Global economy

THE BOTTOM LINE

Vietnam won’t let go of the global economy

The export powerhouse needs its factories to keep humming

The consensus forecast is slower, robust growth built upon economic resilience but despite that, the risk of hitting icebergs is growing.

OECD points to potential economic icebergs ahead

Rising trade restrictions between the US and other countries could ‘inflict significant damage’ on global output and supply chains

Global trade growth is expected to moderate from 4.2% in 2025 to 2.3% in 2026 as the full effects of tariffs weigh on investment and consumption.

Tariffs, AI boom could test global growth’s resilience, OECD says

In its Economic Outlook report, the organisation says an artificial intelligence investment boom has helped offset some of the shock from US tariff hikes

There is a tendency – but a slowing one – to lean on an AI-led capex spending as a reason for optimism about 2026.
THE BOTTOM LINE

Market calls for 2026 already laced with ‘Buy, but...’

The conviction about the economic picture seems weaker than usual

Across Asia this year, businesses in major exporting nations have been scrambling to navigate the uncertainty created by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

Manufacturing weakens in Europe, Asia on faltering demand and tariff uncertainties

Factory activity contracted for the ninth straight month in the US amid slumping orders and higher prices for inputs

Global warming, the defining crisis of our time, is the result of an extractive industrial model.

The global ‘polytunity’

Cascading crises are a rare opportunity for the transformation of development institutions and ideas

Ashmore's Mark Coombs says: “Once confidence is gone, you have a real problem, you do get a market shock.”

UK not alone in risking another ‘Liz Truss moment’, says Ashmore CEO Coombs

Global debt balloons to about US$74 trillion as governments and companies ramp up borrowing

The G20’s advanced economies - the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea - were forecast to see economic growth of just 1.4 per cent in 2030, it said.

G20 countries’ medium-term growth to be weakest since 2009 crisis, IMF says

[WASHINGTON] The world’s 20 largest economies will grow by just 2.9 per cent in 2030 amid headwinds from protectionism and policy uncertainty, their weakest medium-term outlook since the global financ...

Overall global income inequality appears to be declining thanks in large part to two emerging market giants, China and India.

G20: Will Asian emerging markets continue to drive progress?

For the first time in 200 years, global income inequality is declining. But income inequality within nations could set this on reverse

Egon Zehnder's CEO Francesco Buquicchio says: "You want to diversify your footprint as much as possible because in a complex world you don’t know where the next thing is going to be or where it’s going to come from."

‘Definitely an opportunity’ for Asia-Pacific economies as the world becomes more complex: Egon Zehnder CEO

Francesco Buquicchio notes that chief executives are eyeing South-east Asia and India to establish new business partnerships