Filtered by Topic: Monetary Policy Use setting Monetary Policy
Banxico added to this week’s global central banking bonanza with a surprise 50bp hike, to 5.50%, and the widespread hawkish shift on the Board suggests that policymakers will act more aggressively to tame above-target inflation. We now expect a further …
17th December 2021
While central banks elsewhere are becoming increasingly hawkish, the Bank of Japan kept policy loose today and is set to remain among the most dovish central banks for the foreseeable future . The Bank left its interest rate targets unchanged as widely …
The end is coming for QE In a speech this week, RBA Governor Lowe noted that the RBA’s central forecasts were consistent with the Bank tapering its bond purchase programme in February, and ending it altogether in May. But he also acknowledged two other …
UK retail sale probably rose significantly in November (07.00 GMT) Germany’s Ifo likely to have fallen again in December amid tighter restrictions (09.00 GMT) We expect Russia’s central bank to hike its policy rate by 75bp to 8.25% (10.30 GMT) Key Market …
16th December 2021
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 …
A deep-dive into Saudi Arabia’s ‘austere’ budget The Saudi 2022 Budget released earlier this week revealed that the government expects to cut spending to help it run a budget surplus for the first time since 2013. But the true fiscal stance is being …
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 …
Much attention has been devoted to the Omicron-fuelled fourth COVID-19 wave ripping through South Africa but cases have picked up elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa as well, with especially sharp rises in Nigeria and Namibia. There are early signs of virus …
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 …
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 …
Taiwan’s central bank (CBC) today left interest rates unchanged at 1.125% and despite rising inflation, surging property prices and the strong economy, we don’t think policymakers will be in any rush to tighten policy. Today’s decision was unanimous and …
Bank Indonesia (BI) left interest rates unchanged at 3.5% at its meeting today, and despite the prospect of the US Fed raising interest rates soon, we don’t think BI will be in any rush to tighten. The decision to leave rates unchanged came as no surprise …
The central bank in the Philippines (BSP) today left interest rates unchanged at 2.00%, and with inflation set to ease further over the coming months we think the central bank will keep monetary policy loose for the foreseeable future. Today’s decision …
The Fed delivered an even more hawkish shift at the December meeting than we had anticipated, with the pace of tapering doubled and officials now forecasting three rate hikes next year. Reflecting that new tone, we now expect the Fed to raise rates three …
15th December 2021
Chile’s central bank raised its policy rate by another 125bp yesterday, to 4.00%, and the accompanying statement, alongside today’s Monetary Policy Report , suggest that its tightening cycle will be more aggressive than we’d previously thought. We now …
We think the BoE will keep policy on hold due to renewed COVID uncertainty (12.00 GMT) We expect the ECB will signal that net asset purchases may continue indefinitely (12.45 GMT) See Key Data & Events below for a full summary of central bank policy …
Governments across the Gulf have begun to unveil their 2022 budgets and tight fiscal policy remains the order of the day. Saudi Arabia outlined a 6% cut in spending next year that is expected to push the budget into surplus for the first since 2013. And …
Virus disruptions and property downturn continue to hold back economy Industry in China continued to rebound last month from disruptions caused by power shortages while the recovery in services activity was held back by renewed virus outbreaks. A new …
The decision by Hungary’s central bank (MNB) to raise its base rate by 30bp, to 2.40%, at today’s meeting is largely symbolic. The key point is that the central bank struck a clear hawkish tone and will continue to push up interbank interest rates …
14th December 2021
Outside China, global inflation jumped from 5.0% to 5.5% in October, its highest level since 2008. And timely data point to a further rise in November. Base effects, fading ‘re-opening’ inflation, and falling commodity prices will drag on headline …
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) today raised interest rates by a further 100bp, which came as little surprise. What was unexpected, however, was the sudden shift in tone in the statement. Despite the worsening inflation outlook and the widening external …
The Bank of Canada’s updated policy framework will not have a material effect on policy over the next couple of years, but it does support our forecast that inflation will be slightly higher on average over the rest of this decade than it was in the …
13th December 2021
The recent batch of GDP figures showed that growth in Latin America as a whole picked up in Q3, but the region’s recovery so far has been one of the weakest in the emerging world. And growth prospects are only deteriorating, suggesting Latin America will …
Today’s US CPI data produced a relatively limited reaction in the US dollar, which is set to end the week a bit weaker against most major currencies. Attention now turns to the 17(!) central bank meetings next week, including the Fed, ECB, BoE, and BoJ. …
10th December 2021
QE to end sooner and more rate hikes in forecast Following Chair Jerome Powell’s markedly more hawkish tone at his recent congressional testimony, markets are braced for the Fed to pivot hard at next week’s FOMC meeting. Futures pricing suggests there is …
The Bank of Canada’s increased concerns about wage and cost pressures suggest it will start to tighten policy in April, especially if the government loosens fiscal policy in next week’s fall fiscal update. Bank to turn more hawkish in January In the …
