This week in ASEAN, Singapore's new home sales in July jumped to 731 units from 156 units in June, after developers returned to launching new projects. Private home prices in the second quarter rose 0.5 percent, slowing from 0.9 percent in the previous quarter. Bank Indonesia decided to hold its benchmark rate at 5.75 percent for a second straight month, after raising rates by a total of 1 percent this year, to support the rupiah and curb inflation. The central bank expects the rupiah to keep strengthening and projects the economy will grow 4.9 to 5.7 percent in 2026. Thailand's prime minister proposed three approaches for dealing with global uncertainty at the Lowy Institute, namely strengthening ASEAN, maintaining strategic independence, and building economic resilience. He invited Australian businesses to use Thailand as an investment base to connect with the ASEAN market of nearly 700 million people, focusing on five sectors, and highlighted that investment promotion applications in 2025 surged to 1.87 trillion baht, up 67 percent from a year earlier. The cabinet approved expanding Nakhon Phanom's customs zones from one to three, supporting one-stop service and linking the R12 route connecting Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and southern China, to boost Thai durian exports to the Chinese market. Singapore is preparing to exempt certain fund managers from profit taxes, expand the ONE Pass scheme, and introduce measures to attract hedge funds, after assets under management surged to nearly 7 trillion Singapore dollars amid intensifying competition with Hong Kong. China and Indonesia opened two-plus-two talks between their foreign and defense ministers, aiming to elevate cooperation on security, trade, and investment amid tensions in the South China Sea.
Bank Indonesia holds rates to support rupiah, expecting it to strengthen
