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The Star
4 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Asian equities, currencies have weather US tariffs well
The Merlion statue and buildings in Singapore, on Saturday, May 17, 2025. - Photographer: Bryan van der Beek/Bloomberg KUALA LUMPUR: BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, said Asian equities and currencies have weathered the United States (US) tariffs well so far, rising 18 per cent and three per cent respectively since the start of the year, shaking off the initial tariff shock. "Thailand stands out as an exception, with both its equities and the baht missing the rally since April. "In our view, that is largely due to domestic political instability and the ongoing border conflict with Cambodia,' it said in its Outlook Questions and Answers for Asia today. BMI said it has lowered growth forecasts by only 0.2-0.3 percentage points for most other major economies due to US tariffs. "We recently made a series of revisions to our 2026 GDP forecasts in response to the tariff deals reached in July and early-August. "Of these, the steepest downward revision we made was to Cambodia, on account of its relatively high dependence on the US as an export market,' it said. BMI opined that there are no specific policy measures rolled out to cushion the expected impact of the tariffs as of the time of writing on Aug 15. BMI said that for exports, available data show that Asian exports to markets outside of the US have mostly stayed on trend. "This does not rule out future adjustments in trade with the rest of the world. "The tariffs, in all likelihood, have yet to meaningfully feed through and we suspect deviations from the pre-Donald Trump trend will begin to show in the coming months. - Bernama
The Star
12-08-2025
- Business
- The Star
Singapore says GDP up 4.4% y/y in Q2, upgrades 2025 forecast
The Merlion statue and buildings in Singapore, on Saturday, May 17, 2025. - Photographer: Bryan van der Beek/Bloomberg SINGAPORE: Singapore's economy grew by 4.4% in the second quarter of 2025 from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, slightly higher than an advance estimate of 4.3% released last month. On a quarter-on-quarter, seasonally-adjusted basis, gross domestic product rose by 1.4% in the April-June period, in line with the advance estimate and following a 0.5% contraction in the first quarter. The trade ministry raised its GDP growth forecast for 2025 to 1.5% to 2.5% from 0.0% to 2.0%, saying it largely reflected a better-than-expected first half performance. In April, the ministry had cut its forecast from 1.0% to 3.0% after the United States announced its plans for global tariffs. "However, the economic outlook for the rest of the year remains clouded by uncertainty, with the risks tilted to the downside," it said in a statement. In a separate statement, Enterprise Singapore said it was keeping its forecast for non-oil exports at growth of 1% to 3% this year, saying it expected some weakness in the second half after a stronger-than-expected start to 2025. "In general, as frontloading activities taper and reciprocal tariffs resume from 7 August 2025, these could weigh on global economic activity and trade," it said in a statement. Despite having a free-trade agreement and running a trade deficit with the U.S., the wealthy financial hub has still been slapped with a 10% tariff rate by Washington. President Trump has also said he would impose a tariff of about 100% on imports of semiconductors, with an exemption for companies that are manufacturing in the U.S. or have committed to do so, and a tariff on pharmaceutical imports that would rise to 150% within 18 months and eventually to 250%. Figures from a central bank report show pharmaceuticals made up 12.3% of the city-state's exports to the U.S. in 2024, while semiconductors accounted for 1.6% of shipments and other electronics and semiconductor equipment made up 15.0% of exports to the United States. There will also be indirect impacts on Singapore, a global shipping hub where trade is three times the size of its GDP, if the U.S. tariffs constrict global trade. Imports from other Southeast Asian countries have been slapped with much higher tariffs of between 19% and 40%. - Reuters
