Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Swedish fiscal boost to have a limited impact Sweden’s new government has agreed to cut income taxes and relax labour laws. It has also brought an end to four months of political uncertainty, at least for now. But we suspect that all this will... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economic Outlook A broad-based slowdown EM GDP growth has started to slow and will be weaker than most expect in the coming quarters. Domestic strains are growing following previous policy tightening and external headwinds are building... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Fed will need to cut rates again before long The Fed’s promise to be “patient” is why we now forecast just one additional rate hike in the first half of this year, with the fed funds rate peaking at 2.50-2.75%. But we are increasingly confident... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Economic Outlook Missing the global tightening cycle The euro-zone should regain some momentum in the coming months, at least compared to its dire performance at the end of last year. But we think the economy will expand by just 1% in 2019 as a whole... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Consumer Prices (Dec.) December’s rise in inflation mainly reflected a statistical quirk and will be more than reversed in January. Indeed, we expect inflation to drop below 1.5% in the coming months. 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
China Economics Weekly PBOC to guide interest rates lower, 2017 GDP revised The liquidity injection by the PBOC this week was the largest on record. But it was mainly intended to manage the usual cash crunch ahead of Chinese New Year rather than loosen monetary conditions... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Hawks in Hungary, Erdogan’s enhanced economic powers Hawkish comments from Hungary’s MPC this week support our view that monetary policy will be tightened by more than is priced into markets. Meanwhile, emergency economic powers granted to Turkey’s... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack Growth likely to slow further in 2019 The latest manufacturing PMIs add to the evidence that economic growth in Switzerland and Sweden will continue to slow. The Swiss index is consistent with annual growth in industrial production of... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Weekly SARB turns dovish, Nigerian opposition flip-flops on reforms Policymakers in South Africa toned down their hawkish language at their meeting this week, suggesting that rate hikes are now off the agenda. Elsewhere, Nigeria’s leading opposition politician laid... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Why we now expect the RBA to cut rates Australia’s housing downturn is deepening. Prices will probably fall by more than we had previously anticipated and the drag from falling dwellings investment will be larger. The experience from... 18th January 2019 · 1 min read
ECB Watch More cautious, less confident At next week’s monetary policy meeting, the Governing Council of the ECB will have little option but to acknowledge that the downside risks to its forecasts have increased further since it last met in... 17th January 2019 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: SARB abandons hawkish turn South African policymakers’ abrupt shift away from their previous hawkish rhetoric suggests that further rate hikes are now unlikely. We think that attention will soon turn to cuts; we expect a 25bp... 17th January 2019 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Central Bank Watch Norges Bank to signal March rate hike At its meeting on 24th January, the Norges Bank is likely to reiterate that it expects to raise interest rates in March, taking the key policy rate to 1.0%. But we think that its tightening cycle will... 17th January 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economic Outlook Housing downturn will force RBA to cut rates We think that 2019 will be the year in which previous excesses in Australia’s housing market will catch up with the economy. We believe that the deepening housing downturn will become a far bigger... 17th January 2019 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia: monetary policy outlook depends on rupiah Bank Indonesia (BI) today left its policy rate unchanged for a second consecutive meeting, while there was nothing in the central bank’s statement to suggest that further rate hikes are imminent... 17th January 2019 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Downside risks are mounting The euro-zone has shifted down a gear but has not (yet) gone into reverse. Italy probably experienced a technical recession last year and Germany only narrowly avoided one. More importantly, the... 16th January 2019 · 1 min read