How is the Asian consumer holding up?

ON ASIA

In a global context, Asia remains a bright spot amid a weak economic backdrop.

GDP growth remains ahead of developed markets and the global average, while Asian retail sales growth and consumer confidence continue to be positive. That said, we remain cautious going into Q1 2012; as the environment remains overshadowed by macro concerns from eurozone sovereign debt, a struggling US economy and worries over sharp slowdowns in China and India. Although these concerns are likely to remain throughout the quarter there are, however, other signs of encouragement. In early 2010 the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) initiated the Required Reserve Ratio (RRR), as a measure ag...