Bank of Japan Watch What will the Bank think of the consumption tax decision? The Bank of Japan’s two-day Policy Boardmeeting, which concludes next Friday, will beovershadowed by the release of the Tankan surveyand the confirmation of the government’s decisionon the consumption... 26th September 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update No rush to hike rates in Taiwan Taiwan’s central bank left interest rates on hold today amid signs of a gradual improvement in the economy. Looking ahead, with inflation set to remain subdued, the CBC has scope to keep interest... 26th September 2013 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Should we worry about the fiscal impact of higher bond yields? On their own, the increases in government bond yields since May do not pose a significant threat to the public finances of most advanced economies. Higher yields in the secondary market take a long... 26th September 2013 · 1 min read
ECB Watch More LTROs in the pipeline? The firmer tone of the economic data has ruled out any change in interest rates at the ECB Governing Council meeting on 2nd October, while the US Federal Reserve’s recent communication problems will... 25th September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Different MPC views could further weaken forward guidance Mark Carney’s forward guidance has been unsuccessful in convincing the markets that the Bank Rate is likely to remain on hold until 2016. Speeches from other MPC members in the last two days... 24th September 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Nigerian interest rates to stay on hold for prolonged period The weakness of the naira and concerns over loose fiscal policy meant the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) kept interest rates on hold at 12.00% today, despite inflation remaining comfortably below... 24th September 2013 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update A little further to go in Hungary’s easing cycle Following today’s cut in Hungarian interest rates, we are revising our year-end rate forecast to 3.00% from 3.50%. With inflation below target and the economic recovery still fragile, it looks like... 24th September 2013 · 1 min read
Global Central Bank Watch Is "forward guidance" a step backwards? It’s going a bit far to claim that the Fed has lost all credibility simply because most in the markets were surprised by its decision not to begin winding down its asset purchase programme this month... 23rd September 2013 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Fed fails to understand that sometimes, less is more We were a little surprised by the Fed's conclusion last week that it wasn't ready to begin tapering its asset purchases. As we wrote in our Fed Watch ahead of the meeting, however, a tapering was "far... 23rd September 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Fed inaction brings the ECB respite, for now Last week’s surprise (to most people) decision by the US Federal Reserve not to “taper” its asset purchases has some near-term benefits for the euro-zone. But it does not eliminate the longer-term... 23rd September 2013 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly US Fed helps out Mr Carney With UK gilt yields unhelpfully following US Treasury yields up in recent months, it was welcome that they followed them down last week. Admittedly, with the prospect of more QE receding and the... 23rd September 2013 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Colombia: Strong Q2 growth to temper talk of a rate cut Stronger-than-expected second quarter GDP growth in Colombia may temper expectations of interest rate cuts at next week’s monetary policy meeting. We continue to expect rates remain unchanged at 3.25%... 20th September 2013 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update More Egyptian rate cuts could be on the way The Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) decision to cut interest rates by 50bp today shows that policymakers are fully focussed on supporting the economy. With the backing of aid from the Gulf, additional... 19th September 2013 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update What would a Taylor rule imply for global monetary policy? Applying a simple Taylor rule to our economic forecasts suggests that the Federal Reserve is the only major central bank which should tighten monetary policy (or scale back its stimulus) before 2016... 19th September 2013 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update South Africa: rates on hold despite Fed surprise The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) left rates on hold today and gave no indication that any change was likely in the foreseeable future. Growth remains below trend, but policymakers expect... 19th September 2013 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Existing Home Sales (Aug. 13) The further rise in existing home sales in August may reflect a rush of sales from buyers keen to avoid any further rise in mortgage interest rates. 19th September 2013 · 1 min read
