Global Economics Update IMF’s forecasts reflect a bright economic outlook The IMF’s latest projections for global growth, published today, are in line with ours (using official figures for China) and point to healthy global GDP growth of about 3½% in the coming year or two. 18th April 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Will Japan and the US sign a free trade agreement? High-level discussions with the US today have revived talk in Japan of a bilateral trade deal that could in principle generate sizeable productivity gains for Japan and make up for the US abandoning... 18th April 2017 · 1 min read
India Economics Update How much of a threat is the rise in gold imports? The jump in gold imports over the past couple of months is likely to have been boosted by temporary factors, including a rebound in purchases following demonetisation and greater consumer demand ahead... 18th April 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Mar.) Bank lending is rising at the fastest pace since 2009, led by non-manufacturing firms. A combination of record-low bank lending rates and extremely loose bank lending attitudes has fuelled the credit... 17th April 2017 · 1 min read
Commodities Update China’s commodity imports grow, but so do stocks Strong growth in China’s commodity imports in March would, at first glance, appear to be supportive of commodity prices. However, the rise in stocks of some commodities suggests that the buying has... 13th April 2017 · 1 min read
China Data Response Trade (Mar.) The latest trade data point to buoyant external demand but suggest that domestic demand may have started to cool. 13th April 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Chart Pack Price expectations too weak to reach 2% inflation The labour market continues to tighten and firms are reporting the most severe capacity shortages in years. Underlying inflation is therefore set to recover after approaching zero at the start of this... 12th April 2017 · 1 min read
Asia Economic Outlook Stronger exports to boost growth in 2017 Buoyant global demand should help to support growth across most of Emerging Asia over the coming quarters, but mounting domestic headwinds mean a strong rebound is not on the cards. Although the... 11th April 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Turkey Curr. Acc. (Feb.) & Hungary CPI (Mar.) Turkey’s current account deficit remained wide in February, but there are some encouraging signs that the boost to competitiveness from the weak lira may already be having a positive effect. Elsewhere... 11th April 2017 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Remittance inflows should remain strong Remittance inflows are an important source of external funding for India, and were equivalent to more than 3% of GDP in 2016 – almost twice as large as net capital inflows. Though there are some risks... 11th April 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Focus Brazil: export-driven recovery looking good…for now Brazilian export growth looks set to rebound this year as the impact of last year’s drought on agricultural shipments fades. This should help to finally pull the economy out of recession. That being... 10th April 2017 · 1 min read
China Data Response FX reserves (Mar.) China’s foreign exchange reserves were broadly stable last month, suggesting that the recent easing of capital outflows has allowed the People’s Bank to step back from FX intervention. 7th April 2017 · 1 min read
China Economics Update North Korea to distract from trade at Trump-Xi Summit We expect Donald Trump to tone down his criticism of China’s mercantilist policies when he meets Xi Jinping later today in order to focus on dealing with the more pressing threat from North Korea. If... 6th April 2017 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response International Merchandise Trade (Feb.) The 2.5% m/m drop in export volumes in February was widespread and suggests that the economy is still struggling with competitiveness challenges. This just goes to show that the Bank of Canada is... 4th April 2017 · 1 min read
US Data Response International Trade (Feb.) The trade deficit narrowed sharply in February to $43.6bn, from $48.2bn in January, as the surge in imports from China ahead of the Lunar New Year Holiday was reversed. 4th April 2017 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response International Trade (Feb.) The rebound in the trade surplus is mainly due to the reversal of the distortion caused by Chinese New Year that suppressed the surplus in January. But with commodity prices having started to edge... 4th April 2017 · 1 min read
