Asia Economics Update Further rate hikes still look close in Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held its cash rate at 4.5% today, as expected. Nevertheless, the local economic upswing remains strong, at a time when there is little spare capacity. Accordingly... 7th September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update "Plan B" is to bank on the MPC The apparent lack of a “plan B” for the public finances should the economy be weaker than the Government expects supports our forecasts of sluggish growth and further monetary loosening. 6th September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Is there any point doing more QE? With the economic recovery flagging, attention is turning to what further support policymakers can provide. While there are question marks over whether further central bank asset purchases would... 6th September 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update New Zealand's central bank to pause in September The weekend earthquake in the South Island makes it virtually certain that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will pause its monetary policy tightening next week. The latest shock comes on top of... 6th September 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Bank of Korea set to hike again The Bank of Korea (BoK) meets this week and we expect it to raise its base rate by 25bp to 2.50%. Monetary policy remains stimulatory and the BoK has grown increasingly concerned about rising price... 6th September 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia steps up its policy tightening Bank Indonesia (BI) left its policy rate at 6.5% today, as expected. However, it also announced that the reserve requirement will rise from 5% to 8%, starting from the beginning of November. The... 3rd September 2010 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Swedish Riksbank continues to strike an upbeat tone The Swedish Riksbank’s decision to raise interest rates for a second meeting running reflects concerns that domestic imbalances may be building. Further hikes seem likely in the near term, but the... 2nd September 2010 · 1 min read
BoE Watch MPC stays sanguine on inflation There are still few signs that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)about to change policy in either direction any time soon. We expect interest rates and the asset purchase programme to be left... 2nd September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB more upbeat, but maintains policy support While the ECB struck a slightly more upbeat tone towards the economy at today’s press conference, it nonetheless maintained its support for the region’s banking sector and remains a long way from... 2nd September 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Malaysia's policy tightening pause unlikely to last long Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) left the reference rate unchanged today at 2.75%, as expected. Our view is that the local economic upswing will comfortably survive the tough global conditions which are in... 2nd September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Swedish Riksbank continues to strike an upbeat tone The Swedish Riksbank’s decision to raise interest rates for a second meeting running reflects concerns that domestic imbalances may be building. Further hikes seem likely in the near term, but the... 2nd September 2010 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Bank of Japan's latest gesture fails to impress The Bank of Japan's decision to loosen monetary policy further at an emergency meeting today simply brought forward the move that was widely expected to take place early next month. The economic... 31st August 2010 · 1 min read
ECB Watch Still pretty downbeat despite a strong Q2 The ECB is likely to maintain a very dovish stance at the forthcoming meeting. Admittedly, recent positive data might have led the Bank to revise up its growth forecast for 2010. But the slowdown in... 26th August 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Strong growth in the Philippines to bring rate hikes soon Q2 GDP in the Philippines came in stronger than even our above-consensus forecast. Domestic demand will probably stay strong and should offset the fading support from foreign conditions and inventory... 26th August 2010 · 1 min read
