In helping you make informed investment decisions, The Standard Chartered Private Bank makes available a wide array insightful market research papers for your reference. Covering current and topical issues on the region and the world markets, the following reports are available at your request :
The Olympics In effect
The general perception of many analysts today is that the 2008 Beijing Olympics are of enormous economic importance to China. Our view is that economic impact of the Olympics will not be that significant. In short the economic effects will be a drop in the ocean for a China which is booming.
Asia Inflation Threat
Asia is currently facing inflation risks, evident in prices of assets and consumer goods. Asset inflation is driven by the ample liquidity conditions in the global economy in the past 6 years and the economic backdrop. Our fear is that this might develop into an asset bubble and a damaging correction. Performance in Asian asset markets in the last 4 years has been very strong. Yet consumer price inflation has remained relatively low. There are good reasons to remain vigilant on inflation risks.
GCC: The long road to currency reform
On March 20th 2007, Kuwait moved away from the currency peg to the US dollar that it had adopted in 2004 as part of the GCC single currency convergence process. This has two main implications. First, it means that the single currency project is highly unlikely to proceed as planned. Second, while we doubt there will be similar moves by other GCC countries in 2007, this is likely to be the start of a long and potentially complicated road to currency reform in the region.
State Capitalism
State capitalism is set to become one of the major economic issues of our time. It refers to the use of a country’s currency reserves or savings to acquire overseas assets. As the balance of global economic power shifts and emerging regions accumulate huge investments and reserves they are increasingly being used to acquire global assets for longer-term strategic purposes.
Vietnam
Vietnam has an strong growth story and good prospects, but branding it as the “Next China” may be premature. Similarities between the countries include the gradualist approach to the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy. Vietnam has all the necessary ingredients to become another Asian tiger with its vibrant economy and cheap labour – however there are a number of risks that will need to be addressed.
Reports are available for clients of The Standard Chartered Private Bank.
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