Sound Economies with Mel & Peter: 19 February 2026
We flag some concerns in Southeast Asia: Indonesia’s USD 760 million planned consumption stimulus and initial hints of a crisis for the Philippine peso. We also look at more Chinese firms establishing homebases in Singapore, and an early exit planned for ECB President Christine Lagarde.
“Sound Economies with Mel & Peter” is a weekly podcast show where our founding CEO Peter Lundgreen and Manila-based Chief Economist Mel Lopez discuss what’s happening in economies around the world and their views of the global financial markets.
Tune in to this episode on Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
Time stamps:
00:00 – Episode rundown
00:18 – Intro
00:46 – Quick updates
02:07 – Q1 consumption stimulus plan for Indonesia
09:17 – How the Philippine central bank can defend the peso
15:43 – More Chinese firms expanding to Singapore
21:32 – Early leadership change at the European Central Bank
24:20 – Our global forecast
