Latin America Economics Update Treading carefully After a rapid rebound from last year’s recession, it seems that growth in Latin America is now starting to ease to a more sustainable pace. Monetary tightening has further to run in Chile and Peru... 20th September 2010 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Will intervention work? There has been much fruitless speculation over whether the Japanese authorities want the yen to fall back sharply or just want to see it stabilise. We do not believe there is any such “grand plan”... 20th September 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chile: More interest rate hikes to come in the near-term The Central Bank of Chile (CBC) last night hiked interest rates by 50bps to 2.5%, as expected. In the near-term, the strong pace of growth means that policymakers will probably continue to raise rates... 17th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Cautious SNB won't hike rates for some time yet Fears that domestic price pressures might prompt the Swiss National Bank to tighten monetary policy proved unfounded today as it left its interest rate target at 0.25%. The Bank’s tone was gloomier... 16th September 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India's Reserve Bank set to tighten further The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today raised the repo rate by 25bp, which was in line with expectations. It lifted the reverse repo rate by 50bp as well, which surprised the consensus but matched our... 16th September 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand's monetary tightening on hold into 2011 The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) today kept policy rates on hold at 3.0%, as expected. The aftermath of the earthquake will inevitably cause some disruption in coming months but the RBNZ even... 16th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB's unconventional support is still crucial The recent pick-up in ECB bond purchases has been very small when compared to earlier acquisitions or to the size of the euro-zone economy. Meanwhile, its lending to commercial banks in the region as... 16th September 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Colombia: BANREP intervention to stabilise peso, for now The Central Bank of Colombia (BANREP) this afternoon announced that it will resume market intervention to stem the appreciation of the peso. History shows that this may be successful in preventing the... 15th September 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Colombia: Interest rate convergence justified by fundamentals Colombian interest rates are converging towards those in Chile and Peru. While the strength of the peso has kept Colombian rates down this year, a more general improvement in policymaking in recent... 13th September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Food price rises shouldn’t prompt policy changes Tomorrow’s inflation figures are likely to show that a further rise in food prices stopped headline inflation from falling more sharply – or at all – in August. However, we doubt that rising food... 13th September 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly New Zealand’s Reserve Bank to pause early The 4th September earthquake in Christchurch means that it is virtually certain that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will keep its cash rate unchanged at 3.0%. Recent economic data have been... 13th September 2010 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Peruvian interest rates rise for fifth consecutive month Last night, the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP) hiked interest rates by 50bps to 3.0%, as expected. With the economy still growing at a red-hot pace, we expect rates to rise to 4.0% by year-end... 10th September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update QE2 being readied for launch While the MPC predictably chose to leave policy unchanged again today, growing signs that the economic recovery is running out of steam suggest that a further bout of quantitative easing - socalled... 9th September 2010 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan turns more dovish The Bank of Japan (BoJ) left rates unchanged today but the accompanying policy statement was more cautious on the outlook. This is a positive step but the BoJ will probably stay reluctant to implement... 7th September 2010 · 1 min read