Asia Economics Weekly Korea budget boost, inflation remains low in August The announcement yesterday of plans for a large fiscal boost in Korea’s draft 2020 budget has led us to revise up our Korea growth forecast for next year to 2.5%, from 2.0% previously. That said, we... 30th August 2019 · 7 mins read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea on hold, but more cuts likely The Bank of Korea sounded more bearish on the outlook for the economy even as it left rates on hold today. As such, we continue to expect more easing this year, with another 25bps cut in October. 30th August 2019 · 3 mins read
Bank to set the stage for October rate cut We expect the Bank of Canada to present a more dovish policy statement next week, setting the stage for an interest rate cut in October. 28th August 2019 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Further easing in the pipeline in Iceland Given the deep downturn in the tourism sector, this morning’s decision by the Central Bank of Iceland (CBI) to cut interest rates by a further 25bps came as no surprise to us. We think that... 28th August 2019 · 3 mins read
Africa Economics Update Kenya: Despite drought, next rate move will be a cut Kenya’s drought will probably push inflation above the CBK’s target range in Q4. But bank will likely look through this spike, as it did in 2017. We think the next rate move will be a 50bp cut in Q4... 28th August 2019 · 2 mins read
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
