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S&P revises Malaysia Outlook to Negative; 'A-/A-2' Foreign Currency, 'A/A-1' Local Currency Ratings affirmed

June 26, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR -- The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with depressed oil prices and fiscal stimulus, will weaken the Malaysian Government's debt position for the next few years, according to Standard & Poor's, which is revising its outlook on Malaysia to negative. This reflects additional downside risk to the Government's fiscal metrics, owing to the weak global economic climate and heightened policy uncertainty, S&P says.

S&P affirms Hong Kong 'AA+/A-1+' Ratings, Outlook Stable

June 26, 2020

HONG KONG - S&P Global Ratings today affirmed its 'AA+' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term issuer credit ratings on Hong Kong., and said the outlook remains stable,  reflecting the agency's expectation that Hong Kong's strong economic and financial metrics will allow the Government's creditworthiness to withstand fallout from prolonged social tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic over the next one to two years.

Total China debt reached 258% of GDP in Q1 2020, says Natixis

June 22, 2020

HONG KONG - The global finance group Natixis has updated its estimates of debt dynamics in China, finding that total debt, as a percentage of GDP, rose as much as 11 percentage points of GDP in the first quarter of 2020, to 258% of GDP from 247% at the end of 2019. Natixis says most of the increase came from the corporate sector (excluding LGFVs), which resulted in a 7% jump to 129% in corporate debt as a percentage of GDP in Q1 2020.

Seoul’s 'deep regret' over inter-Korean office demolition by North Korea

June 22, 2020

SEOUL--South Korea's National Security Council held an emergency meeting hours after North Korea demolished an inter-Korean liaison office in the border city of Gaeseong. The council expressed "strong regret" over the North's unilateral destruction of the building, which was established with the signing of the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration.

China’s 2020 growth tipped at 1.8%, India minus 5%, Singapore minus 5.9%, Vietnam plus 3.3%

June 23, 2020

HONG KONG - ANZ Bank has revised its 2020 GDP growth forecasts for Asia to reflect the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 on growth is starting to ease, ANZ says, but the ensuing recovery will be weak, despite an unusually large policy response.

"We expect the output gap to be negative at end-2021 and cannot rule out the possibility that trend growth will be reset at a lower level," ANZ says.

China’s banking regulator vows Hong Kong will continue as global financial hub

June 8, 2020

BEIJING -- China's Caixin media group is reporting that China's top banking regulator has issued assurances that Hong 's Kong's linked exchange-rate system is stable, and that the city's unique strength as an international financial center will not be weakened under Beijing's pending new national security law.

S&P tips China growth this year at just 1.2%

June 5, 2020

HONG KONG -- The COVID-19 outbreak should slow China's economic growth to just 1.2% this year, prompting a rapid expansion in credit, says ratings agency Standard and Poor's.

"This will escalate China's debt-to-GDP ratio, which we estimate will rise 24% to 273% in 2020," S&P says, pointing out that while GDP slowdowns typically lead to credit expansion in China, S&P believes this crisis may be different in terms of how aggressively China may restore debt discipline.

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