China Economics Update Online funds pushing interest rate liberalisation forward Interest rate liberalisation is happening faster than seemed likely even a few months ago as the sudden take-off of online money market funds has forced opponents of liberalisation to rethink their... 11th March 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update No great urgency for additional monetary stimulus The Bank of Japan’s decision to maintain its current policy settings at today’s Board meeting was no surprise. While we remain convinced that further easing will eventually be required (over and above... 11th March 2014 · 1 min read
US Economic Outlook Economy will bounce back from weather disruption The unusually severe winter has been playing havoc with the incoming economic data but, once the weather returns to seasonal norms, we expect the US economy to perform strongly this year and in 2015... 10th March 2014 · 1 min read
Bank of Japan Watch Little urgency for additional monetary stimulus The Bank of Japan will almost certainly maintain its current policy settings at the conclusion of the two-day March Board meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 11 th). It will be interesting to see whether... 10th March 2014 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Bank of Canada takes more hawkish line The recent rise in inflation prompted the Bank of Canada to take a slightly more hawkish stance in its policy statement last week. At 1.5% in January, inflation is still well below the mid-point of... 10th March 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Slack & euro could yet force the ECB's hand While last week’s decision by the ECB to leave policy on hold may be a signal that the euro-zone’s long monetary policy loosening cycle is finally over, the combination of the greater emphasis on the... 10th March 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Will the housing market force the MPC to act? Last week’s news that house prices surged in February will have done little to dispel concerns that record low interest rates are contributing to the emergence of a renewed house price bubble... 10th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Rate hikes coming in New Zealand With New Zealand’s economic recovery gaining momentum, inflation rising and house prices booming, the country’s central bank looks set to hike interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in nearly... 10th March 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB bolsters guidance, but may still need to act The ECB opted to keep its policy powder dry today, preferring instead to strengthen its verbal forward guidance by emphasising the large amount of slack in the economy. But we still think it may need... 6th March 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update A sixth year of record low rates lies ahead The MPC’s decision to leave interest rates on hold, marking five years since they reached their record low, is likely to be repeated many more times. With recent news suggesting the MPC’s estimate of... 6th March 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia’s rate hike around the corner Malaysia’s central bank (BNM) kept its policy rate unchanged at 3.0% today as expected, but with the economy gradually gaining a firmer footing, a 25bp rate hike is unlikely to be far away. 6th March 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Polish MPC extends "forward guidance" While the National Bank of Poland pledged to keep interest rates unchanged until at least the end of Q3 this afternoon, we think that the weakness of inflation should allow the MPC to leave interest... 5th March 2014 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Update Bank of Canada maintains neutral bias Although the Bank of Canada left its policy rate unchanged at 1.0% today and maintained its neutral bias, we suspect that the emphasis on the recent rebound in inflation in the accompanying statement... 5th March 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Kenyan rate hikes still on the cards The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) was able to keep interest rates on hold today as the shilling has remained stable despite the recent turmoil in EM currency markets. But a large current account deficit... 4th March 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Colombia: peso weakness unlikely to trigger interest rate hikes In contrast to several other emerging markets (EMs), Colombian policymakers have continued to refrain from taking steps to prevent the peso from weakening. As such, unless the currency begins to... 4th March 2014 · 1 min read
BoE Watch Five years of 0.5% rates, at least one more to go March’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting will mark the fifth anniversary of interest rates falling to their record low of 0.5% in 2009. Since the MPC only set out its new guidance last month... 4th March 2014 · 1 min read
