Africa Economics Update Kenya joins the eurobond rush Sub-Saharan Africa’s eurobond markets hit the headlines again in June when Kenya became the latest country to issue dollar-denominated debt. With much of the region continuing to enjoy low yields by... 23rd June 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack EMs take heart as Fed sticks to taper plan Financial conditions across the emerging world have eased in recent months, as continued policy support from central banks in the developed world has supported risk appetite. This in turn has reduced... 19th June 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Iraq crisis raises contagion fears The unfolding crisis in Iraq has cast a shadow over the region, causing equity markets to tumble. As it happens, the largest MENA economies have only limited trade and financial ties with Iraq... 19th June 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Fall in S. Africa’s current account deficit not as good as it looks The narrowing in South Africa’s current account deficit in Q1 is welcome insofar as it has been one of the country’s key vulnerabilities over the past couple of years. But the narrowing was due to a... 18th June 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Concerns over policy credibility emerge in Nigeria Concerns over policy credibility in Nigeria have surfaced over the past month. The Central Bank’s (CBN’s) new governor Godwin Emefiele recently hinted at moves towards looser monetary policy, despite... 17th June 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Can the BRICs regain their vigour? Four charts to watch The slowdown in EM GDP growth over the past couple of years has been driven in large part by weakness in the four largest emerging economies, the BRICs. Much of this weakness has, in turn, been caused... 13th June 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update Kenya revises up GDP as debut dollar bond issue nears In an attempt to drum up interest in its debut dollar bond issue, Kenya became the latest country in Africa to announce revisions to its measured GDP yesterday. Measured GDP has been revised up by... 13th June 2014 · 1 min read
EM Markets Chart Pack What next for Russia's financial markets? We do not think the recent outperformance of Russia’s financial markets and currency will last. Indeed, the ruble has already dropped back slightly over the past week or so. There are three key... 11th June 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Focus Why Ghana needs IMF help The recent sharp widening of Ghana’s twin budget and current account deficits has fuelled speculation that the country may require some external help to stave off a fiscal and balance of payments... 11th June 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Trade Monitor EM exports strengthen a touch, manufacturers outperform Emerging Market (EM) export growth picked up a little in April and the rebound in Chinese exports last month suggests that it has since strengthened further. In aggregate, EM export growth is still... 9th June 2014 · 1 min read
Africa Economic Outlook Growing pains Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is likely to remain one of the world’s best performing regions over the next couple of years but, in a number of countries, growing pains are starting to emerge. Budget and... 6th June 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Less to EM reserve accumulation than meets the eye Foreign exchange reserve accumulation by emerging markets has been cited by some as a reason whybond yields in the developed world have fallen in recent months and by others as evidence that the... 6th June 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Why we’re relatively downbeat on the Saudi economy In its latest Article IV for Saudi, the IMF painted an upbeat picture of the economy. However, as we outline in this Watch, there are good reasons to think that growth may slow over the coming years. 5th June 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Morocco’s public finances on the mend Having embarked on subsidy cuts last year, the Moroccan authorities have made good progress on tackling the country’s weak public finances. There is still work to do if the government is to meet its... 4th June 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update EM manufacturing strengthens a touch on China rebound May’s PMI data suggest that EM manufacturing strengthened a little last month, having softened for most of the past half a year. There was a welcome improvement in the PMIs of the BRICs, particularly... 3rd June 2014 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update PMIs highlight Egypt’s bumpy recovery May’s ‘whole economy’ PMI data show that, although the Egyptian economy is faring better than it was last summer, growth is sluggish. And looking ahead, in spite of the optimism following Abdel Fattah... 3rd June 2014 · 1 min read
