Asia Economics Update Malaysia’s central bank turns hawkish Malaysia’s central bank left its policy rate unchanged at 3.0% today, but the more hawkish tone of the statement suggests that monetary policy tightening may soon come back onto the agenda. We now... 9th November 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ gives the new government the thumbs up More interesting than the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) having now left interest rates unchanged at 1.75% for a year was the Bank’s verdict on the impact of the new government. It believes that... 8th November 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Consumer sector in good shape heading into Q4 The monthly data suggest that consumer spending was behind the slowdown in quarterly euro-zone GDP growth in Q3. But September’s rise in retail sales provided a strong starting point for Q4. And the... 8th November 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Poland’s MPC taking a hawkish turn The Polish MPC left interest rates unchanged today, but the post-meeting press release seems to confirm that the Council is becoming more hawkish. We think inflation will rise above target in the... 8th November 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Argentine central bank has more work to do The decision by Argentina’s central bank to follow up last month’s surprise interest rate hike with another increase last night reinforces the view that policymakers are getting tough on inflation. We... 8th November 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thai rates to stay low Against a backdrop of robust growth and subdued inflation, today’s decision by the Bank of Thailand (BoT) to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 1.50% came as no surprise. The accompanying... 8th November 2017 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Inflation will resume accelerating soon We think that consumer price inflation held steady in October as a slight rise in food inflation was offset by a drop in fuel inflation. But with core price pressures building, inflation is likely to... 8th November 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Romania: Tightening cycle has much further to run The Romanian MPC’s decision to raise its overnight deposit interest rate represents a move to tighten monetary policy further. And the hawkish post-meeting press statement supports our view that... 7th November 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update RBA too complacent on households and inflation Although the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left interest rates at 1.5% for the 15 th month today, we don’t think it is placing enough weight on the recent weakening in retail sales and softer news... 7th November 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lanka’s central bank has little room for manoeuvre Sri Lanka’s central bank (CBSL) left rates on hold today, and the accompanying monetary policy statement supports our view that rate changes are not on the horizon. CBSL will be wary of hiking rates... 7th November 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update What do ECB bond re-investments mean for yields? Data released by the ECB today imply that a significant volume of its German Bunds will mature next year, which the Bank will re-invest in German assets. But we don’t think that re-investments will... 6th November 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swiss CPI (Oct.) & Swedish Production Index. (Sep.) October’s weak Swiss inflation data support our view that SNB interest rate hikes are a very distant prospect. Elsewhere, Swedish production data suggest that quarterly GDP growth slowed in Q3. 6th November 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Has Japan overcome deflation? Suggestions from Japan’s government that it has vanquished deflation are premature when wages are barely rising, core inflation is close to zero and inflation expectations are lower than a few years... 6th November 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly The MPC will become less dovish in time While the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) decision to increase Bank Rate for the first time in a decade was largely priced into financial markets ahead of the November meeting, the Committee struck... 3rd November 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Which assets will the ECB buy in 2018? The ECB’s decision last week to extend its bond-buying well into 2018 means that it will probably need to change the composition of its purchases. After all, it has already had to reduce its purchases... 3rd November 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Powell nomination won't have big impact on EMs The nomination of Jerome Powell to be the next chair of the Fed doesn’t have significant implications for EMs. We think that the economic recovery is close to peaking in several emerging economies and... 2nd November 2017 · 1 min read