India Data Response Wholesale Prices (Jul.) Indian wholesale price inflation rose in July, and looks set to accelerate further over the coming months. As such, we think that there is no scope for further monetary loosening. 14th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Business bonanza? The surge in business confidence in Australia has made us a little more upbeat on the outlook for business investment. But with households showing some signs of struggling, a bit more investment won’t... 11th August 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Philippines: Rates to remain on hold under new governor Today’s decision by the central bank in the Philippines (BSP) to keep its main policy rate on hold at 3.0% was widely expected. The accompanying statement, which was the first to be published since... 10th August 2017 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Focus Egyptian inflation likely to fall by more than most expect Egyptian inflation rose to its highest rate since 1986 in July, but it has been pushed up by a number of one-off factors that will fade over the next six-to-nine months. Indeed, we think inflation has... 10th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ to markets: Forget about rate hikes Graeme Wheeler didn’t go out with a bang at his last policy meeting as Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand as interest rates were left at 1.75% for the ninth month in a row. But he stressed... 10th August 2017 · 1 min read
China Data Response FX Reserves (Jul.) China’s foreign exchange reserves suggest that outflow pressures eased further last month, which seems to have encouraged the People’s Bank to halt its FX sales entirely. This shift is helping to... 7th August 2017 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Economy seemingly unfazed by housing slowdown Despite softening home sales, the incoming data point to solid GDP growth in the second quarter, possibly outpacing the 3.7% q/q annualised rate posted in the first quarter. Needless to say, the... 4th August 2017 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Should we be worrying about consumers? Annual revisions to the income and spending data released this week mean that the household saving rate is now estimated to have fallen sharply over the past year, calling into question the... 4th August 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Is an early lift-off from the MPC now off the cards? The surprisingly-dovish reaction of sterling to the Bank of England’s August Inflation Report has led some commentators to conclude that the prospect of an interest rate hike this year is now dead and... 4th August 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Monetary policy will become more boring The financial markets need to wake up to the fact that there is going to be fewer interest rate changes than in the past and more policy inertia. This is very much a global development, but the trend... 4th August 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Czech MPC starts gradual tightening cycle The statement accompanying the Czech MPC’s meeting, at which it hiked interest rates for the first time in nine years, was relatively dovish and adds to the impression that this will be a gradual... 3rd August 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Hawks to remain in the minority for a while longer While the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) remained split on whether to increase interest rates at August’s meeting, the hawks are likely to remain in a minority for a while longer yet. Nonetheless, we... 3rd August 2017 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Markit/CIPS Services PMI (Jul.) After the recent run of softer economic news, the improvement in the Markit/CIPS services survey in July provides reassurance that the economy has maintained the momentum it gathered over Q2. 3rd August 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Sri Lankan rates on hold, further hikes this year unlikely Sri Lanka’s central bank left interest rates on hold today, and the less hawkish tone of the statement suggests that its tightening cycle may now be at an end. We now expect rates to be left on hold... 3rd August 2017 · 1 min read
India Economics Update RBI rate cut to be followed by prolonged hold The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) went with consensus expectations in cutting its repo rate by 25bp to 6.00% today. But it also acknowledged that inflation would soon be rising again. As such, further... 2nd August 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Is the Bank of Japan giving up on its 2% inflation target? Comments today by BoJ Board Member Funo suggest that the Bank has given up on reaching its inflation target any time soon. Market expectations of policy tightening are likely to recede further as a... 2nd August 2017 · 1 min read
