TrendLines

November 30, 2016

THE CHALLENGE is for India to meet massive unmet needs for basic services – water, sanitation, energy, healthcare — and to address the red tape that makes it hard to do business . . .




November 30, 2016

AMONG professional economists, Pippa Malmgren is a visionary outlier. Her stated tactic is to shift the language of economics from maths to plain English, because she says, people are afraid of economics . . .




November 23, 2016

THE prospect of exponential growth in e-commerce in Indonesia has seen a huge influx of capital from private equity groups and large
established companies . . .




November 15, 2016

IN today’s market, big data can forecast probable demand before orders come in, and traders can make smaller and smaller runs to serve niche markets – in retail parlance, the ‘long tail’. The supply chain has become more complex and nuanced, and local 3D manufacturing will come into its own as individual markets become smaller . . .




November 14, 2016

CHINA is rolling out a US$630 billion infrastructure budget over three years. Japan has just committed US$61 billion to tourism infrastructure. The Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore and Vietnam are committing to mega-projects. India is to lift infrastructure spending by 23%. In the US, both Presidential candidates are pledging hundreds of billions of dollars to infrastructure. Old-fashioned pump-priming is seen as the new economic panacea . . .




November 4, 2016

WHERE NOW for Hong Kong? China is willing to help when it comes to Hong Kong’s economy, but there is a direct link, says business, between economic growth and basic rights, freedoms and rule of law. Take these away and Hong Kong becomes just another Chinese city . . .




November 4, 2016

TSAI ING-WEN faces a number of domestic economic and social challenges — and a hostile Communist Party leadership in China determined that she will be a one-term President . . .




November 4, 2016

IN a climate of low global growth and low inflation, some of Asia’s ‘surplus’ currencies may find it more difficult to resist appreciation pressures as they seek to deploy their excess savings abroad




November 4, 2016

THE Coface global average of country ratings, which measure the average company credit risk in 160 countries, is at a peak not seen since the early 2000s, when the ratings were first created.

Reason 1: Sluggish world economic growth — The global economy remains stuck in a “Japanese-style” trap of sluggish growth, with few improvements even likely in 2017, which Coface believes may be the sixth year in which the global economy grows below 3%. Continuously sluggish global growth has been and is expected to continue to dampen business investment and consumer spending sentiment, weighing on demand.  

Reason 2: Low world inflation — Consumer prices worldwide on average are expected to increase only 2.8% this year and by 3.0% in 2017, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This would probably reduce the pricing power of companies, squeezing profit margins.

Reason 3: Sluggish energy and metal price recovery — While the rise in the price of a barrel of oil between February and June 2016 (from less than US$30 to around US$50) offers hopes to the economies that are not very
export-diversified, the price remains 55% below that of June 2014 and does not enable companies to increase profitability in this sector worldwide.




October 24, 2016

WE have to be careful not to slip into accidental confrontation,” says Pippa Malmgren. “Right now, opposing fighter jets and spy planes are flying within 20 feet of each other. We could have an accident very
easily.”
Malmgren, a respected consultant to governments and business, is former policy adviser to U.S. President, George W Bush. She lists some of the key geopolitical risks she sees today – the rise of China; breakup of the European Union; inflation; and the outcome of the US election . . .




October 24, 2016

XI JINPING’s achievements in his first term have been impressive. One is the anti-corruption campaign, the second, reform of the PLA. Does he have plans to stay on till 2027 — in the Putin mould . . .




October 24, 2016

GROWTH in trade follows recovery in commodity prices, says CLSA’s Head of Economic Research, Eric Fishwick. It was the collapse incommodities that impacted Government revenue in emerging markets, causing those Governments to pull back on imports . . .




October 24, 2016

FDI was up 12.5% to US$22.76 billion in 2015 and the drought has broken, allowing the Government to plan future growth . . .




October 5, 2016

INDIA’s new GST from next year should see an overall reduction in taxes on goods and services as local and national levels of taxes and levies collapse into a single payment. Business is ecstatic as it looks forward to higher growth, more foreign investment, cost savings and a more competitive economy. The unified system should also reduce corruption – and throw new light on the nation’s black economy, currently estimated to be reaping US$1.4 trillion a year . . .




September 20, 2016

CHINA hopes to build close partnerships with financial institutions, enterprises, multilateral development institutions and governments, says Jin Qi, CEO of the Silk Road Fund  . . . 




September 12, 2016

HSBC Group Chairman Douglas Flint asks if Belt-and-Road could be the catalyst for infrastructure to become acceptable as an asset class? “There is huge demand from the retirement systems for long-dated assets,” he says. “Investors are sick of the low growth environment.”




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