Africa Economics Update South African GDP contracts in Q1, rapid rebound unlikely The South African economy contracted for the first time since 2009 in Q1 as the ongoing strike action in the mining sector proved to be more damaging than most had expected. Looking ahead, there are a... 27th May 2014 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Data Response BBA Mortgage Lending (Apr. 14) The British Bankers’ Association reported that mortgage approvals dropped once again in April, and are now around 13% down on their peak in January. As such the data do little to support the idea of a... 27th May 2014 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Colombia election: Zuluaga leads Santos into a run-off A victory for either Oscar Zuluaga or Juan Manuel Santos in the second round of Colombia’s presidential election next month is unlikely to cause a stir in the markets. But with neither candidate... 27th May 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update India’s current account deficit likely to widen, but gradually India’s current account deficit fell to its lowest level in five years last quarter. Looking ahead, the deficit looks set to widen as imports are likely to rise on the back of an economic recovery and... 27th May 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Small Business Confidence (May) The rebound in small business confidence in May adds to the evidence that the economy should recover quickly from any weakness after the consumption tax hike. 27th May 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand's political crisis won't hurt the rest of the region Thailand's protracted political crisis has damaged the domestic economy, but there are few signs of contagion to the rest of the region. Some of its neighbours may even stand to benefit. 26th May 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Focus Will urbanisation continue to drive growth in Asia? Urbanisation has been an important growth driver for Asian economies over the past few decades. With the proportion of the population living in urban areas still below 50% in many Asian countries... 26th May 2014 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Economy struggling to shrug off winter blues In contrast to the upbeat news coming out of the US, the more Canadian data we see on economic activity in March, the less reassured we are that the softness in the preceding three months was just a... 26th May 2014 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Businesses testing their pricing power Our view that core inflation will increase faster than the Fed expects is based on expectations that both rent of shelter and medical inflation will continue to rise and that an acceleration in wage... 26th May 2014 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Will investment keep punching above its weight? Last week’s release of the expenditure breakdown of Q1 GDP confirmed that an upturn in business investment has turbocharged the UK’s economic recovery. And looking ahead, there’s every reason to... 26th May 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly France's recovery to be snail-paced France’s economy hasn’t picked up much steam since it stagnated in Q1. Although the outlook for the second half of the year is a little brighter, the recovery will remain pretty weak. The resulting... 26th May 2014 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Is Emerging Asia missing out on the global recovery? Recovery in advanced economies has been underway for the best part of a year now, but Emerging Asia’s exports have remained sluggish. Some commentators are concerned this is more than a short-term... 26th May 2014 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Will the “third arrow” regain momentum? The second version of the government’s “Growth Strategy”, which is due next month, should include a pledge to cut corporate taxes, and perhaps some measures to cut red tape in Special Economic Zones... 26th May 2014 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response New Home Sales (Apr. 14) In April, new home sales reversed most of the previous month’s decline to stand just4% below the high seen in October last year. Alongside yesterday’s modest rise inexisting home sales, the data... 23rd May 2014 · 1 min read
Global Trade Monitor World trade still lagging behind output The volume of world trade fell for a second consecutive month in March, according todata released earlier today. This can partly be attributed to distortions in China’s trade statistics. However... 23rd May 2014 · 1 min read
