Global Central Bank Watch Fed normalisation not a game changer The US Fed’s decision to begin scaling back its balance sheet nearly eight years after it started QE is a major milestone, but global financial conditions should remain highly accommodative for a long... 27th September 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Czech MPC set to hike in November The Czech MPC’s decision to keep rates on hold today was a very close call and we think that an interest rate hike at the next MPC meeting on 2nd November is highly likely. Following that, our central... 27th September 2017 · 1 min read
Africa Chart Pack A Multispeed Recovery GDP figures released this month showed that the economic fortunes of Africa’s largest economies diverged in Q2. South Africa’s economy rebounded after a brief recession at the turn of the year. While... 27th September 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Recovery in Latin America steps up a gear The past month has brought further evidence that the recovery in Latin America is picking up pace. Our GDP Tracker suggests that regional growth is now running at a three-year high of 3% y/y. The... 27th September 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Central Bank Watch Monetary policy outlook clouded by political uncertainty We no longer expect the Central Bank of Iceland (CBI) to cut interest rates again this year. The Government’s collapse and prospect of a left-wing coalition taking power have increased the chance of a... 27th September 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Thailand in no rush to raise interest rates The Bank of Thailand (BoT) today resisted pressure from the government to loosen monetary policy, and instead left its key interest rate unchanged at 1.50%. With headwinds to the economy mounting and... 27th September 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Will higher interest rates hit consumer confidence? The prospect of the first rise in interest rates in a decade has raised concerns about the impact on the already beleaguered consumer. Indeed, there is clearly a risk that the sheer shock of the first... 27th September 2017 · 1 min read
RBI Watch No scope for further loosening We are in agreement with financial market and analyst expectations of a rate hold in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) upcoming policy meeting on 4th October. Further ahead, some are still expecting... 27th September 2017 · 1 min read
Frontier Markets Wrap Oil price jump fails to lift markets in oil exporters The jump in oil prices, from $51pb at the start of September to around $59pb at the time of writing, should provide a fillip to the large frontier oil economies, such as Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and... 26th September 2017 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Nigeria: Rates on hold, but cuts are still on the way Nigerian policymakers kept rates on hold today, but the accompanying statement made it clear that easing is on the way. We expect that the first cut will come in Q1 2018. 26th September 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Wages, not the forint, the biggest risk facing Hungary’s MPC The move by Hungary’s MPC to loosen monetary policy last week appears to have been aimed at weakening the forint, which looks to us like a step in the wrong direction. The key threat to inflation and... 26th September 2017 · 1 min read
RBA Watch The markets are too hawkish We believe that the financial markets are wrong to price in the possibility that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will raise interest rates twice next year. Admittedly, it is possible that after... 26th September 2017 · 1 min read
Canada Economic Outlook Household debt to weigh on economic growth Although the economy grew strongly over the first half of this year, that growth was still overly dependent on the heavily indebted household sector. That arrangement was possible when interest rates... 25th September 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank Indonesia to cut rates again before year-end Given the economy’s poor growth prospects and the subdued outlook for inflation, today’s rate cut by Bank Indonesia (BI) is unlikely to be the last in the current cycle. However, as the central bank... 22nd September 2017 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Fed to press ahead despite inflation "mystery" As the statement and updated projections from this week’s FOMC meeting made clear, a majority of Fed officials remain convinced that the recent weakness of core inflation is mostly due to transitory... 22nd September 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly How hard would higher interest rates hit consumers? The prospect of the first rise in interest rates in a decade has raised concerns about what impact it would have on the already beleaguered consumer. But modest rises in interest rates shouldn’t put a... 22nd September 2017 · 1 min read
