Bank of Japan Watch Forecasts of end to deflation are premature The Bank of Japan’s Policy Board is almost certain to raise its projections for both economic growth and consumer prices at tomorrow's meeting. Indeed, reliable media reports suggest it will forecast... 29th April 2010 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russian policymakers still pushing on a string Today’s 25bp interest rate cut in Russia will do little to spur lending in the real economy. And while policymakers are likely to cut interest rates further in the near-term, there is a good chance... 29th April 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Vietnam still likely to raise rates again soon The central bank of Vietnam (SBV) today announced that its key policy rate will stay unchanged at 8.0% during May. Staying on hold was expected given that the authorities in Q1 engineered a sharper... 27th April 2010 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Interest rates cut again as Fidesz secures two-thirds majority The markets’ favourable reaction to Fidesz’s landslide election victory in Hungary will have been a key factor behind today’s decision by the National Bank (NBH) to cut interest rates by 25bps to 5.25... 26th April 2010 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Should the Bank of Japan be doing more? Tensions between the Bank of Japan and the government over the need for further monetary stimulus remain high. We can see a number of good reasons for the Bank to resist that pressure for a few months... 26th April 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Vietnam to wait and see The central bank in Vietnam (SBV) should set interest rates for May over the next few days and will probably keep the base rate on hold at 8.00%. Monetary policy has been effectively tightened in... 26th April 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Philippines monetary tightening to shift gears soon The Philippines central bank (BSP) left its key policy rate unchanged at 4.00%, as expected, but a first rate hike is now close. We expect a move at the next meeting on 3rd June once the 10th May... 22nd April 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thai rates will still probably move up by mid-year The Bank of Thailand (BoT) left its policy rate unchanged at 1.25% today, as was universally expected. The economy warrants higher rates but the political situation needs to calm first. We are not as... 21st April 2010 · 1 min read
UK Data Response MPC Minutes (Apr.) & Labour Data (Feb./Mar.) The minutes of April’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting showed that the Committee is still unlikely to alter policy in the near future. Meanwhile, despite the headline-grabbing drop in claimant... 21st April 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Australia policy tightening to become restrictive in 2011 The minutes for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) April meeting, released today, have underlined yet again that the outlook for the economy is very good. The cash rate is virtually certain to move... 20th April 2010 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Bank of Canada signals imminent rate hike The Bank of Canada (BoC) this morning signalled clearly that it will begin hiking its key overnight interest rate at the next policy meeting in early June. We expect that rate to climb from 0.25% now... 20th April 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India’s Reserve Bank still has much to do India raised its two policy interest rates by 25bp earlier today, which was in line with the consensus view but was less than our forecast of a 50bp hike. Nevertheless, we continue to believe that the... 20th April 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Thailand will probably reach a compromise soon The Bank of Thailand (BoT) is virtually certain to leave the repo rate unchanged at 1.25% at its monetary policy meeting on Thursday. Economic conditions probably warrant a move up in the policy rate... 19th April 2010 · 1 min read
