Southeast Asian outlook remains positive in future

The overall outlook for Southeast Asian markets is positive in the future despite uncertainty over interest rates, local press reported Thursday.
Benefited from the rising middle-income group, urbanization and growing productivity, Southeast Asian economies especially Indonesia and the Philippines, will expect positive prospects in the future. But it remains cautious on Malaysia and Thailand as household leverage is becoming more stretched, Channel NewsAsia reported, citing a report from Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
The report also highlighted that even there may be some uncertainty over interest rates, markets in the region are better prepared for future rate hikes.
Talking about Singapore, the asset manager said although Singapore is expected to benefit from an improving external outlook, it should also be cautious that restructuring may drag the economy.
"In general, the recovery of U.S. and Europe is positive for Singapore," said Kevin Ohn, managing director and head of Asia Ex- Japan Fundamental Equity at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
"There's no doubt that the U.S. economy is now robustly recovering and the ECB recently cut interest rates. It's not getting worse -- it's recovering albeit at a slow pace. The biggest headwind at the moment is the domestic restructuring driven by the government."