Magazines Archives - 2011 Apr

Soaring inflation, rising concerns
Part 1: What’s hot and what’s not for Asian consumer markets?
Story 1 - One Viewpoint

The astonishingly strong rebound of Asian economies last year and their blistering GDP growth rates have now run into some grave uncertainties. The key driver of these uncertainties is looming inflation — fuelled partly by the usual upshot of economic over-heating and arguably more so by the global phenomenon of skyrocketing prices of oil, food and other commodities. Inflation figures for the first quarter of 2011 have already risen to many-month highs across Asia and their full-year projections are awfully grim. How worrisome are the numbers for Asian economies? How do the prognoses from analysts and experts stack up? What are the good and bad news for Asian consumer markets and, in turn, for Asian retailers??

by Steven HL Goh

Steven HL Goh is the executive chairman of RETAIL ASIA. He is also CEO of The Business Company, a consulting firm advising multinational retailers on retail strategies and business development opportunities in the Asia-Pacific.

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