Entries for the ‘Asia’ Category
Thu Feb 2, 2012 16:35 GMT |
Regular readers of this website will recall that we coined the acronym BLANKs in 2008 to refer to a group of extreme frontier market economies in Asia which have considerable development potential, but are being constrained by highly unusual or adverse political or geopolitical conditions. These are Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Afghanistan, and North Korea. All… [Read more]
Tags: Afghanistan, BLANKs, Burma, economic reform, Laos, Myanmar, North Korea, stock market, Yoma Strategic Holdings
Posted in: Asia, Commodities, Equities, FDI, General, Geopolitics, infrastructure, Political Risk
Wed Feb 1, 2012 14:52 GMT |
Japan and Italy have quite a bit in common. Both have histories stretching back 2,700 years. More recently, both are underperforming economies that have accumulated colossal debt burdens which rapidly ageing (and in Japan’s case, already shrinking) populations will struggle to pay off. In addition, both countries have weak political systems characterised by dozens of… [Read more]
Tags: bond market, forecasts, implications, Italy, Japan, scenarios, sovereign debt crisis
Posted in: Asia, Eurozone, Fixed Income, General, Political Risk
Tue Jan 31, 2012 15:11 GMT |
In Business Monitor Online today, we outline key risks in two economies. In the case of Croatia, we retain our view that the government will seek IMF backing of some sort this year, which will help avert a full-blown crisis in the economy. This is predicated on the increasingly difficult conditions for Croatian financial markets… [Read more]
Tags: 2012, Croatia, Economy, GDP, liquidity, outlook, South Korea
Posted in: Asia, Emerging Europe, General
Tue Jan 24, 2012 15:24 GMT |
Business Monitor Online has recently published two new analyses on North East Asia. China: With the economy heading towards a ‘hard landing’, we believe it will become increasingly difficult for the central government to report strong growth figures. While the headline GDP figure is as much a political issue as an economic one, a greater… [Read more]
Tags: China, Economy, GDP, hard landing, Kim Jong Nam, Kim Jong Un, North Korea
Posted in: Asia, China, General, Political Risk
Mon Jan 23, 2012 14:16 GMT |
Although a deal on private sector writedowns of Greek debt has yet to be reached, the risk rally that began in October 2011 remains in place. Measures taken by the European Central Bank, such as cutting interest rates and providing unlimited banking sector liquidity, have certainly helped stabilise financial markets in the eurozone and beyond… [Read more]
Tags: Currencies, emerging markets, Shanghai Composite Index, Singapore dollar, VIX Index
Posted in: Asia, China, Currencies, Equities, Financials, General
Mon Jan 16, 2012 14:32 GMT |
In Business Monitor Online today, we discuss two important weekend events. It was an unlucky Friday the 13th for France, which lost its AAA credit rating from Standard and Poor’s. Among other things, the downgrade is likely to be prompt a reassessment by investors and the electorate of the Franco-German relationship in ongoing eurozone rescue… [Read more]
Tags: cross-Strait relations, France, Ma Ying-jeo, Marine Le Pen, Nicolas Sarkozy, presidential election, ratings downgrade, Taiwan
Posted in: Asia, China, Eurozone, FDI, freight transport, General, Geopolitics, Political Risk
Sun Jan 8, 2012 15:55 GMT |
The future of North Korea has rightly received greater attention following the sudden death of Kim Jong Il in December, and my colleagues and I have written about latest developments extensively on Business Monitor Online. In fact, we have been talking about the succession process and outlining scenarios for the country’s evolution for some years… [Read more]
Tags: books, China, future scenarios, Inspector O, James Church, Man with the Baltic Stare, North Korea, power struggle
Posted in: Asia, Book Review, General, Geopolitics, Political Risk