Asia Chart Pack Emerging Asia not turning its back on free trade Less than a week after the official launch of the 11-country Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) at a ceremony in Chile, other countries are already queuing... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Central Bank of Iceland on hold for now While the Central Bank of Iceland left policy unchanged today, it also acknowledged that inflation expectations are rising. We expect higher actual and expected inflation to prompt the Bank to raise... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Rising copper stocks point to subdued demand There have been some big jumps in stocks of copper, aluminium and zinc since the start of 2018, but inventories of the other base metals have fallen slightly. Given that we expect demand to soften... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swedish Consumer Prices (Feb.) With Swedish inflation unchanged at a joint 10-month low in February, we see the Riksbank changing its forward guidance next month to signal that it will raise interest rates later than it previously... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Africa Data Response Nigeria Consumer Prices (Feb.) Slower inflation and a political breakthrough have opened the way to interest rate cuts in Nigeria. We expect that policymakers will lower their key rate from 14.00% to 13.00% in Q2. 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Should we be worried about Polish fiscal policy? Fiscal policy in Poland is set to be loosened further this year, which is one reason why economic growth is likely to remain strong. There aren’t any imminent concerns about the health of the public... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Qatar: banking strains ease, but credit to stay weak Qatar’s banking sector has weathered the worst of the impact of the blockade. But tight external financing conditions and a need to deleverage mean that credit growth will provide less of a prop to... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Australia Consumer Confidence (Mar.) While the modest rise in the Westpac measure of consumer confidence in March was a welcome sight following January’s weaker than expected retail sales figures, we remain cautious about the outlook for... 14th March 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update Government overhauled to strengthen Party control A sweeping overhaul of the structure of China’s government unveiled at the National People’s Congress today could improve financial regulation, reduce red tape for business, and boost productivity in... 13th March 2018 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Spring Statement Response – Jam tomorrow While the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) latest forecasts failed to deliver the expected “growth windfall”, the Chancellor still managed to maintain an upbeat tone in the Spring Statement... 13th March 2018 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Mexico Industrial Production (Jan.) Mexican industrial production stagnated in m/m terms in January, but this was partly payback for a strong 1.0% m/m increase in December. The breakdown reveals that the disruption to industry from... 13th March 2018 · 1 min read
US Data Response Consumer Prices (Feb.) Core consumer prices increased by a solid 0.2% m/m in February, extending the run of firmer monthly gains and pushing the three-month annualised core inflation rate up to a decade high of 3.1%... 13th March 2018 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Government overhauled to strengthen Party control A sweeping overhaul of the structure of China’s government unveiled at the National People’s Congress today could improve financial regulation, reduce red tape for business, and boost productivity in... 13th March 2018 · 1 min read
Africa Data Response South Africa Manufacturing production Manufacturing output growth in South Africa jumped to 2.5% y/y in January, supporting our view that the economy retained momentum at the beginning of the year. 13th March 2018 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Focus Have London house prices reached a tipping point? While still true at the national level, London can no longer be characterised as a sellers’ market. An apparent shift in attitudes among sellers, combined with lower buyer numbers has sharply altered... 13th March 2018 · 1 min read
