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World Bank-Pacific Economic Update
February 28, 2023 – As growth returns to the Pacific, debt and inflation remain concerns
New World Bank report series provides economic deep dive into Pacific economies
After nearly three years of economic contraction, Pacific economies can anticipate a return to growth this calendar year despite ongoing challenges, according to the World Bank.
While the recovery is expected to continue, fiscal balances, debt sustainability, and inflation will remain a concern. Pacific nations will need to consider reforms and policies to boost equitable growth and sustainable investments, while striking a careful balance between supporting livelihoods and reducing future public debt risks.
The outlook is detailed in the World Bank's inaugural Pacific Economic Update, a comprehensive assessment and forward-projection of 11 Pacific Island country economies, launched today in Suva, Fiji.
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Source: worldbank.org
Asia's Easing Economic Headwinds Make Way for Stronger Recovery
February 20, 2023--The outlook has brightened, but important longer-term challenges remain-including for China's economy, the region's largest.
The economic headwinds that faced Asia and the Pacific last year have started to fade. Global financial conditions have eased, food and oil-prices are down, and China's economy is rebounding.
These developments are helping improve prospects across the region, with growth set to accelerate to 4.7 percent this year from 3.8 percent in 2022. This will make it by far the most dynamic of the world's major regions and a bright spot in a slowing global economy.
The region's emerging and developing economies, poised to expand by 5.3 percent this year, drive this dynamism. These economies are hitting their stride as pandemic supply-chain disruptions fade and the service sector booms. China and India alone are expected to contribute more than half of global growth this year, with the rest of Asia contributing an additional quarter. Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are all back to their robust pre-pandemic growth.
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Source: imf.org
Hong Kong Plans to Let Retail Sector Trade Larger Crypto Tokens Like Bitcoin
February 20, 2023--City pushes ahead toward a goal of becoming a crypto hub
Securities regulator issues a consultation paper on the planHong Kong outlined a plan to let retail investors trade digital tokens like Bitcoin and Ether, taking a major step toward its goal of becoming a crypto hub in a policy shift that contrasts with a crackdown in the US.
Individual investors would be allowed to trade larger coins on exchanges licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission, providing safeguards such as knowledge tests, risk profiles and reasonable limits on exposure are put in place, the regulator said in a consultation paper on Monday.
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Source: ft.com
State Street and Invesco eye listing of Japan active ETFs
February 16, 2023--The Tokyo Stock Exchange is expected to give the first such vehicles a green light later this year
Several global asset managers are considering listing active exchange traded funds in Japan as the country's main bourse gears up to allow such vehicles, industry participants say.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange plans to release in March or April final guidelines, which will require daily disclosures for active ETFs, and begin listings in June.
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Source: ft.com
Large Hong Kong-listed ETFs show resilience in 2022
February 15, 2023--But many smaller rivals focused on China and the tech sector suffered a terrible year as investors fled
Amid a rout in the Hong Kong and mainland China stock markets last year, investors kept faith in many large Hong Kong-listed exchange traded funds committing about $10bn in net inflows even as losses mounted.
Hong Kong’s flagship Hang Seng index dropped 15.5 per cent and the CSI 300 Index, which tracks the biggest China A-share stocks, fell 21.6 per cent last year - their worst performance in 11 and four years respectively- as investors suffered a challenging year.
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Source: ft.com
IMF Working Paper-The Internationalization of China's Equity Markets
February 10, 2023--Summary:
China's equity markets internationalization process started in the early 2000s but accelerated after 2012, when Chinese firms' shares listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen gradually became available to international investors.
This paper studies the effects of the post-2012 internationalization events by comparing the evolution of equity financing and investment activities for: (i) domestic listed firms relative to firms that already had access to international investors and (ii) domestic listed firms that were directly connected to international markets relative to those that were not.
The paper finds large increases in financial and investment activities for domestic listed and for connected firms, with significant aggregate effects. The evidence also suggests the rise in firms' equity issuances was primarily and initially financed by domestic investors. International investors' portfolio holdings in Chinese equity markets and ownership in firms increased markedly only once Chinese firms' locally issued shares became part of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
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Source: imf.org
China's Economy is Rebounding, But Reforms Are Still Needed
February 3, 2023--Sustaining the recovery will require both monetary and fiscal support as well as accelerated structural reforms
China's economy is set to rebound this year as mobility and activity pick up after the lifting of pandemic restrictions, providing a boost to the global economy.
The economy will expand 5.2 percent this year, according to our latest projections, versus 3 percent last year.
That's good news for China and the world as the Chinese economy is now expected to contribute a quarter of global growth this year.
Even so, China still faces significant economic challenges. The contraction in real estate remains a major headwind, and there is still some uncertainty around the evolution of the virus. Longer-term, headwinds to growth include a shrinking population and slowing productivity growth.
Accordingly, as we note in our annual report for China, the economy needs comprehensive macroeconomic policies and structural reforms to secure the recovery and promote balanced, green, and inclusive growth.
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Source: imf.org
IMF Staff Country Report-Australia: Selected Issues
February 1, 2023--INFLATION AND WAGE DYNAMICS IN AUSTRALIA1
Australia, like other advanced economies, is witnessing high inflation that has become broad-based, though wage pressures in Australia have so far been contained.
Although wages in Australia are less
sensitive to labor market tightness compared with other economies, the tight labor market conditions are likely to feed into higher wages in the future, as evidenced by a robust Phillips curve relationship and business surveys pointing to emerging pressures.
The RBA needs to remain vigilant, continuing to tighten policy to rebalance demand and supply, and ensuring that inflation expectations and wage pressures remain contained.
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Source: imf.org
Betashares Australian ETF Review: End of 2022 Review & Month of December 2022
January 18, 2023--End of 2022 Review: A port in the storm in 2022
In a highly turbulent year in financial markets, the ETF industry continued to take in new money from investors, even as asset values declined, making it one of the few bright spots in a very hard year for the broader asset management industry.
Exchanged Traded Funds Market cap
Australian Exchange Traded Funds Market Cap(ASX + CBOE): $133.7B
Market cap growth (decline) for year: -2%, -$3.2B
Comment: In total the Australian ETF industry received $13.5B of net inflows, in a year where the unlisted funds industry sustained net outflows of -$26.8B, marking the worst year on record for Australian managed funds1. The ETF industry's positive net flows were, however, not enough to combat the asset value declines caused by falling share and bond markets, and, as a result the industry itself fell in value by 2%.
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Source: betashares.com.au
Asia's Productivity Needs a Boost That Digitalization Can Provide
January 9, 2022--Amid slowing global growth, promoting technological adoption and closing digital divides can help the region boost aggregate productivity and economic output
Asia's strong economic rebound from the pandemic is losing steam as tightening financial conditions, reduced export demand, and China’s sharp and uncharacteristic slowdown dim the outlook.
More broadly, deep economic scars from the pandemic and the lackluster productivity growth that preceded it are weighing on the region’s longer-term growth prospects. But despite these challenges, we see a promising path for boosting Asia’s productivity that runs through a landscape in which it has a history of leadership: digitalization.
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Source: IMF.org