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The manufacturing PMIs for February remained very weak in most EMs, but they did at least provide signs that industry across much of the emerging world has fared better so far this year than it did in late 2022. Meanwhile, there were encouraging signs …
1st March 2023
We think even if some of the recent headwinds that have buffeted emerging market (EM) assets fade, a slowdown in global growth might keep them under pressure in the near term. EM assets have had a fairly tough month . Local-currency and …
28th February 2023
The war in Ukraine, which marks its one year anniversary on Friday, has had a profound impact on the emerging world. Ukraine’s economy has collapsed, while Russia’s has contracted too even though the imposition of sanctions has not been as severe as …
22nd February 2023
Nigeria’s presidential election this weekend could be one of several EM elections this year (including Turkey and Argentina) that see opposition victories and a turn away from unorthodox policymaking. The experience from elsewhere in the emerging world is …
21st February 2023
EM investment surged far above pre-pandemic levels last year, but there was a clear divergence across countries and we think investment growth will slow in 2023. One worrying development is that investment has continued to lag behind in countries where it …
20th February 2023
EM core inflation jumped to its highest rate in almost two decades in January. That can partly be pinned on China, where core inflation has risen from a very low rate. In most other EMs, core inflation has passed its peak, which should allow policymakers …
16th February 2023
The raft of EM central bank meetings over the past couple of weeks reinforces the view that monetary tightening cycles have now drawn to a close or are very close to doing so, several months earlier than in their DM counterparts. Policymakers in some EM …
10th February 2023
Foreign capital inflows have been soft this year in spite of the improvement in the economic outlook for EMs and the weaker dollar. And the very latest data suggest that capital has flowed out of EMs recently, which is a trend that we think is likely to …
9th February 2023
Investors’ concerns about sovereign debt risks in frontier markets have eased a touch recently but several countries, particularly Tunisia and Pakistan, remain on the path to default. The latest (and last-minute) demands from China in debt talks with …
7th February 2023
We’ve received a lot of questions recently about the impact of China’s re-opening on EMs, including at our monthly Drop-in today. This Update answers three key questions on the winners and losers, the inflationary impact and the outlook for EM financial …
2nd February 2023
EM banks will face an increase in loan losses this year, but the good news is that banking sectors on the whole appear well-placed to absorb these, particularly in parts of Latin America, Emerging Europe and the MENA where capital buffers are high. That …
The manufacturing PMIs picked up in most emerging markets in January, offering hope that the worst for EM industry may have now passed. But activity remains soft against the backdrop of high interest rates and weak global external demand. The aggregate …
1st February 2023
We think the rapid economic recovery in China will lead to further gains in equities in China and other emerging markets (EM) this year. Despite some recent weakness, equities in China have rallied since the end of October, as a shift toward living with …
31st January 2023
Consumer spending in emerging markets initially recovered quickly from the pandemic, but it looks like high interest rates and inflation caused spending growth to slow sharply over the second half of last year. And we think consumer spending is likely to …
27th January 2023
China’s re-opening will have a significant impact on the rest of the emerging world by lifting commodity prices. That will improve the terms of trade of EM commodity producers, particularly Chile, Peru and the Gulf economies. However, we think that this …
25th January 2023
The outlook for emerging markets is looking better than it did just a few weeks ago. Most obviously, China’s shift to living with COVID means that its economy will rebound far sooner than we had previously thought. That will provide a lift to countries …
24th January 2023
It looks highly likely that Tunisia’s government will this year follow in the footsteps of Sri Lanka and Ghana by defaulting on its external debts. Fortunately, public debt risks elsewhere don’t look as acute. But while the focus is on sovereign …
17th January 2023
Foreign capital inflows into EMs have picked up a little since the beginning of the year. This should provide some relief to those countries with sizeable current account deficits, including Chile, Colombia, Philippines, and several countries in Central …
11th January 2023
In this Update , we take a look at the key elections that are scheduled across the emerging world this year. The most notable ones are in Argentina, Nigeria and Turkey, where opposition victories could be the catalyst for a shift away from the …
10th January 2023
China’s abandonment of its zero-COVID policy could lead to supply chain disruption in other EMs, particularly other parts of Asia and Mexico, though we’re not too concerned yet. And outbound Chinese tourism is likely to soar, to the benefit of Hong Kong …
4th January 2023
Although the manufacturing PMIs for December picked up in some highly-open EMs in Asia and Central Europe, industry in these countries remains very weak. And the surveys suggest that activity has softened further in major EMs including China (due to …
3rd January 2023
We think investors are still too optimistic on global growth, and that “risky” assets will struggle over the first half of 2023 as a result. Investors seem increasingly to have come around to our view on inflation over the past couple of months, namely …
22nd December 2022
Tightening cycles have been a key feature of 2022 across the emerging world, but the end is in sight as we enter 2023. Some EM central banks that began tightening early – for example Brazil, Chile and Czech Republic – have already brought an end to …
21st December 2022
Click here to read the full report. Table of Key Forecasts Overview – The sharp slowdown in EM GDP growth seen in 2022 is likely to be followed by further weakness across most of the emerging world in 2023. Sluggish growth and falling inflation will …
20th December 2022
This is part of a series of reports outlining our key macro and market calls for 2023. Click here to view the full series. Our latest EM Outlook can be found here . EMs will experience one of the broadest slowdowns in GDP growth in 2023 since the 1990s. …
