Philippine central bank Governor Nestor Espenilla said contained inflation means there isn’t a need to increase interest rates in the near term."Right now, there is no need to move policy rates looking at the inflation outlook," Espenilla said in Washington where he was attending the annual International Monetary Fund meetings.

Thailand’s already “very accommodative” monetary policy is fuelling robust growth that’s spreading across the economy, said Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob.The outlook comes as an exports revival in Thailand gains momentum despite a recent rise in the nation’s currency, the baht. Better demand from key trading partners is helping to offset strength in the exchange rate, Veerathai said.

The Philippine government plans to target additional companies in its crackdown on tax evasion, said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez.“We are on a roll, and this is part of the president’s programme to make our country more law abiding," Dominguez told Bloomberg Television’s Kathleen Hays in an interview in Washington on Friday. “Tax evasion is a really serious violation and we are going after” evaders.Dominguez said he expects a tax reform bill to receive lawmaker approval.

In recent years, the demand for air travel has grown due to the increase in low-cost carriers which allow the middle class to travel for work or leisure more frequently. In a press statement released by IATA (International Air Transport Association), passenger demand for air travel is set to double over the next 20 years.“People want to fly. Demand for air travel over the next two decades is set to double.

Singapore’s economy gained traction in the third quarter as a pickup in exports helped to drive up manufacturing.Highlights of GDP Report Gross domestic product rose at a seasonally adjusted and annualised rate of 6.3 percent in the third quarter from the previous three months, according to preliminary figures from the trade ministry on Friday.

A system that connected stock markets in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand has closed down, five years after its high-profile debut.The Asean Trading Link started with Bursa Malaysia and Singapore Exchange, with The Stock Exchange of Thailand also joining. It was heralded at its launch as breaking the barriers to cross-border trade and offering a single entry-point to three of Southeast Asia’s biggest stock markets, with thousands of listed companies.

Stagnant spending and soft wage growth in Japan are forcing two of Asia’s biggest retailers – Fast Retailing and Seven & i Holdings – to court overseas consumers to drive long-term growth.Fast Retailing, operator of the Uniqlo chain, and convenience-store giant Seven & i will report earnings results Thursday amid a Japanese economy that’s still posing challenges even as it expands.

Singapore’s central bank is widely seen sticking to a neutral stance on Friday, but it may be moving closer to tightening policy as the economy continues to strengthen.All but one of the 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which uses the exchange rate rather than interest rates as its main tool, will keep its policy stance where it is: seeking no appreciation in the currency against a trading basket.Less clear is whether the MAS will signal it’s re

If India’s experience of selling local-currency notes in the overseas market is anything to go by, Indonesia’s plan to issue Komodo bonds may not be all plain sailing.The sovereign is mulling a sale of offshore rupiah-denominated bonds, and three state-owned infrastructure companies are considering issuance in coming months.

Mau Dizon, a marketing officer in one of the largest Philippine banks, is among millions of Filipino taxpayers who stand to benefit from President Rodrigo Duterte’s tax reform plan that aims to return to consumers 860 billion pesos (17 billion dollars) over five years.Dizon will pay lower taxes under the proposed reform and is likely to spend most of the savings on staples, which account for about a third of her family’s monthly budget.