Newspaper icon
The latest issue of Financial Standard now available as an e-newspaper
READ NOW

Search Results

Showing 491 - 500 of 2991 results for Benjamin Ong

Chief economist update: Devilish details

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 21 MAY 2019
It's still a month away, but when the policy board of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) meets to assess the state of the economy and its monetary policy response on 19-20 June, it could claim the economy is progressing as printed at its meeting in April. ...

Chief economist update: Fairy tales can come true

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 20 MAY 2019
I believe in miracles Where you from You sexy thing, sexy thing you Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was delivered a miracle when the Liberal/National Coalition won the Australian Federal election - and look set to form a majority government ...

Chief economist update: June RBA rate cut not a sure bet

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 17 MAY 2019
The odds that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will cut interest rates to a new record low of 1.25% from the current all-time bottom of 1.5% when its Board meets on the first Tuesday of June intensified after the Australian Bureau of Statistics' ...

Chief economist update: Low unemployment, low wages growth conundrum

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 16 MAY 2019
"Annual wages in seasonally adjusted terms grew 2.3% for the third quarter in a row. The main contributors to growth over the quarter were regularly scheduled wage rises in the health care and social assistance and education and training industries ...

Chief economist update: Japan becomes collateral damage in US-China trade war

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 15 MAY 2019
In any war, there's bound to be those that are caught in the crossfire and others treated as collateral damage. The global stock market rout that developed as a result of the renewed "little squabble" (as Trump recently put it) between the US and ...

Chief economist update: A tariff for a tariff

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 14 MAY 2019
"If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War Trump must be fuming and scratching his golden hair. Not that China retaliated ...

Chief economist update: The (trade) war is back on

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 13 MAY 2019
"If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would get done." - Rita Mae Brown. This famous quote might be true in general, but it certainly didn't apply to the 11th hour, last minute trade negotiations between the United States and China on ...

Chief economist update: Countdown to T-day

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 10 MAY 2019
It's now 8pm in Washington. That's four hours until T-day (tariff Friday) - the time when US tariffs on about US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods are set to increase to 25% from 10%. Investors around the globe are holding their collective ...

Chief economist update: Same challenges, differing reactions

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 9 MAY 2019
Deemed the sexiest accent in the world by 'Big 7 Travel', it would have been better (dare I say, sexier) that instead of a printed statement, Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Governor Adrian Orr verbally delivered the news that: "The Official ...

Chief economist update: RBA refused to blink in May

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 8 MAY 2019
Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Despite high expectations that it would leading up to its May Board meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) didn't only NOT cut the official cash rate - it kept it unchanged at a record low 1.5% - it also maintained its ...