Southeast Asia's growth could be the trade war's next casualty

SINGAPORE (July 16): For Southeast Asia’s biggest economies, 2018 wasn’t supposed to be like this.

If a widening trade war wasn’t enough to contend with, a global wave of policy tightening, strong oil prices and domestic politics are also weighing on growth prospects for the region. Policy makers are rewriting economic strategies as volatility surges, in some cases putting greater emphasis on currency stability or even structural changes.

“With trade war risks now materializing, this suggests stronger headwinds for exports,” said Tamara Henderson, an economist at Bloomberg Economics in Singapore. “Investment, already buffeted by tighter monetary policy, is also likely to be a casualty.”

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