldwide over oil supply disruption because Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oi... Read more
KResearch expects the US Federal Reserve to cut rates by a quarter of a percentage point from 2.00-2.25 percent to 1.75-2.00 percent during the Federal Market Open Committee (FOMC)’s meeting on September 17-18, 2019. The key US economic indicators, especially manufacturing output and employment, con... Read more
5 Sep 2019
The intensifying US-China trade dispute in terms of the value of goods subject to their import tariffs and magnitude of their import tariff hikes may shave Thai exports by approximately USD3 billion in 2019, against the USD2.4 billion projected before. ... Read more
15 Aug 2019
The inverted yield curve -- where the US 2-year note yield has risen above the benchmark 10-year yield for the first time 12 years – is fueling fears that the global economy may be heading for recession in the next 12 months. This is because the inverted yield curve is an indicator which has correct... Read more
7 Aug 2019
The People's Bank of China allowed its currency to fall below 7 Yuan to the US Dollar for the first time in 11 years after the US announced last week that it would slap a 10 percent tariff on USD300 billion of Chinese goods. The latest move by Beijing signals its readiness to retaliate against the U... Read more
6 Aug 2019
The trade war between the US and China has spread to a battle over currencies. Previously, their conflicts were limited to tariffs and international trade. Recently, the US Treasury Department accused China of “manipulating its currency”, representing a more aggressive move after China let the Yuan ... Read more
2 Aug 2019
US President Donald Trump eventually announced an additional 10 percent tariff on the remaining USD300 billion of Chinese imports, effective September 1, 2019, due mainly to the slow progress in the trade talks. In particular, Beijing is bargaining for conditions which are difficult to be achievable... Read more
1 Aug 2019
As expected, the Federal Reserve (Fed) slashed its policy rate for the first time in over 10 years to a range of 2.00-2.25 percent at its meeting, July 30-31, 2019. However, no signs of another policy rate cut have been seen from the Fed Chair. The outcome of the latest FOMC meeting has disappoint... Read more