Canada Economics Update Bank of Canada slightly more dovish than before Although it stopped short of adopting an easing bias, the Bank of Canada's policy statement revealed that it is more concerned than before about persistently low inflation. With the long awaited... 22nd January 2014 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Labour Data, MPC Mins (Jan.) & Pub. Fin. (Dec.) Today’s figures show that conditions are continuing to improve rapidly in the labour market. But the further fall in the unemployment rate is unlikely to trigger an imminent interest rate hike by the... 22nd January 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update BoJ still likely to ease more as dissenting voices increase The Bank of Japan threw no surprises in its monetary policy decision today and is under no immediate pressure to announce further easing. But with some board members still unconvinced that the... 22nd January 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand's political crisis still likely to trigger another rate cut Despite rising concerns about the impact of Thailand's political crisis on the economy, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) opted to keep its policy rate at 2.25% today. But with no clear resolution to the... 22nd January 2014 · 1 min read
US Fed Watch Fed to continue with QE taper Despite the modest 74,000 increase in payroll employment in December, we expect the Fed to stick to its existing plans and reduce the monthly asset purchases by a further $10bn, to $65bn, at the... 22nd January 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkish central bank shoots itself in the foot In spite of the recent sharp fall in the lira, high inflation and rising inflation expectations, the Turkish central bank (CBRT) caved in to pressure from the government and resisted hiking interest... 21st January 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Nigeria: CBN governor fires warning shot over fiscal loosening The Central Bank of Nigeria kept interest rates on hold today but, significantly, Governor Lamido Sanusi struck a notably more hawkish tone than has previously been the case in the accompanying press... 21st January 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack EM recovery remains slow going Six months ago there were hopeful signs that growth in the emerging world might finally be picking up. But our GDP tracker suggests the upturn in growth seen in mid-2013 may have faltered in the final... 17th January 2014 · 1 min read
Global Economic Outlook A brighter outlook We expect global growth to pick up gradually during the coming two years as private sector spending accelerates and fiscal austerity eases. Among advanced economies, the US will lead the recovery... 17th January 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chile: rate cuts to be less aggressive than the market expects Rising inflation and a large current account deficit suggest that Chilean interest rates will not be cut as aggressively as the market anticipates this year. We continue to expect 50bp of rate cuts to... 17th January 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Central Bank of Egypt holds fire, for now Despite the fall in inflation in December, the Central Bank of Egypt decided to keep interest rates on hold at its meeting today. We think it’s unlikely that today’s decision marks the end of the... 16th January 2014 · 1 min read
Bank of Japan Watch Too soon to drop the inflation target The two-day meeting of the Bank of Japan’s Policy Board, which concludes next Wednesday (22nd), is unlikely to result in any significant changes to the asset purchase programme. We continue to favour... 16th January 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil central bank signals slower pace of tightening The decision by Brazil’s central bank to raise interest rates by 50bp to 10.5% was in line with our forecast but against the consensus, which had expected a smaller 25bp increase. As it happens, the... 16th January 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Monetary Indicators Monitor (Dec.) Despite a slowdown in December, the money supply continues to grow at a rapid pace. The growth rate of bank lending reached a fresh high and, with interest rates very low and bank lending attitudes... 16th January 2014 · 1 min read
Bank of Canada Watch Bank likely to stick with neutral policy stance The Bank of Canada is likely to stick with its neutral stance in next week's policy statement. But with its hopes of a pick-up in exports still unfulfilled and residential investment likely to re... 15th January 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economic Outlook Deflation dangers cast shadow over recovery The European economy looks set for another year of weak growth in 2014, with the euro-zone likely to do little more than stagnate. Against that background, the European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to... 15th January 2014 · 1 min read