South-East Asia may soon need a ‘Plan B’ to deal with lowflation

An employee invites customers to a bank branch which entrance features posters of famed K-pop band Black Pink in Bangkok on Friday (Dec 20). South-East Asia is set for another year of low inflation, generating difficult choices for the region’s central banks. - AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: South-East Asia is set for another year of low inflation, generating difficult choices for the region’s central banks.

S&P Global Ratings sees inflation remaining below central bank targets in most cases in 2020, according to Shaun Roache, S&P’s chief APAC economist in Singapore. Policy makers may soon have to think about using tools other than interest rates to achieve their policy goals, he said.