Leaders link hands for a group photo session at the 31st Asean Summit Nov 14, 2017 in Manila, Philippines. Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore all posted third-quarter gross domestic product growth that was faster than at any time since 2014 and earlier. Combined with a benign inflation outlook, that’s set to support a gradual pace of monetary policy tightening across the region. Morgan Stanley economists predict the Bank of Thailand will probably stay on hold in 2018, with Bank Indonesia raising rates. Investment pick-upBusiness investment will be the bigger story in 2018, said Chua Hak Bin, an economist at Maybank Kim Eng Research in Singapore.

Source: Bangkok Post December 18, 2017 04:52 UTC