With activity having rebounded strongly in Q1 and headline inflation firming up, the RBNZ is likely to leave rates unchanged at 3.25% next week. However, we’re not convinced that the economy has turned the corner. And with the output gap set to remain …
2nd July 2025
Investment trends are not consistent with net zero The IEA published the latest edition of its World Energy Investment report in early June, which revealed that clean energy investment is expected to rise by a healthy 6% y/y in 2025. (See Chart 1.) What’s …
30th June 2025
Romania takes a (small) step in the right direction The fiscal tightening measures announced by Romania’s new government, which took office this week, are a welcome development for investors after the political turmoil last month and the alarming widening …
27th June 2025
The CPI data showed the Bank of Canada’s preferred CPI-trim and CPI-median core measures rose by an average of 0.2% m/m in May, which was lower than in the previous month but still a bit too strong for comfort. Several goods prices rose strongly, as was …
With the Fed divided between doves calling for a rate cut as early as July and hawks expecting no further easing this year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell struck a careful balance in his semi-annual testimony to Congress this week. He offered no signal that a …
GNU’s first birthday: fights holding back reform Next week marks a year in office for South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU). Both investor sentiment and supply conditions have improved under their watch, but persistent intra-party disputes …
The US dollar has generally lost further ground this week and the DXY index currently sits at around its lowest level since February 2022. This index has now fallen by more at this stage in the year than in any previous year since the US moved to a …
Mexico’s exports: so far, so (relatively) good Mexico’s trade figures for May released on Thursday showed that exports have continued to hold up well despite higher US import tariffs. Overall goods exports were down by a modest 0.4% y/y in dollar terms. A …
Conflicting reports cloud prospects of a trade deal President Trump on Thursday talked up the prospects of the US and India signing a “very big” trade deal ahead of the ending of the 90-day tariff reprieve on 8 th July. India has also sent a delegation of …
There were two key developments for the inflation outlook this week. First, some of the upside risk to CPI inflation posed by the conflict in the Middle East and higher energy prices has subsided. After the price of Brent oil ended the UK business day on …
Oil prices and volatility come full circle Oil price volatility is within touching distance of its five-year average following the ceasefire between Iran and Israel. (See Chart 1.) While the ceasefire could well prove fragile, reported violations early on …
Euro powering ahead The catalyst for this week’s further appreciation of the euro was nothing to do with Europe: instead, it reflected President Trump’s renewed attacks on the Fed and suggestions that he will appoint the next Fed Chair earlier than …
Boost for Korean consumers The weakness of consumer spending in Korea has continued in recent months, with retail sales now just over 2% below their pre-pandemic levels. (See Chart 1.) However, there are good reasons to think the worst is now over. …
Détente is on shaky foundations The understanding reached between the US and China during talks in Geneva and London has now been formalised, with the White House revealing that a written agreement was signed off two days ago. US officials have confirmed …
Tokyo election defeat is a red herring The poor showing of the LDP in Sunday’s metropolitan election in Tokyo is probably a red herring. While the number of seats the LDP won in Tokyo fell to a record low, the share of people that intend to vote for the …
Bank will speed up the pace of easing It’s become increasingly clear that the downside risks the RBA has been worried about are starting to manifest. Our GDP Nowcast suggests that recovery is struggling to gain momentum, prompting us to revise down our …
The Israel-Iran conflict escalated dramatically and, even more quickly, subsided over the past week. The focus now is on whether Iran pursues diplomacy or seeks to restart its nuclear efforts. To recap, this time last week, Israel and Iran were trading …
26th June 2025
The dollar has made some further gains this week, on net, but remains not far off its weakest level in three years. It has mainly benefitted on the back of a somewhat hawkish FOMC announcement, which contrasts with dovish policy signals from some other …
20th June 2025
The Summary of Deliberations from the Bank of Canada’s June policy meeting, released on Tuesday, revealed it held rates for three reasons: the economy had slowed but not significantly, uncertainty remained high, and recent inflation data had firmed. …
Israel-Iran and what it means for Africa The Israel-Iran conflict has caused a jump in oil prices over the past week and there’s a clear risk of further escalation that pushes prices up even higher. That would spell bad news for most African economies, …
Fed remains firmly on the sidelines The Fed’s new interest rate projections still just about show a median of 50bp of cuts to its policy rate for this year, but it was a very close run thing. Back in March, 11 of 19 officials anticipated two 25bp cuts …
Copom & BCCh: hawks & doves This week's rate decisions in Chile and Brazil showed a stark contrast in messaging. While Chile’s central bank (BCCh) left its policy rate unchanged at 5.00%, its communications were relatively dovish. It sounded less …
Risk of further escalation continues to mount The continued Israel-Iran military strikes are likely to have a limited direct impact on Israel’s economy – so long as the conflict remains confined to a matter of weeks. But the risk of escalation is high, …
Europe is taking Trump’s side on China When President Trump returned to office, his aggressive treatment of traditional allies raised the possibility that the EU and China would come together in defence of free trade. But the opposite is happening: US …
At our in-person Roundtables in London on Tuesday 1st July, clients can discuss with our economists and their peers how the government has influenced the economy in its first year in office. (Register here .) Upside risk to inflation from Middle East …
