Japan Chart Pack Green shoots after Golden Week holiday Economic activity remained severely damaged by coronavirus containment efforts in early May. In particular, the retail sector usually receives a substantial boost during Golden Week but the number of... 15th May 2020 · 10 mins read
India Data Response Wholesale Prices (Apr.) The partial release of the WPI inflation figures for April strongly suggest that the headline rate has dropped. This supports our view that the inflation outlook shouldn’t be a concern for... 14th May 2020 · 2 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Four points (and charts) on the plunge in EM inflation The broad-based decline in inflation across the emerging world since the pandemic struck has been driven in part by a dip in fuel inflation, but core inflation is softening in many countries too. We... 13th May 2020 · 3 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Sweden Consumer Prices (Apr.) While the Riksbank will look through the energy-driven plunge in headline inflation in April, the further fall in underlying price pressures will be harder to ignore. All told, while policymakers’... 13th May 2020 · 2 mins read
India Data Response Consumer Prices (Apr.) & Industrial Production (Mar.) As a result of the Statistics Office being only partly operational due to India’s nationwide lockdown, the headline CPI data for April weren’t published as originally scheduled today. But the... 13th May 2020 · 2 mins read
US Data Response Consumer Prices (Apr.) The 0.8% m/m fall in consumer prices last month reflects the sharp drop in energy prices together with an unprecedented 0.4% m/m fall in core CPI. But the latter was largely due to very big declines... 12th May 2020 · 3 mins read
China Data Response Consumer & Producer Prices (Apr.) Consumer and producer price inflation fell sharply last month, reflecting the continued weakness in demand. Price pressures are likely to ease further in the coming months, strengthening the case for... 12th May 2020 · 2 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Norway Consumer Prices (Apr.) The food-driven jump in the core inflation rate in Norway in April will not trouble the Norges Bank. With the economy facing a slow recovery, a prolonged period of record low interest rates is on the... 11th May 2020 · 2 mins read
India Economics Weekly Partial reopening doing little to boost activity While the nationwide lockdown has been extended again, the latest phase includes a significant relaxation of containment measures in areas less affected by the virus. In principle, this should ease... 8th May 2020 · 5 mins read
Latin America Data Response Mexico Consumer Prices (Apr.) The large fall in Mexican inflation to just 2.2% y/y in April (from 3.2% y/y in March) should embolden the central bank to step up the easing cycle when it meets later this month. We’ve pencilled in a... 7th May 2020 · 2 mins read
Global Economics Update CPI measurement problems dwarfed by other concerns The impact of the lockdowns on the ability of statisticians to collect price data means that measures of inflation will be less accurate than normal. However, this will probably have little impact on... 6th May 2020 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Sweden GDP (Q1) & Switzerland CPI (Apr.) The comparatively small fall in Swedish GDP in Q1 appears to owe as much to a strong January and February as Sweden’s lighter-touch lockdown. Accordingly, today’s data underplay the scale of the... 5th May 2020 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Data Response Turkey Consumer Prices (Apr.) The fall in Turkish inflation in April, coupled with growing evidence of a sharp economic downturn, may tempt the central bank to cut interest rates further. But this would severely test investors’... 4th May 2020 · 2 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Unemployment lower, inflation higher than expected At the end of a data-heavy week, we have learnt that the euro-zone economy slumped as much as expected in Q1, but unemployment rose much less than anticipated in March. Meanwhile, the highlights of... 1st May 2020 · 7 mins read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone GDP (Q1), HICP (Apr.), Unemp. (Mar.) The blizzard of depressing economic data released this morning confirms that the euro-zone economy was in freefall at the end of March, with GDP dropping by a record amount throughout the region. This... 30th April 2020 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Easing lockdowns will boost growth The strict lockdowns have resulted in a massive drop in demand, but they have also been successful at ‘flattening the curve’ or reducing the number of new daily cases of Covid-19 in both countries... 30th April 2020 · 10 mins read
