Global Economics Update Why r* is still heading to 2% Recent bond market movements suggest that equilibrium real interest rates may have risen further, perhaps justified by strong AI investment and persistently high government borrowing. But some recent... 11th September 2025 · 6 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Focus Poland: limited boost from defence spending surge Poland has ramped up defence spending faster than any other NATO country in the past few years, but we estimate that the boost to GDP growth has been less than 0.2%-pts per year. A high reliance on... 10th September 2025 · 19 mins read
Commodities Focus OPEC at 65: shifting market dynamics expose frailties The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) shows no signs of slowing down in its “golden years”, but question marks about the future of oil demand, as well as the resilience of non... 10th September 2025 · 20 mins read
India Economics Weekly GST 2.0, infrastructure drive, CPI data Upcoming simplifications to India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) confirmed by the Finance Ministry this week will result in a slightly larger fiscal deficit this year and next, as well as provide a... 5th September 2025 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly OPEC+ meeting, Saudi debt issuances & housing reforms We suspect that the OPEC+ meeting on Sunday will result in a decision to keep oil production unchanged in October, rather than raise production further. But the risks to oil prices are still skewed to... 4th September 2025 · 8 mins read
India Economics Focus Inside India’s infrastructure drive The government’s post-pandemic infrastructure drive is helping to ease some of the bottlenecks that have previously constrained India’s economy, with particular success in developing port, railway and... 3rd September 2025 · 12 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi Vision 2030 & non-oil trade, Tunisia protests A report from the Saudi statistics office this week provided further evidence that women are playing a greater role in the economy – one area where the Vision 2030 reforms have had significant success... 28th August 2025 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi Vision 2030: where do things stand with five years to go? Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 reform programme passed the halfway mark last year and we published an in-depth Focus evaluating the progress so far. This Update takes a fresh look at how close the... 27th August 2025 · 5 mins read
India Economics Weekly India Weekly: Don't let a good crisis go to waste Time is running out for India to secure a reduction to the 50% tariff on exports to the US ahead of the 27th August deadline. But policymakers are using the threat that tariffs pose to the economy to... 22nd August 2025 · 5 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Don’t blame the public sector for Australia's productivity malaise Even though direct government spending now accounts for the largest share of GDP on record, we aren’t convinced that this explains the prolonged weakness in productivity growth. 21st August 2025 · 4 mins read
India Economics Update India’s GST reforms are an encouraging step Reported simplifications to India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) would, all else equal, result in a slightly larger fiscal deficit this year and next, as well as provide some policy-induced support to... 18th August 2025 · 3 mins read
Commodities Weekly Commodities Weekly: Spotlight on petrochems; Trump-Putin energy implications Calls to limit plastic production as part of the recently-collapsed UN treaty talks were always likely to run into a wall of opposition given the importance of petrochemical feedstocks as a source of... 15th August 2025 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly MENA Weekly: Egypt’s central bank governor race & rate cuts, Dubai’s boom The term of the incumbent Central Bank of Egypt governor, Hassan Abdalla, is due to expire next week and, while it is not yet clear if Mr. Abdalla will be kept on or a successor appointed, it will be... 14th August 2025 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt: improved competitiveness easing external strains The Egyptian pound has strengthened so far this year against the dollar, but by most measures the currency looks competitive. This will provide a boost to GDP growth over the coming years and reduce... 12th August 2025 · 4 mins read
China Economics Update Politburo prioritises supply-side over demand-side The readout from today’s Politburo meeting strikes a less dovish tone compared with the previous meeting on economic affairs back in April and stops short of committing to any additional monetary or... 30th July 2025 · 4 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Observations from the surge in EM FX bond issuance The continued rise in EM sovereign FX debt sales this year suggests that EM governments have accepted the need to issue at higher yields, but are doing so at shorter maturities than in the past. And... 29th July 2025 · 6 mins read
