Global Economics Update Real rates to stay higher in the euro-zone than in US & Japan The ECB started its quantitative easing programme this week and the US Fed is likely to begin tightening policy in June. Nonetheless, we expect real interest rates to remain higher in the euro-zone... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Will QE hit the buffers before the job is done? Concerns that the ECB will struggle to find enough willing sellers of assets to implement its quantitative easing programme may be wide of the mark. But limits set by the Bank itself imply little... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Why Turkish central bank independence matters The Turkish government’s attacks on the central bank (CBRT) have become increasingly aggressive over the past month, raising fears about the independence of monetary policy and triggering a sharp sell... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update What should we look at if we don’t trust the GDP data? The recent revisions to historic GDP data have been the source of much confusion, not least within the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In this Update, we look at four indicators that the RBI appears to... 10th March 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Start of ECB QE won’t herald strong recovery As the ECB’s quantitative easing programme starts today, it already seems to be having a more positive impact than we had envisaged. But here we explain why we maintain our view that the policy will... 9th March 2015 · 1 min read
RBNZ Watch New Zealand - Bucking the global trend…for now The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is odds on to buck the recent global trend by leaving its cash rate on hold at 3.5% in the announcement scheduled for Thursday 12th March. But if we are right in... 9th March 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response GDP (Q4 Revised) & Current Account (Jan) While the second estimate of Q4 GDP was not as weak as the headlines would suggest, we still think that the Bank of Japan will announce more stimulus next month. 9th March 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Additional interest rate cuts still in the pipeline The Bank of Canada's decision to hold rates unchanged at 0.75% last week will have convinced some that there isn't another rate cut in the pipeline. Nevertheless, we still think we could see another... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response Employment Report (Feb.) The 295,000 increase in payroll employment in February (consensus forecast 235,000) and the further fall in the unemployment rate to 5.5% illustrate that, even if wage growth is still subdued, the Fed... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB’s hopes unlikely to be met President Draghi was sounding rather smug last week as he announced the start of the Bank’s quantitative easing programme and forecast that inflation would rise back to target in the medium term. But... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Next CBK Governor to face less pressure to start tightening cycle It looks more likely than not that Dr. Haron Sirima will replace Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u as Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, and his appointment is likely be welcomed by the markets as a safe pair... 6th March 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB leaves onus on politicians to rescue Greece While ECB President Mario Draghi struck a cautiously optimistic tone today, we doubt that the Bank’s quantitative easing programme will prompt a meaningful economic recovery or eradicate the threat of... 5th March 2015 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update MPC waiting to be sure deflation will not linger The MPC’s decision to stand pat today – marking the 6 th anniversary of interest rates at their record low of 0.5% – looks set to repeated over the next few months while inflation hovers near zero... 5th March 2015 · 1 min read
Global Economics Chart Pack Consumers beginning to spend their oil windfall Household spending has picked up sharply in response to the collapse in oil prices. In January, the growth rate of underlying retail sales in advanced economies reached its highest level since 2006... 5th March 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Philippines CPI (Feb.) Consumer price inflation in the Philippines picked up slightly in February, but remains comfortably towards the lower end of the central bank’s (BSP) target range. Although we expect inflation to rise... 5th March 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia unlikely to join the rate-cutting club Despite a recent drop in inflation, the Malaysian central bank (BNM) kept its policy rate on hold at 3.25% today. While several central banks in the region have eased monetary policy this year, we... 5th March 2015 · 1 min read
