Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Lockdown fatigue is making restrictions less effective In Australia, the lockdown in Melbourne in July was of similar intensity to the initial lockdown in April. Even so, retail sales only fell by 2% m/m in Victoria which still left them around 2% above... 27th August 2020 · 11 mins read
Asia Chart Pack Second wave unlikely to completely derail recoveries Having been among the fastest in the world at controlling the initial outbreak, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Korea are all at different stages of a second wave of infections. With new infections in Hong... 26th August 2020 · 14 mins read
RBA Watch Bank to resume bond purchases in earnest The Reserve Bank of Australia isn’t keen on providing more monetary stimulus and instead wants the government to do the heavy lifting. As such, the Bank will certainly keep policy settings unchanged... 25th August 2020 · 7 mins read
China Economics Weekly Stimulus is once again proving costly for banks The return on assets of Chinese banks fell to a record low last quarter after they heeded policymakers’ calls to step up lending and sacrifice profits in order to lower borrowing costs for struggling... 21st August 2020 · 4 mins read
India Economics Weekly Shadow banking strains are easing Severe strains in the shadow banking sector that were amplified during the initial stages of the coronavirus crisis are showing signs of easing. This should help ensure that the economic slump isn’t... 14th August 2020 · 3 mins read
US Housing Market Update Mortgage credit scores jump, and will stay high The median credit score on mortgages originated in the second quarter surged to a 21-year high, as lenders tightened standards in response to uncertainty over the labour market. While unemployment is... 13th August 2020 · 3 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey’s banks still the weak link Turkey’s banks are more vulnerable now to a sell-off in the lira and a tightening of external financing conditions than they were in the run-up to the 2018 currency crisis. 12th August 2020 · 3 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey’s FX reserves flashing red Turkey’s central bank (CBRT) has burned through its FX reserves to defend the lira this year, but the CBRT’s firepower is severely depleted and reserves are now so dangerously low that monetary... 11th August 2020 · 3 mins read
China Data Response Bank Lending & Broad Credit (Jul.) Broad credit growth hit its highest rate in nearly two and a half years last month as a pick-up in direct financing and shadow credit offset slower issuance of bank loans. The acceleration has further... 11th August 2020 · 2 mins read
India Economics Weekly Debt restructuring, car sales strength The RBI’s new framework for banks to restructure loans to struggling borrowers should help ease near-term cash flow issues for firms and households that have been severely affected by the lockdown... 7th August 2020 · 6 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Debt restructurings: lessons from Argentina & Ecuador Argentina and Ecuador’s swift debt restructuring deals may provide a blueprint for other debt-distressed sovereigns. But these deals are not quite the success stories they seem at first sight. In any... 5th August 2020 · 3 mins read
China Economics Weekly What if Chinese banks are cut off from SWIFT? Financial decoupling between the US and China could be far more disruptive to both China and the global economy than anything the Trump administration has attempted so far. But much of what is... 30th July 2020 · 8 mins read
Latin America Economics Update Chile’s pension bill: the economic & market impact Reforms in Chile that allow households to withdraw some of their pension savings may help to boost the economic recovery over the next year. But the way in which the reform was passed adds to the... 29th July 2020 · 3 mins read
UK Data Response Money & Credit (Jun.) The signs that firms did not rush quite as fast to take on more debt in June and that households started to borrow again rather than pay down debt suggest that the economy is moving back towards... 29th July 2020 · 3 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Further falls lie in store for Turkish lira Today’s depreciation of the Turkish lira marks the first significant departure from the de facto peg that has been in place over the past month and, if tensions with the EU continue to escalate... 28th July 2020 · 3 mins read
India Economics Weekly Debt moratorium extension, shifting geopolitical sands The likely extension of the RBI’s debt moratorium will help smooth near-term cash flow issues for firms and households but, in the absence of additional financial support from the government, this won... 24th July 2020 · 4 mins read
