Canada Data Response Consumer Price Index (Jan.) The small decline in the headline inflation rate to 1.7% in January, from 1.9%, mainly reflects a drop in gasoline price inflation due to base effects. The Bank of Canada’s three preferred core... 23rd February 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Is the BoJ’s 2% inflation target achievable? On past form, capacity shortages alone will never be enough to generate 2% inflation in Japan. The prerequisite for faster price gains is that inflation expectations among households and firms also... 23rd February 2018 · 1 min read
India Chart Pack Import duty hikes unlikely to aid local manufacturing Recent hikes to import duties on various goods appear to be an attempt by Prime Minister Modi and the BJP to shore up popular support ahead of a clutch of state elections this year, and the general... 23rd February 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Consumer Prices (Jan.) Underlying inflation has picked up again but we think this mostly reflects the lagged pass-through from previous exchange rate weakness. With producer prices of consumer goods now moderating... 23rd February 2018 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Mexico Bi-Weekly CPI (Feb.) The pause in the decline in Mexican headline inflation in the first half of February masks the fact that core inflation posted its biggest decline in over three years. The central bank is likely to... 22nd February 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Polish surveys suggest rise in core inflation is on its way Two widely-watched survey-based measures of price expectations in Poland hit seven-year highs in January, suggesting that core inflation is set to pick up markedly over the course of 2018. This... 22nd February 2018 · 1 min read
India Economics Update MPC minutes reiterate inflation and fiscal concerns The minutes of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) February policy meeting show that most MPC members are concerned about recent fiscal developments and the inflation outlook. Indeed, with core... 22nd February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus Has the natural rate of unemployment fallen? The unemployment rate may need to fall from 5.5% currently to around 4.0% before wage growth rises significantly. This is partly due to the existing excess capacity not captured by the unemployment... 21st February 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Focus Iceland: What went right and what might go wrong? Icelandic growth is set to hold up well with tourism booming despite the strength of the króna and with the financial imbalances that caused the previous crisis largely resolved. But inflation is a... 21st February 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt: inflation to fall further and stay low The drop in Egyptian inflation over the past six months has largely reflected the unwinding impact from the pound’s devaluation in late-2016. But there are a couple of additional reasons to think that... 21st February 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Wage Price Index (Q4) The rise in wage growth in the fourth quarter may be the first real sign that wages are benefiting from the recent strength of jobs growth. But real wages have been stagnant for two years. And the... 21st February 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Flash Manufacturing PMI (Feb.) While the manufacturing PMI weakened in February it remains near the highest it has been since 2014’s sales tax hike and consistent with strong gains in industrial output. Meanwhile, the survey... 21st February 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swedish Consumer Prices (Jan.) January’s drop in Swedish inflation was entirely due to changes in the weights used to calculate the price index. While inflation looks set to be lower in 2018 than we previously anticipated, the... 20th February 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Chart Pack Is Japan overheating? Japan’s economy recorded an eighth consecutive quarter of growth in Q4, the longest uninterrupted run of expansion since the late 1980s. Unemployment is very low, inflation has started to pick up... 20th February 2018 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Should rising domestic inflationary pressure worry the MPC? Inflation proved unexpectedly sticky in January, remaining unchanged at 3.0%, contrary to the consensus expectation for it to fall. However, we don’t think that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)... 16th February 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Pick-up in inflation is the real deal The January consumer price data were the clearest sign yet that inflationary pressures are beginning to build. While inflation was boosted by a rebound in clothing prices and a recovery in vehicle... 16th February 2018 · 1 min read