The latest EM central bank meetings confirmed that policymakers in Emerging Europe and Latin America are still focused on high and rising inflation (see Chart 1), rather than any downside risk to the economic outlook from the Omicron variant. Central …
Sanctions threat rears its ugly head again The newswires have been abuzz this week with reports of a potential Russian military conflict with Ukraine and a renewed threat of US sanctions. The proposed sanctions are at the more aggressive end of the …
The government’s recently-imposed “Plan B” COVID-19 restrictions mean there is a good chance that the economy contracted in December. If the pressure on the NHS increases, restrictions might be tightened further, implying substantial downside risks to Q1 …
Interview coaching for SNB candidates This week’s announcement that Fritz Zurbrügg – one of the three members of the SNB’s Governing Board – will retire at the end of July 2022 sounded the starting gun to appoint his successor. We are not privy to the …
This week brought yet more bad news for the euro-zone economy. Although German industrial output grew by 2.8% on the month in October, driven by a rebound in the struggling auto sector, this followed months of declines and left production 6.5% below its …
Rates to stay on hold throughout most of next year The central bank of Taiwan (CBC) is likely to leave interest rates unchanged at its meeting on Thursday (both the consensus and ourselves expect no change), but with the economy operating well-above its …
Bank to raise 2022 inflation forecast but still predict an undershoot in 2023. Policymakers will keep open possibility of using the PEPP after March. Christine Lagarde will stress uncertainty and need for flexibility. Just a day after we expect the Fed to …
9th December 2021
Emergency lending facility and corporate debt buying scheme to be extended Risks to inflation posed by worst-case Omicron scenario balanced Upside inflation surprise wouldn’t cause Bank to lose control of the yield curve While renewed virus restrictions …
We think US headline CPI inflation rose to just under 7% in November (13.30 GMT) UK GDP growth probably slowed in October (07.00 GMT) Peru’s central bank likely to hike rates by another 50bp, to 2.0% (23.00 GMT) Key Market Themes While the real has …
A hike this month does not look likely, but is possible Omicron is unlikely to prompt more QE or negative interest rates Lift off to occur early next year, but rates probably won’t rise as far as investors expect We wouldn’t completely rule it out, but we …
Omicron means that a Norges Bank rate hike next Thursday is no longer as nailed on a prospect as it once was, but we still think that policymakers will decide to raise rates to +0.50%. Meanwhile, although the SNB has let the franc rise in recent weeks, it …
Iran nuclear deal talks hit (another) bump The seventh round of talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal resumed today, having been halted on Friday as both sides failed to make headway. It appears that an agreement is a long way off, which could put upwards …
Brazil’s central bank gave a clear steer that, even though the economy entered recession in Q3 and shows little sign of growth in Q4, it will follow the 150bp hike in the Selic rate yesterday (to 9.25%) with further aggressive tightening. We now think …
The National Bank of Poland’s decision to slow the pace of its tightening cycle with a 50bp interest rate hike (to 1.75%) seems a bit inconsistent with its more hawkish tone on inflation in the accompanying press statement. Even so, we think the backdrop …
8th December 2021
The Bank of Canada’s unchanged policy rate guidance implies it could wait until the third quarter before raising rates but, given wage growth is now picking up sharply, we expect it to pull the trigger in April. As the Bank updated its forward guidance …
Fed markedly shifts stance, with inflation no longer seen as transitory Taper will be stepped up – asset purchases to end in spring rather than summer We now expect two hikes in 2022, followed by four hikes in 2023 In sharp contrast to the surprisingly …
The MPC voted to keep policy rates on hold today, opting only to introduce further small measures to withdraw liquidity from the banking sector. With the RBI still focusing primarily on supporting the fragile economic recovery, we continue to think that …
This Update answers some of the most common questions that we have received from clients during Turkey’s recent turmoil. In short, the economic fallout doesn’t look like it will be as bad as it was after the 2018 crisis. However, policymakers look less …
7th December 2021
While the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant has increased the downside risks to our GDP forecasts, it has arguably increased the upside risks to our CPI inflation forecasts. The transmissibility, severity and capacity for Omicron to escape …
The RBA still sounded dovish when it kept policy unchanged policy. We think that rates will rise earlier than the Bank anticipates but later and by less than what the financial markets price in. As widely anticipated, the Bank kept its policy rate …
We expect China’s trade surplus to reach a record high RBA not likely to make major policy changes this month, may taper in early 2022 (03.30 GMT) Industrial production in Germany probably declined again in October (07.00 GMT) Key Market Themes The recent …
6th December 2021
High frequency data show that travel to retail and recreation destinations, restaurant bookings and flights have all declined in the past few weeks as coronavirus restrictions have been tightened in the face of rising hospitalisations. (See Chart 1.) It …
We expect the Bank of Korea to continue raising interest rates next year, but the worsening near-term prospects for growth mean the outlook for monetary policy has become less clear cut. Recent economic data from Korea make for disappointing reading. The …