Latin America Economics Update Colombian rates edge higher The Central Bank of Colombia (BANREP) hiked interest rates by 25bps to 4.0% last night. With domestic demand still driving strong economic growth and inflation likely to peak higher than policymakers... 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Swiss GDP (Q1) The Swiss economy expanded only modestly in the first quarter of this year. With the strong franc likely to hit exports over the coming quarters, growth looks likely to remain fairly lacklustre. 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Euro-zone Flash CPI & Unemployment (May/Apr.) May’s slight drop in euro-zone CPI inflation is unlikely to prompt the ECB to tone down its hawkishness. Interest rates are set to rise again in July. 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Domestic demand drives decent Q1 growth First quarter GDP data released over the past month confirm what we already knew – most countries in Latin America experienced a strong start to 2011. The problem, however, is that growth is still... 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
China Economics Update How much further will China tighten? Monetary conditions in China are no longer particularly loose and efforts to “normalise” policy are probably nearer to completion than generally believed. We expect three more reserve ratio increases... 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swiss GDP (Q1 11) The Swiss economy expanded only modestly in the first quarter of this year. With the strong franc likely to hit exports over the coming quarters, growth looks likely to remain fairly lacklustre. 31st May 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response GDP (Q1 2011) The pick up in GDP growth to 3.9% annualised in the first quarter, from 3.1% in the fourth quarter, is unlikely to be sustained. With the temporary boost to growth from sharply higher energy and auto... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Growth in the Philippines likely to remain above-trend Q1 GDP for the Philippines, published today, showed that the economy continued to expand despite a significant fall in government spending. The big picture is that domestic demand remains robust... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Small Business Confidence (May) Japan's smaller firms continue to be hit hard by the fallout from March's earthquake. Business conditions did improve in May relative to April's post-disaster low and are expected to recover further... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly Australia set for above-trend growth Australia’s Q1 GDP data will be released on Wednesday and are likely to show that the economy contracted in early 2011. However, the weakness was mainly down to local floods and Cyclone Yasi. Growth... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Twin threats to banks' income It's ironic that in the same week that the movie of the book "Too Big To Fail" was first premiered on American television, it was revealed that the net income of US banks was higher in the first... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Recovery past the peak Attention regarding the euro-zone’s debt crisis has remained focused on the continuing spat between the EU and the ECB on whether or not Greece should be allowed to undertake some form of “soft” debt... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Second quarter growth slowdown The week ahead will be dominated by first quarter GDP and the Bank of Canada's policy decision. We estimate that Canada's economy grew by 3.7% annualised in the first quarter. Temporary disruptions to... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Labour data still to feel full impact of earthquake Employment and wages are bound to be much slower to respond to the Great East Japan Earthquake than either production or sales, but the business and consumer surveys suggest that the labour market... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
UK Economics Weekly Re-balancing in the extreme A re-balancing of the economy has been needed for some time – but this wasn’t quite what we had in mind! The danger now is that domestic demand continues to weaken, while net trade is unable to keep... 30th May 2011 · 1 min read
