The Philippines central bank makes its rate decision Thursday, where it could deliver a fifth consecutive cut as inflation stays benign and growth soft.
The Southeast Asian country is facing mounting headwinds from a domestic corruption scandal involving the alleged misuse of public funds for state flood-management initiatives.
Economic growth slowed to a more than four-year low in the third quarter, while inflation undershot the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s 2025 inflation target of 2% to 4% for a ninth straight month in November.
“Recent GDP numbers raise concerns that soft government spending could become a longer-term drag, weighing not only on fiscal outlays but also on business and private-sector sentiment,” ING’s Deepali Bhargava and Lynn Song wrote in a note.
The BSP looks poised to lower its policy rate, with an expected additional cut in the first quarter of next year, as governance-related issues weigh on growth amid benign inflation, ANZ Research economists said in a report.
At its meeting in October, the BSP cut its policy rate unexpectedly, as it flagged a weaker growth outlook.
India
India's inflation data on Friday will likely show that price pressures remain at multi-decade lows, reinforcing the central bank's decision to cut interest rates at its final meeting of the year.
The main drag will likely continue to come from food prices, the ANZ Research team said. While headline inflation could tick up from the nadir reached in October, household goods and services prices likely continued to decline due to GST rate cuts, they wrote.
Inflation is likely to average just below 2% for the current fiscal year, HSBC economists said. Only a third of the impact of GST tax cuts has fed through to inflation, signaling room for further cooling ahead, they said.
Core inflation is also easing but is more long-lasting than before, which could influence monetary policy, they added.
Taiwan
Taiwan is set to release its trade data for November on Tuesday, which will probably show that exports continued their run of torrid growth.
The island's economy has been supported by resilient export growth through the year, as frontloading to get ahead of tariffs combined with the AI boom to keep its shipments in high demand.
"AI-related demand for GPUs, graphics cards, and servers-alongside year-end seasonal demand for new consumer electronics-is likely to continue supporting export momentum," DBS economists said.
Taiwan's U.S.-bound shipments should also get a lift from the delay in semiconductor tariffs.
That said, non-tech traditional industries will likely continue to face headwinds, the DBS team expects. "The 20% U.S. reciprocal tariff on Taiwan-higher than that applied to Japan and South Korea-keeps Taiwanese manufacturers in these sectors at a competitive disadvantage."
Any references to days are in local times.
Write to Jessica Fleetham at jessica.fleetham@wsj.com and Fabiana Negrin Ochoa at fabiana.negrinochoa@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 07, 2025 16:14 ET (21:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.