Emerging Europe Economics Update Will the ruble’s collapse trigger capital controls in Russia? The renewed sharp falls in the ruble today will fuel speculation that the authorities could resort to increasingly unorthodox measures to help stabilise the currency, including capital controls. But... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
India Data Response Trade (Nov.) India’s trade deficit widened in November as a pick-up in exports wasn’t enough to offset a renewed surge in gold imports. But the overall deficit still remains at sustainable levels, and should... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Poland Consumer Prices (Nov.) On the face of it, November’s Polish CPI data, which showed that the economy remained in deflation, argue in favour of additional interest rate cuts. But we’re not convinced that these figures will... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update What if oil prices fall to $40? The slump in oil prices to $60 per barrel should be a clear net gain for the world economy. Indeed, the potential boost to global demand is one important reason to expect prices to level out soon... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Gulf equities: big falls now happened, but sharp rebound unlikely In spite of small rises today, equity markets in the Gulf have tumbled over the past month and all of the gains made earlier this year have now been wiped out. While we suspect that the big falls have... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update How would prolonged deflation affect euro-zone equities? It is tempting to think that a prolonged period of mild deflation in the euro-zone would be terrible news for equities. After all, Japan’s stock market generally fared poorly for much of the time... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Data Response Nigeria Consumer Prices (Nov.) Data released over the weekend showed that inflation in Nigeria continued to slow in November. But we expect it to accelerate again before too long as the effect of the naira’s weakness feeds through... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Sri Lanka GDP (Q3) Sri Lanka recorded another quarter of strong growth in Q3, with the economy expanding by 7.7% y/y, down only slightly from Q2. Looking ahead, a pick-up in private sector credit growth and robust... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
India Data Response Wholesale Prices (Nov.) Wholesale price data for November out today provide more evidence of disinflationary pressures following the release of last month’s CPI data on Friday, and build on the case for the RBI to begin... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Focus What should Mr Abe do to kick-start growth? If the right policies were followed, we estimate that Japan’s potential growth rate could rise by around one percentage point. Measures to slow the shrinkage of the labour force and to reduce the... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Tankan (Q4) Today’s Tankan survey suggests that Japan’s economy stabilised in the fourth quarter, but a rapid recovery is not on the cards. 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Slump in oil prices leaves housing looking even more exposed The Bank of Canada admitted last week that the housing market has completely overshot and that the overvaluation is somewhere in the range of 10% to 30%. If we had to pick a number, it would be close... 15th December 2014 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Teranet-National Bank House Prices (Nov.) The Teranet-National Bank measure shows that house price inflation was 5.2% in November, down slightly from 5.4%, easily outpacing growth in household incomes. Accordingly, this only adds to our... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
Capital Daily Investors in EMs still showing a willingness to differentiate 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
US Data Response Uni. of Mich. Consumer Confidence (Dec.) The rise in the University of Michigan measure of consumer confidence in December to a new 7-year high suggests that the recent strong performance of retail sales will continue in December. 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Stress tests unlikely to prevent lending revival in 2015 The Bank of England will publish the results of its latest stress test of UK banks this week. While we would not like to wager that all eight banks will pass this year’s tough assessment, the lifting... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
