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We think euro-zone GDP growth will be lower than most anticipate this year, at around 3.5%, while inflation will come down towards 2% by year-end allowing the ECB to leave interest rates unchanged and continue net asset purchases. The big risk is that …
5th January 2022
While office performance surprised on the upside and we could have been much bolder in our forecast for industrial yield falls, our other forecasts for 2021 proved to be broadly correct. With the arrival of a new year, it is always worth looking back to …
With central banks across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) raising interest rates to tackle inflation, we think the risks of a wage-price spiral are low. Even so, persistently above-target inflation, tight labour market conditions and strong domestic …
Given the huge surge in cases throughout December, the COVID-19 situation is once again set to be the biggest determinant of the performance of the economy over the first few months of 2022. We aren’t factoring in any additional UK-wide restrictions, but …
Weak growth and intense price pressures going into 2022 The final Composite PMIs for December confirm that the euro-zone economy ended 2021 on a weak note, consistent with our view that GDP rose by only about 0.2% q/q in Q4. They also suggest that price …
December’s PMIs suggest that EM manufacturers ended last year on a firm note, with headline indices rising in much of Emerging Europe and Emerging Asia. Encouragingly, input and output price components dropped back in many EMs, suggesting that inflation …
4th January 2022
The National Bank of Poland (NBP) raised its policy rate by another 50bp, to 2.25% today and we expect at least another 75bp of tightening, to 3.00%, in the next few months. But with energy bills set to surge and wage pressures strengthening, the risks …
Stabilisation in approvals consistent with robust demand Mortgage approvals stabilised in November, consistent with other evidence that demand remained robust after the stamp duty holiday ended. Even though approvals have softened to a similar level to …
Net lending reverses course as uncertainty grows Declines in lending for both standing property and new developments resulted in total net lending moving back into negative territory in November. The outlook is for credit conditions to remain tight in the …
November’s strength unlikely to have lasted The healthy rise in consumer credit in November adds to evidence that economic activity strengthened in the middle of Q4. But that feels like a distant memory now. Against a backdrop of surging COVID-19 cases, …
The recent sale of a 25% share of the Bluewater shopping centre has provided further evidence of the slump in retail values. And while there are signs that the worst of the correction may now be over, we don’t think that a turnaround is likely soon. The …
24th December 2021
The continued strength of the housing market after the end of the stamp duty holiday shows that it was far more than the tax break that kept prices surging in 2021. The three key drivers of demand - low mortgage rates, high household saving, and a …
23rd December 2021
Despite tight supply and the boost to demand from e-commerce, we think Turkey’s recent currency crisis will further weigh on Istanbul industrial rents and that rental growth will slow sharply after this year. Echoing the trend seen elsewhere in Europe, …
This year’s surge in natural gas prices means that HICP inflation may be up to one percentage point higher next year than it would otherwise have been. However, aggregate energy inflation is still likely to come down during 2022, because transport fuel …
22nd December 2021
The Czech National Bank (CNB) hiked rates by 100bp (to 3.75%) today and Governor Rusnok struck an incredibly hawkish tone after the meeting. The tightening cycle clearly has further to run and we now think the CNB will bring interest rates to 4.50% by …
International travel restrictions and domestic containment measures have dealt the hotel sector a massive blow over the last two years. The outlook for the sector is more positive, but a slow relaxation of restrictions, tourist hesitancy and reduced …
Less momentum going into Q4 Today’s release indicates the economy had a bit less momentum in Q3 than we had previously thought. And, with early signs the Omicron variant has hit activity, growth is sure to have slowed further in Q4. Upward revisions to …
We always expected European natural gas prices to remain high over the winter because of low stocks, but heightened uncertainty about supply from Russia has caused prices to skyrocket again. Assuming supply isn’t affected, though, our expectation is that …
21st December 2021
Commodity supply shortages have been widespread over the last year or so There doesn’t appear to be a single cause of these shortages But a key theme is that prices are now close to a peak (if they haven’t peaked already) In this Commodities Watch , we …
Festive spirit in short supply December’s decline in consumer confidence adds to the list of deteriorating consumer indicators. We expect household spending to contribute to a marked slowdown in GDP growth in Q4 to just 0.2% q/q. Data released this …
A new scheme announced by Turkey’s President Erdogan last night, which compensates holders of lira deposits for exchange rates losses, has triggered a sharp rally in the lira and will help to mitigate some of the risks that had started to crystalise in …
While we have raised our end-22 and end-23 forecasts for the S&P 500, we still expect gains in the index to be smaller over the next two years than they have been in 2021 and on average over the past decade . After rising sharply in October, the S&P 500 …
Riksbank looking increasingly behind the curve The resilience of the ETI in December underlines that the Swedish economy is comparatively well-placed going into 2022. All told, the pressure on the Riksbank to soften its so-far dovish stance is building. …
Borrowing overshoot could continue in the coming months The rise in government borrowing in November suggests the public finances could be already starting to feel the strain from higher spending on NHS Test & Trace and booster vaccines. Now that tighter …
Inflation pressures have shown no signs of letting up across Emerging Europe, with headline inflation rates surging to multi-year highs in November. Producer price inflation has hit rates not seen in decades, food inflation continues to surge and strong …
