Europe Economics Weekly ECB interest rates & required reserves; EU-China trade The huge decline in energy prices over the past two months, together with June's HICP data, suggest that euro-zone inflation will be even lower in the near term than in the ECB's "milder scenario"... 3rd July 2026 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Burnham on the defensive, it’s markets not rules that matter How to achieve the government’s commitment to raise defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 will be a far bigger problem for prospective PM Burnham than the £4.7bn defence “black hole”. And a bit of... 3rd July 2026 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Immigration to continue driving Spain’s outperformance The scale of Spain's migrant regularisation scheme, for which 1.2 million people have applied, highlights the role that immigration is playing in Spain’s economic outperformance. We expect continued... 3rd July 2026 · 3 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly CEE surveys, Tisza budget warning, Russian fuel prices The latest survey data out of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) this week painted a mixed picture for June, but the overall story is that GDP growth looks to have strengthened over Q2 as a whole... 3rd July 2026 · 6 mins read
UK Commercial Property Outlook UK Commercial Property Outlook: Income returns to dominate as yields hold steady The rise in gilt yields following the Iran war has so far not led to any increase in property yields, and we expect investors will largely look through what will be a temporary spike in risk-free... 2nd July 2026 · 22 mins read
Europe Economics Update Heatwaves, climate change and euro-zone GDP The recent heatwave is further evidence that Europe is heavily exposed to climate change. We do not think this will impact GDP significantly this year. But over the long run it will dampen GDP growth... 2nd July 2026 · 3 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Hungary’s fiscal hole will hold back the recovery The Orbán administration’s pre-election spending splurge is likely to push the Hungarian government’s budget deficit towards 6.5% of GDP (on an ESA basis) by the end of this year. Our judgement is... 2nd July 2026 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Council house building unlikely to be as big as Burnham promises Andy Burnham’s plans to deliver a big increase in council house building to post-Second World War levels will be expensive and would almost certainly require a chunky rise in public borrowing. The... 2nd July 2026 · 3 mins read
Europe Rapid Response Euro-zone HICP (June 2026) The substantial fall in headline inflation in the euro-zone in June left it below the ECB’s forecast, and if energy prices remain around current levels it will fall again in July. This makes us more... 1st July 2026 · 2 mins read
Europe Commercial Property Outlook Prime office outperformance to wane The limited hit to economic activity from the Iran war and our expectation that risk-free rates will fall back mean we forecast only a temporary slowdown in European commercial property value growth... 1st July 2026 · 22 mins read
UK Economics Update How much extra borrowing will the bond market tolerate? The markets would probably tolerate a rise in borrowing provided it is not too big (perhaps of up to about £15bn or 0.5% of GDP), it is primarily to invest, and it comes alongside a credible... 1st July 2026 · 3 mins read
UK Housing Market Rapid Response UK Nationwide House Prices (Jun. 2026) The stagnation in the Nationwide measure of house prices in June (CE -0.2%, consensus 0.0%) shows that the rise in mortgage rates triggered by the Iran war continues to weigh on the housing market... 1st July 2026 · 3 mins read
Europe Rapid Response Euro-zone national inflation data (June 2026) The national HICP data for June suggest that euro-zone headline inflation fell from 3.2% in May to 2.8% in June. That would leave it below the ECB’s forecast, making it less likely that the Bank will... 30th June 2026 · 2 mins read
Europe Economics Update Euro to weaken further against the US dollar Moves in relative interest rates have contributed to the euro weakening against the US dollar since early May. We think that it will fall to around $1.10 by the end of the year as the Fed hikes twice... 30th June 2026 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update German pension reform encouraging, but will take time Germany’s pension reforms should slow the rise in public sector pension spending a little, encourage people to remain in work for longer, and channel more savings into equities. But the benefits of... 29th June 2026 · 3 mins read
