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China Pledges to Treat State, Private and Foreign Firms Equally
December 25, 2018--China released new rules promising to treat all firms equally from a regulatory standpoint, whether they are foreign, private Chinese companies or state-owned enterprises.
The new rules, which go into effect immediately, contain a "negative list" of four banned types of business, and a further 147 categories where government permits are needed.
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Source: Bloomberg
China Reveals Economic Plan in 2019: How It Could Impact the Yuan
December 21, 2018--CHINA'S ECONOMIC PLAN IN 2019- TALKING POINTS:
China will implement a more proactive fiscal policy in 2019, good news for the economy and the Yuan.
China may launch more targeted easing to support private companies; yet it could drag down the Yuan.
An omission in FX policy raises concerns on whether China will defend the Yuan at a key level.
China revealed the top economic policies and targets in 2019 at the annual Central Economic Work Conference, which was held from December 19 to 21. Here are the highlights and how they could impact the Yuan:
MORE PROACTIVE FISCAL POLICY
The policy: China will adopt a more proactive fiscal policy in 2019. This includes larger scale of cuts in taxes and fees.
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Source: dailyfx.com
World Bank Updates Growth Forecasts for the Philippines
December 21, 2018--As part of its forecasting exercise, the World Bank has updated its growth projections for the Philippines to 6.4 percent in 2018 and 6.5 percent in 2019, to reflect recent economic trends.
These new forecast numbers are a slight revisions of the World Bank's growth projections of 6.5 percent for 2018 and 6.7 percent for 2019, released through the Philippines Economic Update in October this year.
view the World Bank Philippines Monthly Economic Developments December 2018
Source: World Bank
China Economic Update-December 2018
December 20, 2018--Key Messages
China's GDP growth moderated to 6.5 percent year on year in the third quarter from 6.8 percent in the first half of 2018, mainly due to weaker growth in investment and exports.
China's financial markets declined: equity prices lost 20 percent and the renminbi depreciated by 6 percent against the US dollar.
In response to this challenging economic environment, the government announced a series of measures to support growth and investor confidence: increased liquidity provision by the People's Bank of China, infrastructure investment, fiscal incentives for households and firms, and additional support to small businesses.
view the World Bank China Economic Update-December 2018
Source: World Bank
BetaShares Our Annual ETF Predictions: a blockbuster year predicted for 2019
December 19, 2018--This week we sent out to the media our annual ETF predictions for the year ahead after another fascinating year in the industry.
At a high level, Australia's ETF industry is predicted to continue its rapid growth trajectory in 2019, driven by investor demand, product innovation and the evolving requirements of advice models used by financial planners.
This year to November, the Australian ETF industry continued its growth trajectory, finishing the month at $41.1 billion, up from $35.5 billion as at 30 November 2017 and in line with BetaShares’ 2018 predictions made in late 2017.
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Source: BetaShares
Bassanese Bites-The name is bond...corporate bond: neither shaken or stirred in past market downturns
December 19, 2018--The current equity market slump, including "Shocktober", has once again shown the value that bonds can play in investors' portfolios in terms of offering some downside protection.
While this may be obvious to some, what is perhaps less obvious is that compared to the traditional benchmark bond indices which are generally heavily weighted to low-yielding government bonds, some longer-duration and higher yielding corporate bond exposures have historically managed to offer even better protective benefits in these periods, whilst still offering greater income returns over time.
Fixed-Rate Bonds: The benefits of negative correlation with equities
One of the attractive features of owning fixed-rate bonds is that they generally tend to do best when equity markets are doing poorly, i.e. the returns of these two major asset classes tend to be negatively correlated.
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Source: BetaShares
December 2018 Indonesia Economic Quarterly: Strengthening Competitiveness
December 13, 2018--Indonesia's GDP growth during the third quarter remained broadly steady at 5.2%, driven by domestic demand. Investments rebounded on the back of stronger construction investment. While private consumption eased slightly, a surge in government consumption kept total consumption growth on an even keel.
Current account deficit widened to 2.7% of GDP in the third quarter. This was contributed by high crude oil prices through October and continued robust growth in equipment investment.
The Rupiah depreciated through October, with the currency reaching a trough of IDR 15,237 per USD on October 30. Year-to-September, the currency depreciated 8.2% in nominal terms and 7.6% real effective terms.
view the December 2018 Indonesia Economic Quarterly: Strengthening Competitiveness
Source: World Bank
Vietnam's economy grows robustly, but risks intensify
December 11, 2018--Vietnam's GDP growth is projected at 6.8 percent for 2018, accompanied by broad macroeconomic stability
Economic growth in Vietnam has proven resilient despite weakening external conditions, driven mainly by strong domestic demand and a dynamic export-oriented manufacturing sector.
According to Taking Stock, the World Bank's bi-annual economic report on Vietnam released today, the pace of expansion is forecast to remain at 6.8 percent this year, higher than the projected figure of 6.3 percent for emerging markets in the East Asia and the Pacific.
CESC Publishes its Latest Belt and Road Participation Report
December 11, 2018--China Exchanges Services Company Limited (CESC) today published the 2017 Report on
Belt and Road Initiative Participation by Listed Companies.
CESC will use the report to adjust the constituents of its CES Belt and Road Index (CES OBOR), an index designed to reflect the stock price performance of listed companies actively participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. The adjustments will be announced in
due course.
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Source: index.cesc.com
East Asia Needs to Adapt its Development Model to Sustain its Historic Transformation, World Bank Says
December 10, 2018--East Asia's remarkably successful development model-a combination of outward-oriented growth, human capital development, and sound economic governance-needs to be adjusted to effectively address emerging external and internal challenges, a new World Bank report says.
A Resurgent East Asia, Navigating a Changing World argues that the tremendous progress seen in the region is not guaranteed in the future. The development model that spurred the so-called East Asian Miracle will have to adapt to changing technologies, slowing trade growth, and changing country circumstances, if progress is to be sustained.
view the World Bank Report: A Resurgent East Asia< Navigating a Changing World
Source: World Bank