Given the further escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict in the past few days, this Weekly considers its possible implications for euro-zone inflation and monetary policy. These will depend mainly on how the conflict will affect energy prices , which we …
Mapping out conflict scenarios Much of the focus this week has understandably been on oil markets. Oil prices continued to climb as the Israel-Iran conflict escalated, reaching $76pb from $73 at the start of the week. In particular, the potential for US …
Growth boost for Korea More policy support in Korea looks to be on its way soon. According to the minutes of the Bank of Korea’s May meeting (when rates were cut a further 25bps) which were released earlier this week, Board members were united on the need …
Front-running fades but exports to US still strong We learnt this week that the goods trade deficit narrowed in May to c.$22bn, from c.$26bn in April. The breakdown shows that the front-running of exports to the US - evident prior to President Trump’s …
Downside risks persist in Australia Australian employment unexpectedly fell by 2,500 last month, as a 38,700 rise in full-time employment was more than offset by a 41,200 fall in part-time employment. However, with the unemployment rate holding steady at …
Case for tighter monetary policy remains strong The Bank of Japan tweaked its bond purchases at this week’s meeting but retained the dovish tone adopted at its May meeting. Indeed, the minutes of the May meeting showed that Board members were worried …
Israel and Iran have traded strikes over the past week and while there are a large number of ways the conflict could go from here, the risk of further escalation is mounting. Not only would this cause enormous damage to Iran’s economy, but spillovers to …
19th June 2025
The dollar has recovered some of the ground it lost earlier in the week in the wake of Israel’s overnight strikes on Iran. While that still leaves the greenback near its lowest level in more than three years, and close to breaking below the bottom of its …
13th June 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Monday that the Department of National Defence would receive an additional $9.2bn (0.4% of GDP) this fiscal year, raising total defence spending to NATO’s 2% of GDP target. This is five years ahead of the timeframe …
What inflation? The impacts of tariffs were notably limited in May’s CPI and PPI data. Major appliance prices rose by 4.3% m/m, similar to the increase experienced when Trump imposed tariffs on washing machines during his first term. Meanwhile, the price …
China senses an opportunity as the US disengages China’s pledge to provide tariff-free access to imports from Africa is a clear effort to strengthen ties as the US disengages from the region, and also appears to be a concessions to African leaders …
Mexico’s exports holding up well … so far Figures out this week provided further evidence that Mexico's exports have been relatively resilient in the face of US import tariffs. Auto exports (compiled by local trade body AMIA) were down 3% y/y in May …
The Israeli air strikes on Iran overnight have renewed fears of a widening of conflict in the Middle East. We covered the implications for the oil market and the global economy in a report here , and discussed the latest developments in a Drop-in …
We’ll be discussing the outlook for Bank of England, Fed and ECB policy in a 20 minute online Drop-In at 3pm BST on Thursday 19th June. (Register here .) If the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was hoping that at the end of the week of her Spending Review we’d …
OPEC+ watches on closely Israeli strikes on Iran and fears over the potential nature of Iranian retaliation sent Brent crude prices from ~$67pb to a peak of $78pb this week. While prices have since fallen back to $75pb at the time of writing, they are …
Short-term gain, long-term pain April’s data suggest that the boost to the euro-zone economy from exporters front-running US tariffs came to an end at the start of the second quarter. Euro-zone industrial production and exports were very strong in Q1 as …
BoJ’s pause won’t last as long as most expect The main show in town next week will be the Bank of Japan’s meeting on Tuesday. As we explain in our BoJ Watch , the Board will almost certainly leave its policy rate unchanged, given its concerns about the …
Beijing continues to prioritise investment The State Council released another policy document this week promising to “further guarantee and improve people’s livelihoods.” But this latest pledge to support households is once again empty. The government has …
Downside risks growing There are growing signs that economic conditions in Australia have continued to weaken. According to a new NAB business survey, business conditions fell to their lowest point since August 2020 last month. On past form, the data are …
Price pressures continue to ease across Asia Inflation data published over the past week or so shows that price pressures across the region remained weak in May. (See Chart 1.) Thailand, Sri Lanka and China are in deflation, while the headline rate is …
Our Q3 India Outlook This week we published our Q3 India Economic Outlook , which contains all of our latest analysis of India’s economy and financial markets. The forecasts and underlying data can also be viewed in our interactive India Macro Dashboard …
Fresh Israel-Iran strike worries rattle oil markets Reports have surfaced that Israel is planning an imminent strike on Iran and/or its proxies in Iraq, prompting oil prices to jump over the past 24 hours. But there are reasons to think that any fallout …
12th June 2025
Tariffs and budget to cancel each other out The latest CBO estimates released this week show that the budget reconciliation will cause the deficit to rise to over 7% of GDP by 2028. Although the deficit is expected to narrow again from 2029, as spending …
6th June 2025
Nigeria floods: worse to come? The flooding Nigeria has faced in recent weeks has claimed scores of lives and, while the economic hit should be limited, the country’s vulnerability to further climate challenges is worryingly high. We should first note the …
The US dollar is enjoying a strong end to the week thanks to signs of economic resilience in the latest US Employment Report but, for the second week in a row, the DXY Index is little changed on net. Such small consecutive weekly moves (up by ~0.2% last …
