Filtered by Topic: Monetary Policy Use setting Monetary Policy
Table of Key Forecasts Global Overview – Global growth will be slower this year than last and we expect outturns in major economies including the US and China to be below consensus forecasts. The US economy will be hindered by persistent labour shortages …
25th January 2022
Overview – Omicron should prove no more than a small stumbling block for Asia. Our forecasts are for above-trend and above-consensus growth in most countries this year. India, Indonesia and Korea are likely to raise interest rates in 2022, but with …
Labour market tightening rapidly, inflation surging Omicron is disrupting activity but will only add to the upward pressure on prices RBA to end QE next week, start hiking in August The rapid tightening of the labour market coupled with the acceleration …
Inflation above target mid-point sets stage for rate hikes this year The strong rise in underlying inflation at the end of last year means the RBA is all but certain to end its asset purchase scheme at its meeting next week. And with underlying inflation …
The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) surprise move to tighten policy today, ahead of its usual April meeting, probably won’t be its last. We think the added uplift to inflation from a domestic outbreak of Omicron will force the MAS to tighten again …
Skyrocketing infections and a 10-day isolation requirement for close contacts of positive cases have resulted in a wave of staff absences in Japan. Domestic carmakers already struggling with chip shortages appear to have been among the first victims of …
24th January 2022
Overview – Despite a weak start to the year, we expect GDP to rise by 3.6% in 2022 due to broad-based gains in consumption, business investment and net trade. Against that backdrop, the Bank of Canada is set to raise interest rates four times in 2022. As …
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) left interest rates on hold today at 9.75% and indicated that further modest tightening is likely later in the year. We think the central bank will take a breather over the next few months, but we doubt today’s meeting …
The surge in Omicron infections means more people were self-isolating in early-January than at any time since the beginning of the pandemic, although the impact that will have on employment and output remains uncertain. Furthermore, with cases now falling …
Our baseline forecast envisages that US corporate bond spreads rise only slightly as the Fed raises interest rates over the next couple of years. But we think the risks to this forecast are skewed to higher spreads. We think that the Fed will hike …
21st January 2022
Fed officials may issue a hawkish statement at the upcoming FOMC meeting (Wed.) We expect central banks in Chile, Colombia and South Africa to hike rates next week Annual US wage growth may have reached 5% in Q4 (Thu.) Key Market Themes Although we think …
Whether the Bank of Canada raises interest rates next week or not, the more important question now is how high will rates eventually rise? Our view is that current market pricing is too aggressive. The Bank’s quarterly business and consumer surveys, which …
Ukraine’s markets in for a tough few months A positive reaction to today’s talks between the US and Russia may have brought some relief but, even if a renewed conflict doesn’t materialise, local markets are likely to face a difficult few months. Tensions …
A raft of recent economic developments have shaken up our near-term views on monetary policy in South Africa, and we now expect a 25bp interest rate hike at next week’s MPC meeting. However, our forecasts for the next 12-18 months are still more dovish …
Overview – We expect consumption to rebound from the Omicron wave within a few weeks, lifting euro-zone GDP to its pre-pandemic level in the first half of the year. But GDP will remain below its pre-pandemic path for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, …
We expect the Fed to deliver some heavy hints at next week’s FOMC that it is planning an interest rate hike in March. With the Omicron wave now past its peak nationally, there is little to hold the Fed back, particularly if next week brings news of a …
Denmark achieves a geranium “greenium” Denmark joined the growing list of countries to offer a green sovereign bond, on Wednesday. The country is far from a trailblazer in the area, with the Netherlands, Germany, and the UK all amongst those to have …
Thai tourism to support the baht Better times lie head for Thailand’s tourism industry after the government this week announced it would resume its quarantine-free travel scheme from 1 st February. The scheme was suspended late last year due to fears …
Chile: Boric appoints ‘Super Mario’ Marcel President-elect Boric’s announcement today that (now outgoing) Governor of the Central Bank, Mario Marcel, will be Chile’s next Finance Minister is a clear signal that his government will pursue prudent fiscal …
Virus cases peaking in parts of India Daily COVID-19 cases in India are still rising sharply and are now around an eight-month high. But encouraging signs are emerging in the state-level data. New infections have stabilised in Maharashtra, and they have …
Labour market tightest since 2008 The 64,800 rise in Australian employment in December meant that the unemployment rate fell from 4.6% to 4.2%, the lowest rate since 2008. RBA Governor Lowe noted last year that if the economic data exceeded the Bank’s …
Although the dollar’s rally has stalled over the past six weeks or so, and may tread water for a while longer, we think that it will ultimately appreciate a bit further this year and next. The key driver of the greenback’s rise since the middle of last …
20th January 2022
Overview – The regional recovery will lag further behind others in the emerging world in the coming years. The Omicron-led surge in virus cases presents a risk to growth in the near term, but we suspect that the economic hit will be small. Larger drags …
We expect UK retail sales to have fallen in December (Fri. 07.00 GMT) Japan’s headline inflation probably edged up to 0.8% last month (Thu. 23.30 GMT) Read our key calls for economies and markets in the year ahead here Key Market Themes For the first time …
The long and detailed account of December’s Governing Council meeting underlines that there are significant differences of opinion about the inflation outlook. We suspect that the balance of opinion will shift in the coming months towards forecasting …
