Asia Chart Pack Weak inflation means rates will remain low for longer Inflation across Emerging Asia remains very low, with consumer prices rising by less than 2% y/y in seven of the 14 countries we track. Two of those, Thailand and Singapore, are in deflation, while... 27th January 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Dec.) The growth rate of our M3 broad money measure slowed to a three-and-a-half year low of 4.1% in December, but the slightly narrower M2 measure increased by a solid 6.0% last year, while bank loans... 26th January 2016 · 1 min read
Global Central Bank Watch What does the market turmoil mean for monetary policy? The turmoil in global markets since the beginning of the year is not, in our view, a sign that the world economy is heading for a recession, but the fall in oil prices will have a knock-on effect on... 26th January 2016 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Nigeria: Emefiele vows “unyielding” defence of naira Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele used the post-MPC meeting press conference to reiterate his commitment to retaining controversial FX restrictions. But with strains in the balance of... 26th January 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Chart Pack Oil price fall dents hopes for stabilisation in Russia The latest fall in oil prices and in the ruble since the start of the year has dealt a blow to hopes that Russia’s economy would stabilise in the near future. Fiscal policy is likely to be tightened... 26th January 2016 · 1 min read
Bank of Japan Watch Virtuous cycle grinding to a halt With economic activity recovering and underlying inflation holding up, the recent strengthening of the yen and the plunge in the Nikkei are unlikely to force the Bank’s hand at next week’s meeting... 26th January 2016 · 1 min read
US Chart Pack Inflation to remain below 2% for longer The external deflationary pressure from the stronger dollar and lower commodity prices is persisting for longer than we expected. The lower profile for energy prices now means that headline inflation... 25th January 2016 · 1 min read
RBA Watch Market turmoil won’t prompt action The recent turmoil in financial markets will have brought a sudden end to Governor Stevens ’“chilled” Christmas period. But this won’t be enough to prompt the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to cut... 25th January 2016 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Policymakers stalling for time amid uncertain outlook Despite a rapidly deteriorating outlook, the Bank of Canada defended its recent inaction on interest rates on the basis of it not knowing the details of the upcoming Federal budget, due to be... 22nd January 2016 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Slowdown in GDP growth unlikely to be sustained Our calculations indicate that fourth-quarter GDP growth slowed to only 1.0% annualised, largely thanks to a more modest 2.0% gain in consumption. The latter is hard to square with the continued... 22nd January 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Will Australia join New Zealand in the near-deflation club? The higher starting point means that inflation in Australia is unlikely to fall close to zero, as it has done in New Zealand. That said, underlying or “core” inflation in Australia may soon follow in... 22nd January 2016 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update What next for the dollar? We have reduced the amount by which we forecast the dollar to strengthen against the euro and the yen this year, but increased the amount by which we project that it will appreciate against sterling... 21st January 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB stokes expectations again... this time it must meet them The ECB signalled firmly today that further policy loosening is imminent. While we are wary of putting too much faith in its communications after last month’s disappointment, there are good reasons to... 21st January 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Rate cuts in Malaysia unlikely despite SRR cut The decision by Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) today to cuts its statutory reserve requirement (SRR) ratio is not a signal that interest rates cuts are on the way. Worries about currency weakness and... 21st January 2016 · 1 min read
China Economics Update PBOC moves to keep interbank rates inside its new corridor Large injections of liquidity into the banking system by the People’s Bank (PBOC) have grabbed headlines today. The moves have more to do with offsetting the usual spike in liquidity demand ahead of... 21st January 2016 · 1 min read
RBNZ Watch New Zealand - Bank starts contemplating more rate cuts While recent events have increased the chances that interest rates will be cut from 2.5% now to 2.0%, as we have been expecting for some time, we think that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will hold... 21st January 2016 · 1 min read
