Asia/Pacific Weekly Preview: Asia – Macro Catalysts: BOK on Hold; Australia and Japan's Inflation

Research evidence excerpt

Asia/Pacific Weekly Preview: Asia – Macro Catalysts: BOK on Hold; Australia and Japan's Inflation

Idea

May 22, 2026 01:41 PM GMT

Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte.+MAsia/Pacific Weekly Preview | Asia Pacific Derrick Y Kam

Asia Economist

Asia – Macro Catalysts: BOK on Derrick.Kam@morganstanley.comMorgan Stanley Asia Limited+ +65 6834-8272

Robin Xing

Chief China EconomistHold; Australia and Japan's Robin.Xing@morganstanley.com +852 2848-6511

Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co., Ltd.+Inflation Takeshi Yamaguchi

Chief Japan Economist

We expect BOK to remain on hold at 2.5%. We expect Australia's Takeshi.Yamaguchi@morganstanleymufg.com +81 3 6836-5404

April CPI to tick down to 4.4% YoY and Japan's Tokyo CPI for Morgan Stanley India Company Private Limited+

Upasana Chachra

May to edge up slightly to 1.6% YoY. Chief India Economist

Upasana.Chachra@morganstanley.com +91 22 6118-2246

Morgan Stanley Asia Limited+Key Takeaways

Kathleen Oh

We provide a list of macro catalysts across Asia for May 25-30. Chief Korea/Taiwan Economist

Kathleen.Oh@morganstanley.com +852 2848-7340

We expect a unanimous hold decision from the BOK, and we expect it to start

signaling its intention to shift to a hiking cycle on May 28. Morgan Stanley Australia Limited+

Chris Read

Australia's April CPI likely ticked down to 4.4% YoY (from 4.6% YoY), weighed by Equity Strategist and Australia Economist

temporary fuel tax cuts but partly offset by broadening in other categories. Chris.Read@morganstanley.com +61 2 9770-1513

We expect Japan's Tokyo CPI for May to edge up to 1.6% YoY (from 1.5% YoY). All Morgan Stanley Asia Limited+

Jonathan Cheung

items excluding fresh food and energy were likely unchanged at 1.9% YoY. Economist

Jonathan.Cheung@morganstanley.com +852 2848-5652

Kelly Wang

Economist