Japan Economics Update Is the Bank of Japan preparing to match the Fed's QE? The Bank of Japan’s decision to bring forward its November Policy Board meeting to the day after next Wednesday’s FOMC raises the intriguing possibility that the Bank intends to respond to any... 28th October 2010 · 1 min read
BoE Watch Not quite ready to do more QE yet The multitude of comments by Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members over the past month have suggested that most are still very open to the idea of re-starting quantitative easing (QE). While the... 28th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand still on track to lift rates in early 2011 The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), to no-one’s surprise, today kept policy rates unchanged at 3.0%. In coming months, we expect that the activity data will surprise on the upside while the RBNZ... 28th October 2010 · 1 min read
ECB Watch ECB's tightening bias should not last long Recent comments from ECB members, together with a reduction in its bank lending and halt to bond purchases, suggest that the Bank has maintained a tightening bias. It will probably keep open the... 28th October 2010 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Polish policymakers not yet ready to raise rates Today’s decision to keep Polish interest rates unchanged and raise reserve requirements instead reflects an attempt to tighten monetary conditions without attracting an influx of foreign capital... 27th October 2010 · 1 min read
US Fed Watch QE2 unlikely to have a major economic impact (Oct 10) At this stage, it would be a fairly big shock if the Fed did not announce a new programme of asset purchases at next week's two-day FOMC meeting, which concludes on Wednesday (3rd November). Chairman... 27th October 2010 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Swedish Riksbank hikes rates and signals more to come Despite the krona’s recent strength, the Swedish Riksbank raised interest rates for the third time in four months. Although further hikes are inevitable, we expect the pace of tightening to ease... 26th October 2010 · 1 min read
Bank of Japan Watch Easing bias in place for the foreseeable future The Bank of Japan’s Policy Board meets on Thursday and will almost certainly forecast that inflation will remain well below the new informal target of 1% until at least 2012. This does not necessarily... 26th October 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Swedish Riksbank hikes rates and signals more to come Despite the krona’s recent strength, the Swedish Riksbank raised interest rates for the third time in four months. Although further hikes are inevitable, we expect the pace of tightening to ease... 26th October 2010 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Is China changing course? The People’s Bank (PBC) delivered a jolt to global markets when it unexpectedly raised interest rates last week. Never mind that the small increase will have a negligible impact on China’s economy... 25th October 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Still battling to achieve fiscal stability Last week was characterised by fairly downbeat news on economic activity and ongoing struggles to achieve fiscal goals. Although the German business surveys remained positive, October’s fall in the... 25th October 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Why even Germany needs ECB support Some reporters have put recent hawkish remarks by Axel Weber, the Bundesbank’s ECB representative, down to the relative strength of the German economy. But even there, the economic outlook warrants... 21st October 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazilian interest rates on hold as currency concerns mount Last night, the Brazilian Central Bank held interest rates at 10.75% for the second consecutive month. Concerns about the strength of the real mean that rate hikes are off the agenda for the... 21st October 2010 · 1 min read
UK Data Response MPC Minutes (Oct.), M4 & Public Finances (Sep.) The minutes to October’s MPC meeting provided further evidence to suggest that the Committee is moving closer to recommencing quantitative easing, while September’s public finance figures cast further... 20th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand's monetary tightening still has further to go The Bank of Thailand (BoT) held its policy rate at 1.75% today but maintained a tightening bias. Domestic demand looks well placed to drive GDP growth, while the strong recovery should increasingly... 20th October 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Rates to remain on hold in Sri Lanka The Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) kept its policy rates on hold at today’s meeting, as expected. Inflation has ticked up in recent months but is unlikely to become a threat any time soon. For this... 19th October 2010 · 1 min read
