October brought both positives and challenges for South Asia while geopolitical tensions continue to influence the region. Despite most economies faring quite well domestically, external trade tensions and rising debt repayments continue to weigh on certain economies. While countries like India and Bangladesh continues to grapple the impact of US Tariffs on export earnings, Pakistan shows some recovery while its inflation pressure have slightly picked up due to the recent weather conditions of the country. Pakistan’s central bank remains cautious on further rate cuts and focuses on keeping the current IMF program on track while repairing supply lines affected by the recent floods. However, Sri Lanka stands out in the region being on track for three consecutive years of twin surplus due to overperformance on both fiscal and external account ends. Maldives on the other hand, continues to make bilateral trade agreements and debt relief measures with other countries to support the country’s stability.
It will be interesting to see how the region face the impact of the US tariff on its trade and whether the momentum and trajectory of its’ macroeconomic variables would continue for these economies heading into 2026
The full report covers further details, including:
1. Top 3 things you should know about the regional countries.
2. Summary of key economic indicators for the month.
3. Key news articles in detail,
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