15th December 2022
Global risk appetite has improved in recent weeks, easing some of the strains in EMs. But economic and financial vulnerabilities in EMs are larger going into 2023 than they were at this point last year. More Frontier Markets are likely to join Sri Lanka …
7th December 2022
Foreign capital inflows into EMs picked up sharply over the past month amidst improved investor risk appetite and a depreciating US dollar. But there are signs in the very latest data points that flows into both equity and bonds have eased a little. If …
6th December 2022
The EM manufacturing PMI broadly plateaued in November, but the surveys remained weak in parts of Central Europe and recorded sharp declines in Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam. On the bright side, price pressures appear to be easing further . The aggregate …
1st December 2022
Although Chinese stocks have reversed a two year or so downward trend in the past month amid hopes that zero-COVID policies will end, we doubt this is a sign of things to come in the near term. Since its trough on 31 st October, the MSCI China Index has …
EM GDP rebounded in Q3, but this is unlikely to be the start of a sustained upturn. Headwinds in the form of high inflation, tight monetary policy and weak external demand will drag on growth in the coming year and our 2023 GDP forecasts are generally …
30th November 2022
Inflation appears to have finally peaked for emerging markets – but how quickly will price pressures now ease, and what will that mean for the 2023 outlook? In December's monthly dive into the big stories in EM macro and markets, economists from across …
24th November 2022
Monetary tightening cycles in EMs are advanced relative to DMs, and are now drawing to a close in many countries. Elevated inflation will mean that policy will stay tight over the coming months, but the conditions for several EM central banks to start …
Having surged for the best part of two years, EM inflation appears to have passed the peak in this cycle. Our measure of aggregate EM inflation dropped from 7.8% y/y in September to 7.4% y/y in October. (See Chart 1.) Looking ahead, we think that …
23rd November 2022
Russia’s agreement to extend the Black Sea grain deal with Ukraine should help to keep a lid on wheat and corn prices over the coming months, reducing upward pressure on inflation in the emerging world and alleviating economic imbalances. Countries that …
21st November 2022
Higher interest rates and larger private sector debt burdens mean that debt interest service ratios could rise to levels last seen in the 1990s in many EMs next year. This is unlikely to be a major problem in a handful of EMs such as South Africa, India …
17th November 2022
Foreign capital inflows into EM financial markets have risen sharply so far this month, as investor risk appetite has improved. But with the global economy set to enter recession, we aren’t convinced that this will last as EMs are likely to find it more …
16th November 2022
The dramatic improvement in EM public finances since the height of the pandemic is starting to run out of steam. And we think that fiscal dynamics are likely to get worse next year in parts of Central Europe and in most commodity-producing countries. …
11th November 2022
Our seasonally-adjusted measure of aggregate EM goods exports recorded a decline in dollar terms in September and leading indicators point to further falls over the rest of the year. And with commodity prices on a downward trend and the global economy …
8th November 2022
Currencies in some of the largest frontier markets, including Nigeria and Vietnam, have come under pressure recently as the external backdrop has deteriorated and domestic policy concerns have mounted. With FX reserves generally limited, this will put …
3rd November 2022
Although the aggregate EM manufacturing PMI rose in October, a closer look at the surveys shows that there was a widespread deterioration in EM industry. Highly-open manufacturing economies including Taiwan, Czechia and Poland are struggling in …
2nd November 2022
Table of Key Forecasts Overview – EM GDP growth has slowed sharply this year and is likely to remain sluggish in 2023 and 2024 as weak external demand and tight financial conditions take their toll. Having started hiking rates much earlier than their DM …
27th October 2022
Economists from our Emerging Markets and Markets teams discussed the outlook for EM financial markets in this regular dive into the big stories in EMs. In addition to their dive into what the macro picture means for the market outlook, the team answered …
A closer look at core inflation across EMs suggests that underlying price pressures have started to ease. But they remain very strong by historic standards in most countries – and particularly so in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The CEE economies …
26th October 2022
EM tightening cycles have continued apace but, having started raising rates much earlier than their DM (and Asian) peers, some central banks in Latin America ( Brazil , Chile ) and Emerging Europe (Czech Republic, Poland) are drawing their hiking cycles …
19th October 2022
One question that we frequently get asked is which EM could be the next Sri Lanka. While there are several candidates, Tunisia concerns us most. The good news for the rest of the world is that the most vulnerable countries’ sovereign foreign bonds are …
13th October 2022
Central banks have the tools to deal with liquidity crises arising from rising interest rates and falling asset prices. Instead, the bigger threat is that higher interest rates produce large and simultaneous falls in asset prices that threaten the …
11th October 2022
China’s economy has essentially stalled. This does not mean that aggregate growth in the rest of the world will automatically slow, but there will be winners and losers at a country level. Recent economic news from China has been dismal. (See here .) We …
Capital outflows from EMs have picked up over the past month against the backdrop of a strong US dollar. We think that emerging economies will continue to find it difficult to attract foreign capital in the current environment. This will be especially …
While large-scale intervention to stem currency weakness has led to falls in central banks’ foreign exchange reserves, FX reserve coverage is only really low in a handful of EMs including Egypt, Turkey, Argentina, Pakistan and, to a lesser extent, Chile …
6th October 2022
With monetary tightening cycles approaching their ends in many emerging markets (EMs), we think local-currency (LC) sovereign bond yields will, in general, be much lower in a couple of years than they are now. But we anticipate a significant amount …
4th October 2022