August 22, 2017 edition
More Economy articles in other editions
August 15, 2017 edition
August 8, 2017 edition
August 1, 2017 edition
The political year has arrived early. National elections are still two years away but looking at the government's targets for the 2018 budget, it seems that the efforts to secure an electoral victory have begun. That move is so obvious from ambitious assumptions for the draft of 2018 budget (RAPBN). The target range for economic growth is 5.4 percent to 6.1 percent. Even the lowest range is still higher than World Bank projections of a mere 5.3 percent. The government has also repeatedly signaled that budgets for populist programs such as village funds will rise by multiple amounts.
Read More
July 25, 2017 edition
After an unusually disappointing sales performance during the normally busy month of Ramadan, companies are quietly scaling down their second half financial targets and their full year sales and earnings target as well. The government is doing the same thing with its 2017 budget plan. Last week, the government submitted a revised 2017 budget plan to parliament, which has been considerably scaled down, largely due to lower than expected tax revenue, reflecting the current slow business recovery. And, although the world economy, particularly China, is showing signs of recovery, it is still not being felt by its trading partners, like us. Last week, China's growth in the second quarter was a respectable 6.9 percent, well above market expectations.
Read More
July 18, 2017 edition