AEIR 2021

The economy recovered quickly in the second half of 2020, with GDP reversing its 25.2% second quarter contraction (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) to13.1% growth in the fourth quarter. The main driver was household consumption, which expanded by 18.1%, followed by fixed investments (15.0%) and exports (16.3%). Seasonally adjusted retail sales also grew by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. In October, the consumer sentiment index turned positive. The manufacturing performance index improved. The recovery brought the unemployment rate down from 7.5% in July 2020 to 5.8% in February 2021, while inflation decelerated from 1.6% in 2019 to 0.9% in 2020. Substantial fiscal and monetary support, along with effective COVID-19 measures, helped drive these economic developments and positive outlook. As of 25 March 2021, Consensus Forecasts estimated GDP growth to be 4.3% in 2021 and 3.1% in 2022.

Source: Asian Development Outlook 2021.
Latest Month-Ago Year-Ago
Composite Stock Price Index 1 4.0 (Oct21)4.0 3.0
Broad Money Growth 2 13.7 (Dec20)13.7 13.1
Headline Inflation Rate 3 3.0 (Sep21)0.7
Industrial/ Manufacturing Production Growth Rate 3 0.8 (Jun21)-1.5
Merchandise Export Growth 3 39.7 (Sep21)39.7 57.3
Exchange Rate Index 4 98.7 (Oct21)97.4 94.9
1 Monthly average, local index.
2 %.
3 y-o-y, %.
4 Monthly average, January 2006 = 100, $/local currency.
Source: Bloomberg LP; CEIC database.

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