📰 Weekly Roundup (3-9 March 2026): IWD 2026 | Acrostics Asia Domain | Research Corner | China’s Debt Fabric | Indonesia’s Rating Leak | Bright Spot #16 | AI Overview
Weekly newsletter
Dear Valued Contacts,
Happy International Women’s Day! LinkedIn News Asia just released their latest data on the representation of women in Singapore’s leadership roles. Grateful to be invited to join the discussion and share my view.
Acrostics Asia now has its own domain (www.acrosticsasia.com), with expanding coverage that can be accessed on the web, real-time email distribution and LinkedIn highlights.
🔎 Research Corner (February 2026)
I’ve also added Research Corner, which curates research from the region to help readers track the evolving trends. The February 2026 edition highlights insights across Asian currencies, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mongolia and India as well as the Basel Committee’s analysis of synthetic risk transfers.
💼 Brief Take: China’s Debt Fabric (8 March 2026)
One of the fallacies I heard in the past was that local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) didn’t matter because they had no dollar bonds outstanding. This is a shallow perspective that fails to recognize the interconnected nature of China’s economy.
LGFVs are intertwined with the property sector as local governments relied on land sales for income and the developers were a significant source of employment. Local banks also have a sizeable exposure to both the LGFVs and developers, while household wealth is commonly tied to real estate.
In short, they are all woven into the fabric of China’s economy. Unwinding these strands means someone has to take a loss, so the typical route has been to kick the can down the road. However, the proliferation of “zombie companies” is sucking resources from more promising businesses and stifling a broader economic recovery.
📒 Quick Take: Indonesia’s Rating Leak (5 March 2026)
Indonesia’s institutional credibility is eroding on the international stage, putting at stake the hard-earned reputation built by past administrations. On 4 March, Fitch cut its outlook to negative, citing “increasing policy uncertainty and erosion of Indonesia’s policy mix consistency and credibility.”
Fitch’s move was not surprising – what’s more noteworthy was how the report was broken by local media hours before its official release. The leak likely happened from the Indonesian side, which suggests a breakdown of processes that wasn’t the norm under former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
The lack of institutional coordination was also laid bare ahead of Indonesia’s biggest market rout in nearly three decades.
☀️ Bright Spot #16 (2 March 2026)
Chandranath Amarasekara, Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka, wrote a piece that captured Sri Lanka’s journey out of its economic crisis in 2022.
Meanwhile, Mongolia – which priced its USD 500 million six-year sovereign bond at 5.95% – has shown what Moody’s called an “emerging track record of effective debt and fiscal management.”
In On the Move, Milbank advised an affiliate of Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group in connection with the formation of a joint venture with Chinese beverage producer Eastroc Beverage Group.
Rabobank appointed Caroline Oosterbaan as its Australian CEO, while Augustine Wong, Chin Kwang Tay and Kelvin Kong have launched Singapore-based advisory firm Novarche.
I’ve been catching up with friends over the past few weeks and every conversation touched on AI.
AI is a game-changer that has reshaped various industries, including news and research. Search engines are diverting eyeballs away from some publications, undermining their business model that relies on drive-by traffic.
That said, AI can also level the playing field by providing a ‘shortcut’ for small ventures like mine to gain more visibility without a big marketing budget.
For example, Google AI Overview optimizes for relevance by assessing factors such as the quality of content and industry recognition. In short, Acrostics Asia’s focus on quality is aligned with what AI is looking for.
My takeaway is that AI is a double-edged sword that can work against us or in our favour – the differentiator is how we wield it.
As always, I welcome tips and feedback. Have a good week ahead!
Best,
E