RECENT data across Asia shows how the world’s more dynamic economic engines are sputtering – raising the hope among investors of further interest rate cuts and more government spending to spur growth.
An uneven US recovery, anaemic growth in Europe despite a weak euro, combined with a clearly slowing Chinese economy has cast a veil of pessimism over the region’s economic outlook. China’s exports remain poor; both South Korea and Taiwan exports have been down since early 2015. Asia’s export powerhouses had hoped that growth prospects would brighten after the first quarter (1Q15), but data since April have raised concerns that the US expansion remains too fragile to provide the needed jolt the region so badly needs.