Asia Intelligence Brief — Friday, September 18, 2026
Asia Intelligence Brief — Friday, September 18, 2026 A crude tanker passing storage tanks at an oil terminal. Saudi Arabia offered extra cargoes to Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers off Oman’s Sohar port, and Brent settled… The post Asia Intelligence Brief — Friday, September 18, 2026 appeared first on The Rio Times .
On 18 September 2026, Seoul's bus strike was called off after a settlement reached just before two in the afternoon. This decision settled the wage dispute that had sparked the strike. Tokyo decided to raise interest rates, which was followed by Hong Kong, which adjusted its rate in line with the Federal Reserve's changes. Taipei, however, opted to remain unchanged.
The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 1.25 per cent on Friday, marking the highest level in about 31 years. This increase came after three consecutive months of rate hikes. The yen weakened in response to the rate hike, contrary to the usual expectation that higher rates would strengthen currencies. In Hong Kong, the Monetary Authority set its base rate at 4.25 per cent, the highest level in over three years, following a Federal Reserve rate increase.
Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan strengthened this week, reaching a record high of 6.6967 to the US dollar, after the People's Bank of China set a higher daily reference rate for eight consecutive sessions. Taiwan's central bank also raised its growth forecast for 2026 to 11.48 per cent, citing the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the economy.
Written by urgent.news from The Rio Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
