TPPA Will Not Be Completely Scrapped -- Asset Manager

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will not be completely scrapped, said BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager. Its Managing Director, Head of Multi-Asset Platform Strategy Asia-Pacific, Steven Moeller, said there would possibly be other free trade pacts similar to the TPPA which will favour the US. "I think there's still a possibility. It may not be like TPPA but there may be another form of negotiations that could take place. So it's not completely off the table," Moeller said after a media briefing on 'A Look at Investment Markets Ahead' here Tuesday. Moeller said this in reaction to president-elect Donald Trump's video message outlining what he intended to do first when he takes office in January 2017. He had said the US would quit the TPPA on his first day in the White House. The trade deal, signed by 12 countries, covers 40 per cent of the world's economy. Moeller said if it's for better or worse, it was better if there was a way to keep TPPA alive and to continue to negotiate free trade pacts. "I think Asia, particularly Malaysia, would benefit from freer trade with the continuation of TPPA and US involvement. Any limitation on freer trade would be detrimental to the emerging markets," he said. On another development, he said, he was increasingly optimistic on Asia given positive signs of reflation and steady progress in reforms. "With monetary policy impacts fading, we are looking to fiscal policy to provide the growth impetus," he said. Moeller said exports were gaining momentum and structural growth-enhancing reforms are taking place in Asia. He said the prospects of US fiscal expansion, rising inflation and the Federal Reserve System's interest rate increase were improving the outlook for commodities sector and were likely to put some upward pressure on US dollar. -- BERNAMA