Asia Economics Update Vietnam cuts rates again, more policy loosening likely The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) today announced that it would be cutting interest rates by a further 100bp on Wednesday. The cut in interest rates, the second in as many months, comes amid recent... 10th April 2012 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update More easing coming, but will it work? The focus has quickly shifted to the second April meeting of the Bank of Japan’s Policy Board after the widely anticipated decision not to announce any further easing measures today. The publication... 10th April 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Draghi buries the silver bullet Any lingering hopes that the European Central Bank (ECB) had either already solved the euro-zone crises or would yet come riding to the rescue with much more decisive action were surely put to bed by... 9th April 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chilean economy not yet out of the woods As the most open and commodity-dependent of the major Latin American economies, Chile benefited from an improvement in global conditions in Q1. The road ahead will not be a smooth one however and, if... 5th April 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Evaluating Hungary’s Early FX Repayment Scheme The introduction of Hungary’s early FX mortgage repayment scheme last September was one in a chain of events that severely dented market confidence in local policymaking and sent the economy to the... 5th April 2012 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update More QE in May still in the balance Today’s decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to stay the course and complete the previously authorised asset purchases was always likely, given the pattern of past QE decisions. While the... 5th April 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Polish policymakers turn hawkish Polish policymakers left interest rates unchanged this afternoon, but Governor Belka’s subsequent remarks that the MPC were “seriously” considering raising rates has triggered a sell-off in the bond... 4th April 2012 · 1 min read
Bank of Japan Watch Further easing coming, just not yet The Bank of Japan’s Policy Board two-day meeting, which concludes on Tuesday (10th), has been made more interesting by two recent developments: the disappointingly weak Tankan survey and another spike... 4th April 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB keeps the onus on governments The European Central Bank (ECB) hinted today that it might not be prepared to provide much more policy support and hence kept the onus firmly on governments to address the euro-zone crisis. 4th April 2012 · 1 min read
BoE Watch Divisions grow on the MPC The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) appears increasingly divided between those members who want to provide the economy with more stimulus and those who think that they have now done enough. For now... 2nd April 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Bigger firewall is a small step forward The reported plans to increase the size of the euro-zone bail-out fund - hopefully to be agreed at today’s (Friday’s) Eurogroup meeting - provide some encouragement that the policymakers have... 2nd April 2012 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Uruguayan rates on hold as economy begins to cool Uruguay’s Central Bank (BCU) kept interest rates at 8.75% last night but maintained a hawkish tone on inflation. Based on our outlook for growth to slow by more than most anticipate this year... 30th March 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Romania cuts rates, Czechs on hold until inflation falls The National Bank of Romania (NBR) cut interest rates today amid concerns that the economy is on the cusp of a new recession. We expect one further cut this year, but the threat of financial contagion... 29th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Mar.) The continued weakness of the broad money and lending figures supports our view that the Monetary Policy Committee will yet have to provide the economy with even more stimulus. 29th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Approvals, M4, Credit Conditions & Productivity The overall message from today’s data was that weak bank lending is likely to remain a significant constraint on the economic recovery. 29th March 2012 · 1 min read
UK Economic Outlook Will the external sector rescue the recovery? There are a number of reasons to remain optimistic about the outlook for the UK’s external sector. Admittedly, these are likely to be outweighed in the near-term by the knock on effects of the euro... 28th March 2012 · 1 min read