20th December 2021
Foreign investors have been net sellers of EM assets for much of this year and tighter monetary policy in the US and a stronger dollar suggest that the environment for EMs next year will remain challenging. The good news is that most major EMs should be …
The pandemic-driven boost in scientific research and development will support demand in the European life science sector, at least for the next few years. This bodes well for several markets we forecast, including Warsaw and Copenhagen. The shift to more …
Following yesterday’s interest rate cut in Turkey, the lira has plunged again and is now faring worse than other Emerging Europe currencies have done during recent sudden stops. There are some signs of stress emerging in the banking sector. These aren’t …
17th December 2021
Poland: overheating fears, but NBP stepping up Concerns that Poland’s economy is overheating will have only been reinforced by figures this week that showed a surge in nominal wage growth and a sharp widening of the current account deficit in October. But …
Twelve months ago we said that 2021 would bring a “quicker and fuller” recovery, still-loose monetary policy and that the pandemic wouldn’t leave a large permanent dent in the economy and the public finances. (See here .) So we have managed to notch a …
The majority of this week’s multiple central bank decisions turned out to be a little more hawkish than most had anticipated, and the ECB was no exception. We commented on its decision here , but a couple of points are worth underlining. First, the ECB …
Russia’s central bank (CBR) stepped up the pace of its tightening cycle today with a 100bp interest rate hike, to 8.50%, and the hawkish communications reinforce the message that it will not hesitate to raise interest rates further. We now expect a 75bp …
Shifting sands at ECB change landscape for the SNB As expected, Thursday morning’s SNB announcement did not throw up any surprises, and the ability of Swiss policymakers to play a straight bat puts England’s openers to shame. However, the mildly hawkish …
Inflation to stay above 2% until late 2022 November’s detailed inflation breakdown shows that the increase in price pressures is not just due to high energy costs and global demand-supply imbalances for durable goods. Services inflation has risen too. We …
Another bleak midwinter The fall in the Ifo BCI for December underlines that German’s economy has been hit hard by the latest Covid wave even before the Omicron variant has taken hold. The only consolation is that manufacturers are holding up well. It now …
Black Friday boost, but Omicron threatens Christmas for retailers The strong growth in retail sales in November feels like a bit of a consolation prize for retailers who are now once again facing a difficult Christmas in light of the rapidly worsening …
The Riksbank (along with the RBNZ) is one of the few major central banks not to have a scheduled meeting in December. But with the Fed having put its hawkish cards on the table, rate hikes by the Bank of England and Norges Bank , and a chance that even …
16th December 2021
While the hike in Bank Rate from 0.10% to 0.25% came a little earlier than we expected, it does not change our view that the overall rise in interest rates over the next couple of years will be modest. However, the continued strength of both inflation and …
The ECB confirmed today that it will reduce the pace of its monthly asset purchases to €40bn by April next year. It plans to reduce them to €20bn by October and then continue as long as necessary. We have brought forward our forecast of the first rate …
The surprise hike in interest rates by the Bank of England today, from 0.10% to 0.25%, could just be a case of the Bank moving a bit quicker than expected, but the hawkish tone of the commentary suggests to us that it is now also willing to move a bit …
Overview – With the recovery running out of steam and the emergence of the Omicron variant posing a downside risk, the economic backdrop is likely to provide less support to the property recovery over the coming quarters . Nevertheless, we think that both …
Yesterday’s Fed meeting confirmed a hawkish shift. Turkey aside, we doubt that this is likely to cause major strains in the balance of payments of most EMs. But the Fed’s hawkish turn may cause domestic monetary policy to be tightened slightly more …
Turkey’s central bank shrugged off a currency crisis, rising inflation as well as the recent hawkish turn from the Fed and remained obedient to President Erdogan by cutting its one-week repo rate by another 100bp, to 14.00%, today. The accompanying …
Rebound in wage growth won’t trouble the ECB The rebound in euro-zone hourly wage growth in Q3 is a sign of base effects fading and there is no evidence that this is the beginning of a wage-price spiral that would concern the ECB. Indeed, wage growth is …
Omicron already hitting services hard The fall in the composite PMI in December doesn’t come as much of a surprise given the surge in cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. But it was much bigger than expected, and shows that caution among businesses …
Ending Q4 on a weak note The renewed decline in the Composite PMI in December suggests that growth slowed to a crawl as tighter restrictions and growing consumer caution are taking their toll on economic activity, with the service sector bearing the …
While the Swiss National Bank maintained the status quo once again this morning (yawn), the Norges Bank continued its tightening cycle, as expected, and opened the door to another rate hike in March. We are sticking to our hawkish forecast that rates will …
Given the fast-moving virus situation in Europe, and mindful of the fact that Omicron won’t be taking a festive break, this Update identifies five key areas of uncertainty to watch over the coming weeks. Europe was labelled the epicentre of the pandemic …
15th December 2021
The recovery from the crisis over the course of this year has been uneven, with strong retail spending and industrial output setting the stage for a sharp rebound in the likes of Chile, Colombia and Poland, while recoveries in South Africa and Brazil have …
Investment activity has bounced back sharply after the initial COVID-19 shock and is on track to hit a three-year high in 2021. But we expect more modest growth in 2022 as softer economic activity and structural factors in some sectors weigh on …
