Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Banks and their net interest margins Although Australian banks will probably soon be hit by more stringent mortgage lending rules, they can take some comfort from an interest rate environment that will probably be fairly favourable over... 24th March 2017 · 1 min read
India Chart Pack Demonetisation impact wearing off The latest economic data for India suggest that the most acute impact from the government’s demonetisation measures has now passed. Both the manufacturing and services PMI readings for February came... 23rd March 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack South Korea elections: key names to watch Political campaigning in South Korea ahead of presidential elections due on 9th May is now well underway. Given the extent of public anger against ousted former president Park Geun-hye and her ruling... 21st March 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Feb.) Aggregate private sector debt rose the most on record in Q4 on the back of plunging funding costs. While household and corporate debt are rising again relative to output, the level of indebtedness... 20th March 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Dollar debt risks building in Argentina Argentina’s dollar debt burden as a share of GDP is now one of the largest in the EM world. What’s more, it is concentrated largely in the public sector. This leaves the government vulnerable to... 16th March 2017 · 1 min read
China Economics Update The People’s Bank follows the Fed The People’s Bank has followed the Fed in raising the interest rate it charges when providing funds in China’s interbank market. But we believe that tighter policy in China continues to be primarily... 16th March 2017 · 1 min read
India Economics Update “Bad bank” alone would have limited impact The creation of a “bad bank” in India would help restructure the loans of India’s most heavily-indebted firms and should facilitate a clean-up of the balance sheets of commercial banks. But the... 15th March 2017 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update What’s behind the Saudi credit slowdown? The sharp slowdown in credit growth in Saudi Arabia is likely to reach a trough soon. However, as we explain in this Watch, a weak economic outlook and higher interest rates mean that lending growth... 13th March 2017 · 1 min read
China Data Response Bank Lending & Broad Credit (Feb.) Bank lending in China held up better than expected last month but at the expense of other forms of credit, which have become less attractive following the recent rise in market interest rates. 9th March 2017 · 1 min read
Global Economics Chart Pack Signs of strong global growth continue Business and consumer surveys suggest that the strong start to the year continued in February. The global composite PMI remained close to a three-year high and is consistent with world GDP growth of... 6th March 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Greece GDP (Q4) Q4’s sharper-than-anticipated drop in Greek GDP is clearly very bad news. While Prime Minister Tsipras claims that the economy is now poised to recover, the business surveys suggest otherwise. This... 6th March 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Rising inflation starting to hit households Resilient consumer spending was the main reason why GDP growth held up so well in the wake of the Brexit vote. However, there have been signs that the exchange-rate induced rise in inflation is... 3rd March 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Household Borrowing Monitor (Jan.) January’s UK money and credit figures showed that mortgage approvals have continued on their upward trend, after the lull around last year’s EU referendum, and that consumers may be becoming a little... 1st March 2017 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Markit/CIPS Report on Manuf. (Feb.) Despite the fall in February’s Markit/CIPS manufacturing PMI, the survey still suggests that the sector carried a decent amount of momentum into 2017. However, there are signs that price rises are... 1st March 2017 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Equities hit three-month high Chinese equities started the Year of the Chicken on a bright note, rising in February by the most in three months. Meanwhile, the PBOC has continued to tighten monetary conditions by pushing market... 28th February 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone Monetary Indicators Monitor (Jan.) January’s euro-zone money and credit data point to steady economic growth. But they still suggest that core inflation will remain very weak. 27th February 2017 · 1 min read