Overview – We expect regional GDP growth to come in below expectations this year as high inflation erodes households’ real incomes and policy becomes more restrictive. Despite this view on the growth outlook, we think that persistent capacity constraints …
Overview – We expect underlying inflation to remain well above the 2% target this year, which means the Fed will push ahead with four rate hikes even though real GDP growth is likely to disappoint. Core inflation will average 4.3% in 2022 and close to …
Our new oil price forecasts The price of oil has risen sharply since the turn of the year and, while we still expect it to fall back by year-end, recent supply issues suggest that it will not decrease by as much as we had expected. As a result, the door …
Turkey’s central bank (CBRT) followed kept its one-week repo rate on hold at 14.00% today and, even though inflation is likely to breach 40% in the coming months, President Erdogan is unlikely to permit interest rate hikes. We think it’s more likely that …
Bank Indonesia (BI) left interest rates unchanged at 3.5% at its meeting today, but the decision to raise the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) from March suggests that rate hikes will come sooner than we had previously expected. The decision to leave rates …
After twelve years in the job, Øystein Olsen was never going to spring a surprise at his last meeting in charge of the Norges Bank. Instead, the Bank left its policy rate unchanged at 0.5% and reiterated that it “will most likely be raised in March”. We …
The dovish tone of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) as it left rates on hold today only strengthens our non-consensus view that policy will be left on hold this year to support the recovery. In contrast, the analyst consensus is for 50bps of tightening, while …
The 50bp rate hike made by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) today – after it stood pat for two meetings as foreign currency dried up and inflation soared – is likely to prove too little too late. The CBSL today raised its deposit and lending rates by …
Overview – Australia’s Omicron outbreak will hold back the recovery this quarter, but there are plenty of reasons why Australia will outperform New Zealand over the next couple of years. As the labour market has tightened more rapidly than we had …
Today’s reductions to both the one-year and five-year Loan Prime Rates (LPR) continue the PBOC’s efforts to push down borrowing costs. We expect additional easing to follow in the coming months, including measures to push down deposit rates. But …
Inflation was lower than Bank expected in Q4 and Q1 GDP growth is set to be weak Bank nevertheless set to turn more hawkish amid signs of surge in wage growth ahead Bank to use policy statement to tee up rate hike at the next meeting in March Amid growing …
19th January 2022
We expect China’s central bank to cut its 1-year Loan Prime Rate by 10bp (01.30 GMT) But we think that Turkey’s central bank will pause its easing cycle (11.00 GMT) We also expect interest rates to be left on hold in Indonesia, Malaysia and Norway Key …
Fed usually flags start of tightening cycle ahead of time Balance sheet run-down likely to come sooner and be more aggressive than 2017/18 FOMC will have more hawkish tilt until Biden’s nominees are confirmed With many Fed officials now either explicitly …
Overview – India’s Omicron wave should only be a temporary setback to the economic recovery. As long as recurrent large waves of COVID are avoided, we think that economic growth will be faster this year than last. We also think that inflation will soon …
We think that UK inflation will hold steady at its 10-year high of 5.1% (07.00 GMT) We expect Canada’s inflation to have reached its highest level since 1991 (13.30 GMT) Register here for our webinar event “The World in 2022” Key Market Themes With …
18th January 2022
The “new economic model” adopted by Turkey’s government is likely to mean low real interest rates and a persistently weak lira, but it will come alongside a shift towards capital controls, ever higher inflation and growing fiscal and banking sector risks. …
The Bank of Japan today upgraded its assessment of inflation risks to “broadly balanced” for the first time since 2014. However, it reiterated its pledge to keep expanding the monetary base until inflation exceeds 2% and also signaled that it will keep …
The Riksbank has learnt from its past tendency to project rate hikes that never arrive. But the single repo rate rise by end-2024 that it currently projects is stretching the limits of plausibility in the other direction. Of course, policymakers will …
17th January 2022
Overview – Although the hit to households’ real incomes from a bigger surge in CPI inflation than most expect (to a peak of almost 7% in April) explains why we think GDP growth will be slower this year than the consensus forecast, we still think that the …
The People’s Bank (PBOC) has stepped up its efforts to loosen monetary conditions, following up last month’s reduction to the Loan Prime Rate (LPR) with cuts to the rates at which it lends to banks. Another LPR cut this month is now a given and we expect …
China’s economy probably failed to gain much momentum last quarter (Monday) The Bank of Japan may revise up its inflation forecasts at its policy meeting (Tuesday) We suspect that UK inflation remained above 5%, a 10-year high, last month (Tuesday) Key …
14th January 2022
The continued surge in Omicron infections suggests that the disappointing December activity data will be followed by further weakness in January, but there are no signs that it will delay the Fed’s accelerating plans to tighten policy. This week’s Senate …
“Dynamic clearing” hasn’t failed yet It is too soon to conclude – as many seem to have – that Omicron will swamp China’s efforts to suppress COVID. Those efforts are far more forceful than anyone else has tried. The country’s first …
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is causing new virus cases to surge in the emerging world. (See Chart 1.) Many EMs are reporting record daily cases or that new infections are rising sharply. South Africa ’s experience offers some hope – cases are now …
Russia-Ukraine tensions hit a new crisis point A tense week of negotiations between Russia, the US and NATO have ended with what now seems to be a more serious ratcheting up in tensions that is likely to weigh on local financial markets for some time. The …
