Chief Economist & Political Strategist, CrossASEAN Research

Prasenjit K. Basu

PK Basu has 35 years experience covering Asia's economies and markets (equities, fixed income and currencies), including 20 years covering the global economy. He was Chief Economist (SE Asia & India) at Credit Suisse First Boston for 5 years, and Chief Asia (x-Jpn) Economist at Daiwa Securities for a similar period. Among other roles, he was global head of research at Maybank Kim Eng, Malaysia equity research head and chief ASEAN economist at Macquarie, Chief Economist at ICICI Securities, ASEAN economist and Asia sector strategist at UBS and the first chief economist at Khazanah Nasional (where he was co-head of research, and led all agri-business initiatives). PK Basu started his career in the Asia Service of WEFA (Wharton Econometrics) in Philadelphia in 1990, rising to be Director of their Asia Service in June 1994. 
PK's book, "Asia Reborn: A continent rises from the ravages of Colonialism and War to a New Dynamism" won the Tata Literature First Book Award (non-fiction) for 2018. It is the first single chronicle of the modern economic and political history of the whole of Asia (from Iraq and Turkey to Korea and Japan, and everything in between), told from an Asian perspective.

Chief Economist & Political Strategist

Singapore: Lawrence Wong Boosted by Mild Improvement in PAP Vote Share

Singapore Banks: Singapore’s Financial Powerhouses Capitalizing on the City’s Continued Rise

Singapore Economics - MAS Eases Policy, Frontloading Boosts Dec Manufacturing

Singapore: Productivity-Led Cyclical Recovery Will Dampen Inflation, Ease Policy

CrossASEAN Research

At CrossASEAN Research we strive to produce unbiased and differentiated on the ground insights on companies across South East Asia. Our Research is produced for the most part after face to face meetings and conversations with company management to dig deep into the long term vision and strategy of the companies we cover. We seek to deliver investable and actionable themes on sectors and markets across SE Asia, often in collaboration with other Insight Providers across the region, pooling the vast experience of the analysts within the Smartkarma Ecosystem. We also offer bespoke work and tailor made trips for our clients. 

Insights across South East Asia

Macroeconomics

<ul>
<li>As we had forecast in Sep'24, the S$NEER has depreciated since the Oct'24 policy statement (despite officially unchanged policy). SS$NEER likely to depreciate further, with SGD reaching S$1.39/US$ by end-Mar'25. </li>
<li>The productivity rebound, bolstered by 10%YoY growth in machinery investment in Q3/24, enabled ULCs to moderate, rising just 0.9%YoY economy-wide (slowest in 4 years), helping contain headline and core inflation.</li>
<li>We expect inflation to remain below 2%YoY in 2025, while real GDP grows 3.2% (above the government's "1 to 3%" growth forecast), driven by investment and productivity growth in H1.</li>
</ul>


As we had forecast in Sep'24, the S$NEER has depreciated since the Oct'24 policy statement (despite officially unchanged policy). SS$NEER likely to depreciate further, with SGD reaching S$1.39/US$ by end-Mar'25. 
The productivity rebound, bolstered by 10%YoY growth in machinery investment in Q3/24, enabled ULCs to moderate, rising just 0.9%YoY economy-wide (slowest in 4 years), helping contain headline and core inflation.
We expect inflation to remain below 2%YoY in 2025, while real GDP grows 3.2% (above the government's "1 to 3%" growth forecast), driven by investment and productivity growth in H1.


FTSE Straits Times Index (STI) (STI INDEX)

Singapore: Early to Ease Amid Receding Inflation, Helped by Productivity Rebound