UK Economics Focus Can the spending cuts actually be achieved? The sheer size of the Government’s planned reductions in public spending and the likely weakness of the economy cast major doubts on whether the cuts can actually be achieved in full. But big cuts are... 14th October 2010 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Hungarian fiscal efforts do not go far enough The Hungarian government last night announced a fresh set of fiscal austerity measures, which should allow it to at least come close to meeting next year’s budget deficit target of 3% of GDP. But its... 14th October 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economic Outlook Fiscal tightening starts to bite (Q4 2010) The European economy has recently performed relatively well despite continued fears about public debt in parts of the region. But as global demand slows, the export recovery will falter, with the euro... 13th October 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economic Outlook How will companies weather the fiscal storm? (Q4 10) Companies may weather the coming fiscal storm rather better than households and the public sector. But they certainly won’t survive entirely unscathed. 11th October 2010 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Slovakia: fiscal squeeze adds to headwinds facing recovery The overall state of the public finances in Slovakia is in better shape than in most of Emerging Europe. Even so, a combination of tighter fiscal policy and, more importantly, a fading recovery in... 6th October 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Greek Budget still leaves plenty to do The fact that the Greek Government has announced that it expects to reduce its budget deficit by more than the IMF and EC have demanded in 2010 and 2011 is an indication of the great strides that it... 4th October 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Ireland: Closure or Calamity? The Irish Government deserves some credit for coming clean last week on the “horrendous” costs of its banking support measures, although its openness may have been dictated as much by public... 4th October 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update France and Portugal struggle to apply fiscal squeeze Recent developments in France and Portugal confirm that both are struggling to implement measures to ensure a sustained reduction in public borrowing. But market pressures will force Portugal to act... 30th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Is Ireland on the brink? The recent run of disappointing news from Ireland means that public debt is looking increasingly likely to reach Greek proportions, suggesting that the Irish Government may eventually be left with... 28th September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Fiscal strains yet to ease After the recent run of better-than-expected news on the public finances, August’s terrible borrowing figures provided a timely reminder of the scale of the fiscal challenge that lies ahead. 27th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Spain not yet out of the woods Despite the markets growing more pessimistic about the prospects for Ireland and Portugal, bond yields in Spain have remained relatively stable, suggesting that concerns about its public finances have... 22nd September 2010 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Public Finances (Aug.) August’s public finances figures severely dented hopes that the fiscal position is on a clearly improving trend and cast doubt on the ability of the Government to deliver the fiscal tightening laid... 21st September 2010 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Fiscal policy paralysed by bipartisan disagreement The Obama administration has released a flurry of proposals designed to stimulate the flagging economic recovery. However, the chances of any of these proposals being passed by Congress ahead of... 13th September 2010 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Bank of Korea biding its time, but rate hikes lie ahead The Bank of Korea (BoK) unexpectedly held its policy rate at 2.25% today. Concerns about rising global uncertainties tipped the balance in favour of no change, despite the BoK expecting solid GDP... 9th September 2010 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Belgian political stalemate increases debt concerns Recent developments are not easing the concerns that we have previously raised over Belgium being the Greece of the North. While the Belgian economy is growing healthily, the current political crisis... 8th September 2010 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Focus Central Europe: the fiscal squeeze is here 8th September 2010 · 1 min read
