Slowdown in Asia next year before H2 recovery: Nomura

Singapore

IT'S going to get worse before it gets better. Nomura economists believe that 2019 will be a year of two halves for Asia, the first half gloomy and the second half a recovery.

At its 2019 Equities and Economic Outlook briefing on Thursday, Rob Subbaraman, head of global emerging markets economics and Asia ex-Japan fixed income research, said that the growth deceleration in the first six months will come as a result of build-up in private debt, property market corrections in China, Hong Kong and South Korea, and global quantitative tightening, which could lead to a credit crunch.

"Don't be surprised how low inflation can go in Asia, especially in the first half of next year. We think it's going to be very low... We t…