UK Economics Omicron may weaken activity but lift price pressures 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... 7th December 2021 · 9 mins read
Asia Economics Update Rates in the Philippines to stay low on falling inflation Inflationary pressures in the Philippines are easing sharply. This will allow the central bank to keep interest rates low to support the economic recovery. 7th December 2021 · 2 mins read
Europe Chart Pack Omicron adds to downside risks 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... 6th December 2021 · 11 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Bank to hike sooner as labour market nears full health As the labour market is nearing a full recovery and wages are rising strongly, we now expect the Bank to hike interest rates in April, rather than waiting until July, as we previously expected. 3rd December 2021 · 5 mins read
US Economics Weekly Powell signals turning point in policy Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony this week was markedly more hawkish. We wouldn’t characterise it as a full-blown Volcker moment. But there could be parallels with former Chair Alan... 3rd December 2021 · 7 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey & the macro fallout from past “sudden stops” The history books show that currency crises in other parts of the emerging world in recent decades have resulted in peak-to-trough falls in GDP of around 8% on average and pushed headline inflation up... 3rd December 2021 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Omicron restrictions wouldn’t jolt BoJ into action Even if Omicron proves more transmissible than Delta, its impact on Japan’s economy could vary substantially depending on how deadly it is, how well it evades vaccines, and PM Kishida’s appetite for... 3rd December 2021 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Christmas parties, Omicron inflation risks, MPC’s dilemma Some tentative evidence may already be emerging that the Omicron COVID-19 variant may have softened economic activity. It’s less clear what it means for inflation and there’s a risk that it... 3rd December 2021 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Inflation exacerbates economic crisis in Sri Lanka The economic situation in Sri Lanka is going from bad to worse, with a surge in inflation undermining the credibility of the central bank (CBSL) and making a debt default all the more likely. 3rd December 2021 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB’s line on inflation contrasts with the Fed’s In contrast to those at the US Fed, ECB policymakers are not ready to retire their argument that the current bout of high inflation is temporary. This reflects the significant difference in... 3rd December 2021 · 5 mins read
Emerging Europe Data Response Turkey Consumer Prices (Nov.) The rise in Turkey’s headline inflation rate to 21.3% y/y in November will almost certainly be followed by further chunky increases over the coming months that take it to 25-30% as the effects of the... 3rd December 2021 · 3 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Omicron could add to inflationary pressure If Omicron were able to evade existing vaccines, a renewed period of lockdowns would be required which would force the RBA to step up its bond purchases. Inflation would fall initially as crude oil... 3rd December 2021 · 5 mins read
Capital Daily We see little upside for developed market corporate bonds Even if the global economy proves fairly resilient to Omicron, we don’t think that there is much scope for corporate bonds to perform better than government bonds over the coming years. 2nd December 2021 · 5 mins read
Latin America Economics Update Red-hot Chile set to cool Chile’s economy has been operating above potential for several months but there are signs that activity is starting to cool. And policy tightening, falls in copper prices and the possibility of more... 1st December 2021 · 4 mins read
Global Economics Update Renewed restrictions: inflationary or disinflationary? If Omicron turns out to be malign enough to prompt tighter restrictions, we suspect that the net result would initially be for inflation to be lower than otherwise. But by worsening product and... 1st December 2021 · 4 mins read
Global Markets Focus Is inflation about to spell trouble for the stock market? US inflation hit its highest level since the 1990s in October and has now reached a rate that, historically, has coincided with very poor stock market returns. Notwithstanding the uncertainty around... 1st December 2021 · 13 mins read
