Global Economics Update Monetary conditions still ultra-loose Global monetary conditions remain highly accommodative as the world’s major central banks have kept policy rates close to zero and some have continued with large scale asset purchases. Conditions in... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How fragile is Malaysia? Given that Malaysia is Emerging Asia’s largest net energy exporter it is no surprise that the ringgit has been the region’s worst performing currency over the last nine months. Now that oil prices... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand - RBNZ edging closer to cutting rates Although the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) once again left interest rates unchanged today, theshift from a neutral policy bias to an implicit loosening bias supports our view that interest rates... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Central Bank of Egypt shifts attention back on to inflation Interest rate decisions by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) are notoriously difficult to predict but it seems that, having been distracted by balance of payments concerns over the past few years... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan will have to ease more before long The Bank of Japan today decided to leave policy settings unchanged, thus ignoring signs that its efforts to lift inflation towards the 2% target are stalling. However, we think that the threat of... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil hike rates; all eyes now on the real Calling turning points is always tricky but, assuming that the real remains stable over the coming months, we think that last night’s 50bp increase in Brazilian interest rates to 13.25% could be the... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Swedish Riksbank increases stimulus to battle deflation Sweden’s Riksbank stepped up its fight against deflation by more than doubling the size of its government bond purchase programme and reiterating its willingness to make monetary policy even more... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Fed acknowledges first-quarter slowdown The latest FOMC statement released today suggests that Fed officials still believe economic growth and inflation will rebound. But until they see evidence of such a rebound, which could take another... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Slow out of the blocks Emerging Asia has made a weak start to the year. The headlines have been grabbed by China's slowdown but, a few positive signs from India aside, there has been little cause for cheer around the rest... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Swedish Riksbank increases stimulus to battle deflation Sweden’s Riksbank stepped up its fight against deflation by more than doubling the size of its government bond purchase programme and reiterating its willingness to make monetary policy even more... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Thailand to adopt wait-and-see stance Against a backdrop of weak growth, negative inflation and government pressure for further easing, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) cut its policy rate by 25 basis points for the second straight meeting... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone Monetary Indicators Monitor (Mar.) March’s euro-zone monetary data suggest that economic growth might pick up in the coming months. But the continued wrangling over Greece’s fiscal situation presents a significant risk to the country’s... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update The implications of a weak monsoon Forecasts for a weaker-than-normal monsoon in India this year have raised concerns about the effect on the wider economy. Although lower rainfall could affect GDP growth and inflation at the margin... 28th April 2015 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Is the People’s Bank about to launch QE? Unconfirmed reports that the People’s Bank is considering buying local government bonds have sparked talk of impending QE in China. That’s wide of the mark: unlike with asset purchase programs... 28th April 2015 · 1 min read
RBA Watch Keeping its rate cut promise The recent stronger-than-expected data means that a cut in interest rates at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) policy meeting on Tuesday 5 th May is no longer a done deal. But we still think the... 28th April 2015 · 1 min read
Global Central Bank Watch Has the threat of deflation passed already? Signs that price pressures have picked up a bit during the past month or two have prompted some to suggest that the threat of deflation has vanished almost as suddenly as it appeared. We disagree. In... 27th April 2015 · 1 min read
