East Asia Econ

Korea – export prices still the standout

The sharp rise in import and export prices of recent months eased in May. But that leaves export prices at the highest level since the brief spike in 2008. That brings inflation for ROW and an income boost for Korea. With spot semiconductor prices still rising, neither trend is yet exhausted.

Paul Cavey

Jun 16, 2026 • 2 min read

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China – another month of weak data

I have been arguing that the underlying economy has been stabilising, with prices bottoming out before the Iran war. But stabilisation is external-led, and today's data show the domestic cycle remains a mess. That will likely become a policy issue if IP doesn't stay at an annualised run-rate of 5%

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East Asia Today

On Friday BOK governor Shin Hyun Song gave a short but interesting speech. Today's main release was China's May fx settlement data, indicating that the pace of net capital inflows remains solid. Taiwan's annual IIP data show that despite the huge CA surplus, net foreign assets fell in 2025.

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Korea – Shin's surer

BOK governor Shin Hyun Song gave a speech on Friday to mark the 76th anniversary of the bank's founding. It was short, but worth highlighting, because he sounded more confident about the outlook, and downplayed the significance of uneven growth as a factor for monetary policy.