Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Formation of new Icelandic Government opens door for further rate cuts In the land of fire and ice, currency movements in 2016 resembled an erupting volcano rather than a creeping glacier. The appreciating króna put downward pressure on inflation, prompting the Central... 13th January 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly How much spare capacity is left? Recent revisions to the GDP data suggest that the output gap has all but closed. However, the main factor holding back inflation over the last two decades were entrenched deflation expectations rather... 13th January 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economic Outlook Steady growth ahead Most countries in Emerging Asia should continue to grow at a decent pace over the next couple of years as loose monetary policy helps support demand. The key exception is China, where growth looks set... 13th January 2017 · 1 min read
ECB Watch ECB to hold its course despite rising inflation The ECB will not announce any policy changes next week after last month’s pledge to buy at least €60bn of assets per month until the end of 2017. President Draghi is likely to restate the Governing... 12th January 2017 · 1 min read
India Data Response Consumer Prices (Dec.) & Industrial Production (Nov.) Consumer price inflation dropped again in December as price discounting continued following demonetisation. A rate cut can’t be ruled out in the near term but, over the longer term, demonetisation... 12th January 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Argentina: new economic team, same challenges The motives behind the Argentine government’s decision to oust finance minister Alfonso Prat-Gay in December are unclear, but at this stage two key points are worth emphasising. First, despite... 12th January 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Next Riksbank move will be to tighten monetary policy Today’s minutes confirmed that only half of the Riksbank’s Executive Board supported the extension of its QE programme. And with inflation surpassing expectations in December, there is little cause... 12th January 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Chart Pack Inflation close to bottoming out Inflation fell to fresh lows at the end of 2016, with the Bank of Japan’s favourite measure of underlying inflation turning negative in the Tokyo region on our estimates. What’s more, there are few... 12th January 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Polish MPC suggests monetary tightening is long way off Dovish comments by Polish National Bank Governor, Adam Glapinski, at this afternoon’s post-meeting conference suggest that the MPC is as focused on growth as it is on inflation. We continue to think... 11th January 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Brazil Consumer Prices (Dec.) The further drop in Brazilian inflation in December seals the deal for a larger cut in the Selic interest rate at today’s COPOM meeting (decision due 18.20 local time). A 75bp cut is possible, but we... 11th January 2017 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Should we now worry about rising inflation? Consumer price inflation is set to rise sharply in most advanced economies, with the US rate likely to reach around 3% by the middle of this year. However, talk of “global reflation” seems wide of the... 11th January 2017 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egyptian inflation has further to rise Yesterday’s inflation data from Egypt made for grim reading and we think the headline rate is likely to peak at around 27% in the coming months, prompting further interest rate hikes. Price pressures... 11th January 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Still no need to panic about the pound While the latest fall in the pound could potentially push inflation higher than otherwise, it should strengthen the already considerable beneficial effects of a weaker currency too. 10th January 2017 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response Egypt Consumer Prices (Dec.) The 50% drop in the pound against the US dollar and fresh subsidy cuts pushed Egyptian inflation up further last month to its second-highest rate in a quarter of a century. With inflation likely to... 10th January 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Norwegian Consumer Prices (Dec.) In December, the Norges Bank’s favoured measure of inflation edged down to a 19- month low. We think that it will fall further, prompting the Bank to cut its key policy rate by 25 basis points in the... 10th January 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Consumer Confidence (Dec.) The rebound in consumer confidence to a three-year high in December supports our view that consumer spending will be one of the driving forces of the economic recovery this year. 10th January 2017 · 1 min read
