Emerging Markets Trade Monitor Split in EM export performance is widening The value of EM exports continued to fall in annual terms in December, with oil producers faring especially poorly. The early signs are that Asia's manufacturing-oriented economies will report weak... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Swedish Riksbank follows the negative trend The Swedish Riksbank today became the latest central bank to respond to the threat of persistent deflation by pushing interest rates into negative territory and launching a quantitative easing... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update IMF package brings Ukraine back from the brink The scale of the package of financing for Ukraine announced this morning should be adequate to cover financing needs for a couple of years and will remove an element of uncertainty surrounding the... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Philippines unlikely to join Asian rate cutting cycle Despite the recent drop in inflation, the central bank in the Philippines is unlikely to join a number of other central banks in the region that have loosened monetary policy since the start of the... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Data Response Saudi Arabia Consumer Prices (Jan.) Inflation in Saudi Arabia continued to ease at the start of this year and, against the backdrop of slower economic growth and weak commodity prices, we expect it to remain low over the next twelve... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response RICS Residential Market Survey (Jan.) The housing market has made a subdued start the year, with new buyer demand as yet failing to respond to the reforms to stamp duty. But there are some other signs that sales activity is beginning to... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Weak naira unlikely to revive Nigeria’s export sector The prospects for Nigeria’s exports are bleak. The country’s oil exports are suffering not just from lower prices but also from an apparent structural decline in demand. What’s more, despite the... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Malaysia GDP (Q4) Malaysia's growth picked up to 5.8% y/y in the fourth quarter, compared with 5.6% the quarter before. However, this acceleration will likely prove short-lived as lower oil prices will be a major... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Machinery Orders (Dec.) While machinery orders soared in December, they were broadly flat over the last quarter, so business investment should have been little changed. Nonetheless, business surveys suggest that the recovery... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Swedish Riksbank follows the negative trend The Swedish Riksbank today became the latest central bank to respond to the threat of persistent deflation by pushing interest rates into negative territory and launching a quantitative easing... 12th February 2015 · 1 min read
Energy Data Response US Weekly Petroleum Status Report Another week of record stock levels and production will disappoint those hoping that last week’s surge in prices was the start of a new bull market. However, the rate of growth of stocks and output is... 11th February 2015 · 1 min read
Global Economics Focus Is deleveraging over? It is often claimed that the world is “awash with debt” and that there has been little, if any, progress with deleveraging since the global financial crisis. But in reality, the picture is more mixed... 11th February 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Does Greece still need a weaker currency? Greece’s apparent improvement in competitiveness and recent economic recovery might suggest that it no longer requires a weaker currency and so would have little to gain from leaving the euro-zone... 11th February 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Focus Brazil: at a turning point or heading deeper into the mire? A programme of government austerity will result in modest improvements to Brazil’s budget and current account deficits over the next year but at the expense of extremely weak growth and, in the near... 11th February 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Higher demand can’t offset rise in production In spite of higher forecast demand, the USDA has also revised up its estimates of year-end stocks for corn and wheat. And with ample soybean supplies, we continue to expect prices of all three to fall... 11th February 2015 · 1 min read
