RBA Watch RBA not done yet The Reserve Bank of Australia hasn’t learned much on the state of the economy since its last meeting and we expect it to leave rates unchanged at its next meeting on Tuesday 3rd September. However, we... 27th August 2019 · 7 mins read
Asia Chart Pack Political risk back on the agenda Despite the poor global outlook, GDP growth across Emerging Asia actually picked up slightly in the second quarter, and our forecast is for a further gradual recovery over the remainder of the year... 26th August 2019 · 16 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Fiscal caution in the Philippines and Indonesia Despite the poor outlook for economic growth and relatively healthy fiscal positions, the Philippines and Indonesia have both recently unveiled relatively cautious budgets for 2020. 23rd August 2019 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt’s easing cycle resumes with a bang The Egyptian central bank cut its overnight deposit rate by a larger-than-expected 150bp last night (to 14.25%) and with inflation likely to fall further in the coming months, much more easing lies in... 23rd August 2019 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lanka cuts, but more loosening unlikely The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) cut rates today, but given our view that the rupee will come under pressure again this year, we think this will probably mark the last cut in 2019. 23rd August 2019 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update ECB account points to rate cuts and target change The account of the Governing Council’s July meeting shows that there was broad support for further policy easing in September and perhaps for a change to the inflation target fairly soon. It leaves us... 22nd August 2019 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update BI cuts rates again, but further easing to be gradual Despite the recent weakness of the rupiah, Bank Indonesia (BI) today cut its benchmark interest rate for the second consecutive month to 5.50% and hinted that further easing is on the horizon. But the... 22nd August 2019 · 2 mins read
India Economics Update RBI minutes suggest further loosening likely The minutes of the Reserve Bank’s August policy meeting suggest that the MPC’s larger-than-expected rate cut was intended in part to send a dovish signal rather than simply being a case of “front... 22nd August 2019 · 2 mins read
Global Markets Update SEK & NOK likely to continue testing all-time lows While the Swedish krona and the Norwegian krone are now near the record lows they reached against the euro in 2008-09, we think that monetary policy and rising risk aversion will push them down... 21st August 2019 · 3 mins read
China Economics Update Loan Prime Rate (Aug.) The newly revamped Loan Prime Rate (LPR), intended to replace the traditional benchmark lending rate as the reference point against which banks price loans, was launched today. The one-year LPR was... 20th August 2019 · 2 mins read
China Economics Update Interest rate reform with a side of policy easing A long-awaited shake-up of how China’s banks price loans should in time give policymakers much finer control of bank lending rates and could open the door to a quasi-rate cut as soon as tomorrow. But... 19th August 2019 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update New CBI Governor unlikely to rock the boat While the imminent change in leadership at the Central Bank of Iceland (CBI) is unlikely to affect its current easing bias, the new Governor will have a bigger role in shaping policy than his... 19th August 2019 · 3 mins read
Latin America Economics Weekly Argentina crisis wrap, limited contagion, Banxico The Argentine peso has stabilised over the past few trading days but the collapse earlier this week has made a sovereign debt default highly likely. The good news is that contagion to the rest of the... 16th August 2019 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Is the UK different? Whereas US yield curve inversions are close to a fool-proof predictor of US recessions, a recession in the UK has only followed inversions in the gilt yield curve on 50% of occasions. That’s not... 16th August 2019 · 5 mins read
India Economics Weekly Key takeaways from PM Modi’s media interview In a rare media interview published this week, Prime Minister Modi discussed several economic issues. Among the key takeaways, it is clear that the government wants policy to be loosened even further... 16th August 2019 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly What drove strong consumer spending in Q2? While many commentators have attributed the strength in Q2 consumer spending to purchases being brought forward ahead of the sales tax hike, we think it had more to do with the longer-than-usual... 16th August 2019 · 5 mins read
