Asia Economics Update Thailand shifts a little towards the exit The Bank of Thailand (BoT) kept its policy rate unchanged at 1.25% today, as expected. The upswing will probably be sluggish, but the BoT did start to prime the markets to expect rates to move up in... 13th January 2010 · 1 min read
China Economics Update China starts to tighten China today hiked the required reserve ratio (RRR) of commercial banks by 50bp. Interest rate hikes will follow but they will be limited by concerns over the durability of the economic recovery. 12th January 2010 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update SNB may struggle to prevent further franc gains The Swiss National Bank’s assurance that it will intervene to prevent the franc from appreciating too much further is encouraging. But intervention now might not be as successful as in the recent past... 11th January 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update SNB may struggle to prevent further franc gains The Swiss National Bank’s assurance that it will intervene to prevent the franc from appreciating too much further is encouraging. But intervention now might not be as successful as in the recent past... 11th January 2010 · 1 min read
ECB Watch Gently does it After outlining the start of its exit strategy last month, we doubt that the ECB will announce any further changes at the forthcoming meeting. The Bank might increase the interest rate on its... 7th January 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update MPC frozen until February The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) remains firmly in wait and see mode until its February meeting. While the quantitative easing programme may be drawing to a close, other measures to support the... 7th January 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia probably won't stay on hold for much longer Bank Indonesia (BI) left its policy rate at 6.5% today, as expected, and kept its neutral bias. Nevertheless, we still believe that the risk of far higher inflation from keeping rates low for too long... 6th January 2010 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Romania: NBR recommences its easing cycle This morning’s decision by the National Bank of Romania (NBR) to cut interest rates by 50bps to 7.5% is likely to be the first of a number of cuts over the coming months. While any further political... 5th January 2010 · 1 min read
BoE Watch MPC still in wait and see mode The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is likely to wait for February’s Inflation Report before reviewing its asset purchase programme. Interest rates and the £200bn quantitative easing programme are... 4th January 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Taiwan rates to remain on prolonged hold Taiwan’s central bank left interest rates on hold today, as expected. With deflation still a lingering threat, interest rates will remain at their current level until well after they start to climb... 24th December 2009 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Policymakers to retain their dovish bias (Dec 09) The markets are now pricing in relatively aggressive monetary tightening from mid-2010 in most countries in Emerging Europe but we think that three factors will keep rates much lower than investors... 18th December 2009 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Philippine rates to move up in the first half of 2010 Today the Philippine central bank (BSP) left its policy rate unchanged at 4%, as expected, and retained a neutral bias. The economic upswing will almost certainly continue but inflation still looks... 17th December 2009 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Monetary tightening will be gradual All inflation targeting economies in Latin America expanded in Q3, and growth looks set to continue at a decent pace over the next few quarters. As a result, we expect a modest rate hikes to begin in... 16th December 2009 · 1 min read
