Africa Economics Update Nigeria: banking sector making progress but challenges remain Almost five years after a domestic banking crisis, there are encouraging signs that Nigeria’s financial sector is slowly returning to health. But while there are reasons to be optimistic, some key... 18th June 2013 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Update Capital values at a turning point? The IPD data for May appear to show that commercial property values have turned the corner. With both economic sentiment and the hard economic activity data now delivering more positive than negative... 18th June 2013 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Consumer Prices & Producer Prices (May) May’s rise in inflation confirmed that April’s fall was primarily the result of some temporary factors. That said, the peak is hopefully not too far away now. 18th June 2013 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Egypt: pound's devaluation has further to go In spite of the Central Bank of Egypt’s best efforts, it appears to be only a matter of time before the Egyptian pound breaks through 7/US$. And there is a growing risk that, without an IMF deal, the... 18th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (May) Broad money growth has remained stable since late last year, with our measure of the M3 aggregate expanding by 6.2% over the 12 months to May. 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update What’s really happening to China’s copper demand? Traditional methods of calculating copper demand have been suggesting that Chinese consumption is actually falling. However, these estimates of “apparent consumption” are distorted by changes in... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
Global Central Bank Watch Is the end of ample “cheap money” nigh? The prospect that the US Fed may start to taper its asset purchases later this year has raised concerns that the era of “cheap money” may soon be ending, undermining global asset prices and economic... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
Commodities Update Are oil prices set to take off due to Syria risks? Fears that Western intervention in Syria could increase the risks of a broader Middle East conflict have already put some upward pressure on the price of Brent crude. However, even if tensions do... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update What the Dutch current account says about the euro-zone As the euro-zone periphery struggles to pay off its external debt, core countries like the Netherlands are still running record current account surpluses. But the Netherlands seems unlikely to reduce... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Labour market less sensitive to falls in S&L govt. investment The sharp drop in State and Local (S&L) government investment has had a smaller adverse impact on the unemployment rate than might have been expected. The ongoing fiscal consolidation may therefore... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Czech PM's resignation a reminder of governance concerns The financial markets have shrugged off the resignation of Czech Prime Minister, Petr Necas, this morning. However, the corruption allegations that led to his departure, as well as the recent outbreak... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Rupee weakness complicates India's policy outlook Growing concern about the rupee’s decline and lingering worries about inflation appear to have been the key factors in the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep the repo rate unchanged at 7.25%... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Higher unit labour costs are a false alarm The rise in the annual growth rate of unit labour costs has more to do with declining labour productivity, rather than any acceleration in the growth rate of labour compensation. Looking ahead, we... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Fed responding to improving economic outlook It now appears that GDP growth will slow to around 1.8% in the second quarter, but we should see a pick-up in the second half of this year. The slowdown is probably a delayed reaction to the tax hikes... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Should Asia be worried by recent currency weakness? Asian currencies have fallen sharply in recent weeks as worries about the consequences of a scaling back of quantitative easing continue to build. This Weekly looks at the macro impact of the sell-off... 17th June 2013 · 1 min read
