Chief Economist & Political Strategist, CrossASEAN Research

Prasenjit K. Basu

PK Basu has 34 years experience covering Asia's economies and markets (equities, fixed income and currencies), including 20 years covering the global economy. He was Chief Economist (SE Asia & India) at Credit Suisse First Boston for 5 years, and Chief Asia (x-Jpn) Economist at Daiwa Securities for a similar period. Among other roles, he was global head of research at Maybank Kim Eng, Malaysia equity research head and chief ASEAN economist at Macquarie, Chief Economist at ICICI Securities, ASEAN economist at UBS and the first chief economist at Khazanah Nasional (where he was co-head of research, and led all agri-business initiatives). PK Basu started his career in the Asia Service of WEFA (Wharton Econometrics) in Philadelphia in 1990, rising to be Director of their Asia Service in June 1994. 
PK's book, "Asia Reborn: A continent rises from the ravages of Colonialism and War to a New Dynamism" won the Tata Literature First Book Award (non-fiction) for 2018. It is the first single chronicle of the modern economic and political history of the whole of Asia (from Iraq and Turkey to Korea and Japan, and everything in between), told from an Asian perspective.

Chief Economist & Political Strategist

Malaysia: Gerrymandering, Disqualification of Opposition Candidates; but Still Advantage Anwar

Where to Hide when PH Gains a Narrow Win Amid PAS Marginalisation and UMNO Infighting

A Malay Tsunami Sweeps Najib from Power, as Mahathir-Anwar Score a Landslide Win

Inflation Spurts, as Do Exports: Still Waiting for BNM, but Time for a Small Bite

Malaysia: A Rate Hike This Week Could Make It a Good Contrarian Pick

REAL-Economics.com

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p><strong>-TRX City remains an eyesore visible to all visitors entering KL, and the collapse last week of the China-Malaysia funding deal for the massive Bandar Malaysia site will have significant medium-term implications. We are consequently closing our Overweight recommendation on Malaysia. Imports have outpaced exports in each of the past 4 quarters, so the trade surplus is shrinking; with FDI (especially from China) now set to shrink as well, the ringgit will be under renewed downward pressure. Rising</strong>…</p>

-TRX City remains an eyesore visible to all visitors entering KL, and the collapse last week of the China-Malaysia funding deal for the massive Bandar Malaysia site will have significant medium-term implications. We are consequently closing our Overweight recommendation on Malaysia. Imports have outpaced exports in each of the past 4 quarters, so the trade surplus is shrinking; with FDI (especially from China) now set to shrink as well, the ringgit will be under renewed downward pressure. Rising…

1MDB-TRX City Meltdown Implies It Is Advantage Opposition in the Runup to the Election