Nordic & Swiss Economics Update SNB’s battle with deflation goes on The combination of a sluggish economic recovery, very low inflation and a still strong currency will keep the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in very accommodative mode for the foreseeable future. 20th March 2014 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Fed sticks to QE taper, drops unemployment threshold As expected, the Fed continued to taper its asset purchases and dropped its explicit unemployment rate threshold, reverting to a more qualitative form of forward guidance in today's policy statement... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack Hand of People’s Bank seen in currency fall A rare trade deficit in February relieved some of the upward pressure on therenminbi, but the latest data suggest that the People’s Bank (PBOC) additionally purchased around $25bn of foreign exchange... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Update Quebec might do better with its own currency Pauline Marois, leader of the separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ), has suggested that an independent Quebec could hold a seat on the governing council of the Bank of Canada and retain the Canadian dollar... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Labour Data (Jan./Feb.) & MPC Minutes (Mar.) Today’s figures showed that the recovery in the labour market is slowing, increasing the chances that the MPC keeps official interest rates on hold until late next year. 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Sedlabanki softens its stance but rates are still likely to rise In light of the recent drop in inflation, Iceland’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged today and suggested that rate hikes were less probable than they had been in February. However, with... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Sedlabanki softens its stance but rates are still likely to rise In light of the recent drop in inflation, Iceland’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged today and suggested that rate hikes were less probable than they had been in February. However, with... 19th March 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkish monetary conditions to remain tight The Turkish central bank left interest rates on hold today, but the bigger picture is that high inflation and a large current account deficit mean that policymakers will have to keep monetary... 18th March 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russian outflows could total $70bn in Q1 We estimate that net private sector outflows of capital from Russia have totalled $50bn since the start of the year – equivalent to 2.5% of GDP. What’s more, if the current pace of capital flight... 17th March 2014 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Fed won’t ignore faster wage growth We don’t place much weight on the idea that the Fed would be happy to leave interest rates at near-zero until wage growth returned to 4%. Instead, we believe that a pick-up in wage growth to between 2... 17th March 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russia’s “temporary” rate hike to be longer-lasting Having hiked interest rates at an unscheduled meeting earlier this month, it was always likely that the Central Bank of Russia would leave them unchanged at today’s (scheduled) Board meeting... 14th March 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Peru and Chile: limited room for interest rate cuts this year The central bank of Chile (BCC) last night cut interest rates in response to a pronounced slowdown in economic growth, while Peruvian interest rates were left on hold after a pick-up in activity at... 14th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korean rates set for prolonged hold The Bank of Korea (BoK) left interest rates on hold today for the tenth consecutive month in what was Kim Choongsoo’s final meeting as central bank governor. The handover to Lee Ju-yeol, a former... 13th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Encouraging Indian data unlikely to sway hawkish central bank Today’s industrial production and inflation data show India’s beleaguered economy moving in the right direction, but we doubt the latest drop in inflation will be enough to prompt the Reserve Bank to... 12th March 2014 · 1 min read
US Fed Watch Fed to revamp its forward guidance At the policy meeting due to end on Wednesday 19th March, the Fed will almost certainly reduce the size of its monthly asset purchases by a further $10bn, to $55bn, and will probably abandon the 6.5%... 12th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand lowers policy rate, but further cuts unlikely Amid rising downside risks to growth, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) opted to cut its policy rate by 25bps today. With no clear sign that the political impasse will be resolved soon, we expect interest... 12th March 2014 · 1 min read
