Blogs

Thailand has endured more than 12 years of successive political crises and economic stresses. In recent months, the news flow appears to have brightened a tad, raising the hopes that Thailand might finally be coming out of its long dark patch.

After languishing for many years because of cooling measures enforced by the Government, rising transaction volumes and stabilising property prices are encouraging hopes for a property market revival. The government’s tweaks to some of the macroprudential cooling measures have added to these hopes.

After a long period of generally desultory performance, the Singapore economy is stirring to life. Economic growth has picked up, exports are reviving and even the property sector seems to be improving. Yet, other indicators are less exciting, raising the question of whether this rebound is sustainable.

The Philippine economy has defied the naysayers, continuing to grow at a rapid pace that has placed it as Southeast Asia’s fastest growing nation. Encouragingly, the Duterte Administration’s respected economic policy team has built on past reforms to introduce new initiatives to strengthen the base for future growth.

Love it or hate it, Asia is inextricably tied into the US and however much China has grown in importance, it is still the US which will be the principal driver of Asia’s fortunes in the next few years. The good news is that the American economy appears poised for a strong pickup, one which will give a nice boost to the Asian economies.