Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Norges Bank on hold; Franc rises to near 3-year high Political developments in Norway this past week are no game changer for the economic outlook; we suspect that monetary policy there will remain on hold for the foreseeable future. In contrast, we... 24th January 2020 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economic Outlook Policymakers to follow the ECB down We think growth and inflation will be below consensus in Switzerland and the Nordics this year. Switzerland is most exposed to the prolonged manufacturing recession in Germany and inflation there is... 22nd January 2020 · 20 mins read
Europe Economic Outlook ECB to keep pushing on a string We expect economic growth to remain sluggish this year as external demand picks up only slowly and domestic demand softens. Employment growth is slowing, which will cause household incomes and... 21st January 2020 · 30 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly SNB stuck between a rock and a hard place The re-inclusion of Switzerland on the US Treasury’s Monitoring List of potential currency manipulators this week was interpreted by investors as a shot across the bow of the SNB. However, we doubt... 17th January 2020 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack SNB to be forced to cut interest rates again The decision by the SNB to scrap its currency ceiling five years ago coincided with it slashing interest rates to a record low to reduce the attractiveness of holding Swiss francs. Alas, this... 16th January 2020 · 10 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Frankenshock continues to cast a shadow on the SNB Five years after the so-called Frankenshock, the SNB is near the end of the road for conventional monetary easing. Accordingly, the Bank may be forced to make another radical policy choice if there is... 13th January 2020 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Riksbank leaves door ajar for rate hike reversal Having resumed its interventions to weaken the Swiss franc after the recent flare-up in geopolitical tensions, we think that it will only be a matter of time before a rate cut comes back on the agenda... 10th January 2020 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Switzerland CPI & Sweden Services PMI (Dec.) Having seen inflation fall into negative territory in the previous two months, the increase in Swiss CPI back into positive territory in December will be welcomed by policymakers. Nonetheless, with... 7th January 2020 · 2 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update What to watch for in 2020 Our big calls for 2020 are that economic growth and inflation will generally be weaker than the consensus expects, and that rates cuts are on the cards in Switzerland and Sweden. 23rd December 2019 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly NOK and SEK diverge; Riksbank to hike back to zero The weak Regional Network Survey triggered a sell-off in the Norwegian krone on Tuesday, but it has since made up all the ground that it lost, and more. We are comfortable with our forecast for it to... 13th December 2019 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update SNB halfway through a sub-zero decade Today’s decision by the Swiss National Bank to leave its policy stance unchanged came as a surprise to nobody. Five years on since the Bank first cut interest rates into negative territory, there is... 12th December 2019 · 3 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Weak Swedish data; SNB to maintain the status quo The latest run of weak data from Sweden is unlikely to sway the Riksbank from hiking on the 19 th December, but only reaffirms our view that the Bank will have to loosen policy next year. We think... 6th December 2019 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Nov.) The falls in the Swiss and Swedish manufacturing PMIs in November dash any hopes that the manufacturing sectors have gathered momentum in Q4. With the manufacturing recession in Germany set to rumble... 2nd December 2019 · 2 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Q3 GDP data are not a sign of things to come While Q3 GDP data from Switzerland and Sweden, released this week, were stronger than what we had pencilled in, they do not change our views on the outlooks for monetary policy in either case. We... 29th November 2019 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Sweden, Finland & Denmark GDP (Q3), Swiss KOF (Nov.) The pick-up in Swedish GDP growth in Q3 means that a rate hike by the Riksbank at its next meeting is now pretty much a done deal. But if, as we expect, the economy slows next year, we think the Bank... 29th November 2019 · 2 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Switzerland GDP (Q3) The stronger-than-expected rise in quarterly Swiss GDP growth in Q3 was a bit of a relief and poses upside risks to our near-term forecast. But the outcome was skewed by weather-related effects and... 28th November 2019 · 2 mins read