Latin America Economics Update Chilean rates to rise further The Central Bank of Chile (CBC) hiked interest rates by 25bps to 3.5% last night. Growing economic imbalances and the threat of higher inflation mean that rates will rise further over the coming... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Update Four obstacles to housing finance reform The Obama Administration's recent proposals to wind down the government-owned institutions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and create a market in which private businesses are the primary source of... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Data Response Mortgage Delinquencies (Q4) Better labour market conditions led to a significant fall in the share of delinquent mortgages at the end of last year. Further falls in the unemployment rate this year are likely to push the... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey shifts to 'wait and see' mode The Central Bank of Turkey kept interest rates on hold at 6.25% earlier this month and is now in ‘wait and see’ mode to evaluate the impact of its unconventional experiment with monetary policy... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
US Data Response Consumer Prices (Jan.) Consumer prices increased by 0.4% m/m in January, as the surge in commodity prices continued to feed through. 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Vietnam's base rate hike a step in the right direction Vietnam’s central bank hiked its policy rate by a larger-than-expected 200bp to 11% today, which follows on from last week’s devaluation of the dong against US dollar. It appears that policymakers are... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Focus Is Venezuela approaching crunch time? While the rest of Latin America is experiencing bumper capital inflows, Venezuela is gripped by a dollar drought. With President Chavez seeking re-election in December 2012, there is a growing risk... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Could SDRs challenge the dollar? When G20 Finance Ministers hold their first meeting of the year this weekend, one of the issues on the agenda will be reform of the International Monetary System, including a proposal to promote the... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Chart Pack Office rental growth becoming more widespread In Q4 2010, office rental values rose or held steady in all markets outside of the euro-zone’s troubled periphery. But increases in retail and industrial rental values were far less common. Although... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Worsening economic outlook adding to Greece's problems The recent news that the Greek economy remains deep in recession will add to fears that the Government may struggle to meet its budget deficit goals and will do nothing to ease concerns about Greece’s... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Singapore to focus on tackling inflation Q4 GDP figures were revised lower today, as expected, but the economy nonetheless grew by a spectacular 14.5% in 2010 as a whole. GDP growth is likely to be robust this year and will increase the... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Is mortgage affordability close to an all-time high? We do not agree with research published recently in the Daily Telegraph suggesting that mortgage affordability is at near-record levels. By looking at interest payments only, the Lombard Street... 17th February 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response Norwegian GDP (Q4) Q4’s GDP figures show that the Norwegian economy continued to expand at a steady pace. This, together with the fact that inflation is still a little below the Norges Bank’s target and the strong krone... 16th February 2011 · 1 min read
UK Commercial Property Outlook Prime and non-prime price divergence to continue Driven by the non-prime segment, our forecast is that IPD all-property capital values will edge down by about 2% this year. But they will start to rise again in 2012 as rental values gradually... 16th February 2011 · 1 min read
