Emerging Europe Chart Pack Interest rates heading in opposite directions The Russian central bank caused a surprise earlier this month by hiking its one-week repo rate in a pre-emptive move to limit capital outflows ahead of a fresh sanctions imposed by the US and EU. This... 30th July 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro’s fall provides glimmer of hope, but more needed The euro finally appears to be succumbing to the downward pressure implied by the divergentprospects for monetary policy in the US and euro-zone. But bigger declines are likely to be needed tokick... 30th July 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone EC Survey & ECB Bank Lending Survey (Jul.) July’s tiny rise in the EC’s Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) suggests that the eurozonerecovery is unlikely to strengthen much in Q3. 30th July 2014 · 1 min read
Global Central Bank Watch Should central banks target financial stability? There have been calls in recent months for centralbanks to use interest rates in order to dampen assetprice inflation and to contain the risks which somethink are re-emerging in the financial sector... 30th July 2014 · 1 min read
US Chart Pack Widening trade deficit due to strong domestic demand Although the trade deficit has widened in recent months, the increase is largely due to the strength of imports rather than the weakness of exports. Our calculations suggest that exports increased at... 29th July 2014 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Inflation likely to peak before end of this year The recent pick-up in inflation has led some people to question the Bank of Canada's neutral stance on interest rates, but we think these concerns are misplaced. The recent increase in headline... 28th July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Fuel subsidy reform an early test for Indonesia’s Jokowi Financial markets have welcomed the election of Joko Widodo as Indonesia’s president, but there is still great uncertainty over his policy priorities and his ability to push through his own agenda. Mr... 28th July 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone Monetary Indicators Monitor (Jun.) Although June’s euro-zone monetary data showed some further signs of improvement, lending is still falling and the data point to a significant risk of deflation in the region. 25th July 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Surprise Russia rate hike a response to geopolitics not inflation Russia’s central bank justified its surprise decision to hike interest rates this morning on stubbornly high inflation, but it’s pretty clear that this is a pre-emptive move to limit capital outflows... 25th July 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Argentina teeters on the brink of another default With talks between Buenos Aires and holdout bondholders seemingly having stalled, it appears increasingly likely that Argentina will be prevented from making an interest payment that is due on... 25th July 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Consumer Prices (national: Jun.; Tokyo: Jul.) The dip in nationwide inflation in June and the second consecutive fall in the capital region in July suggest that the impact of the sales tax hike has started to fade. We expect core inflation excl... 25th July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand rates to go on pause after latest hike The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) raised its policy rate by 25bp for the fourth straight meeting today, but signalled that it may now stay on hold for a while. We still expect one more rate hike... 24th July 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Korean slowdown unlikely to prompt a rate cut GDP growth in Korea eased in the second quarter of the year, mainly due to a fall in consumer spending and investment. Although recent economic weakness has reignited talk of a possible rate cut, we... 24th July 2014 · 1 min read
US Fed Watch Drifting towards a change in view on slack With no new economic projections due and nopress conference scheduled, the FOMC policymeeting that ends on Wednesday 30th should be aquiet affair with the only major development beinga further... 23rd July 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Markets too complacent on risks to Turkish outlook The recent rally in the Turkish markets appears to have been driven by expectations of continued loose monetary policy in the developed world coupled – dare we say it – with a reasonable amount of... 23rd July 2014 · 1 min read
UK Data Response MPC Minutes (Jul.) & BoE Agents’ Scores (Jun.) The minutes of July’s MPC meeting contained further signs that the Committee is edging closer to raising interest rates. While we think that the MPC will be cautious and wait until early 2015 to... 23rd July 2014 · 1 min read