Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkish rates on hold, but easing cycle not far away The Turkish central bank’s decision to keep interest rates on hold suggests that policymakers may have been unnerved by the recent wobble in the lira. But with inflation likely to ease further, the... 16th January 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Revising our Russia forecasts Low oil prices, cuts to oil production and the central bank’s hawkish shift have prompted us to nudge our 2019 growth forecast for Russia down to 2.0% (from 2.3%), although that still leaves us a bit... 15th January 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey: what can we learn from past easing cycles? Past experience suggests that the macroeconomic conditions are now in place for the Turkish MPC to start reversing last year’s monetary tightening. We expect the one-week repo rate to be cut by 50bp... 14th January 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What does 2019 hold in store for CEE? Weakness in the euro-zone and softer domestic demand will weigh on GDP growth across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) this year and our forecasts are below consensus. Looser fiscal policy should make... 10th January 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Hungary’s MPC hints that tightening is on its way The statement accompanying today’s Hungarian MPC meeting provided the clearest sign yet that policymakers are shifting towards the start of a tightening cycle. For our part, we think that interest... 18th December 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russian central bank lays ground for another hike Russian central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina’s hawkish post-meeting press conference reinforced our impression that another hike in interest rates is likely over the next few months. We now expect... 14th December 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkish central bank preparing for rate cuts in early 2019 The statement accompanying today’s decision by Turkey’s central bank to leave policy on hold suggests that the MPC is contemplating rate cuts. With inflation falling back and political pressure on the... 13th December 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russia’s recovery regaining momentum After a disappointing Q3, leading indicators suggest that Russia’s economy strengthened in Q4. We expect that GDP growth will rebound to around 1.8-2.0% y/y over the quarter as whole. 11th December 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update CEE: Q3 GDP growth acceleration driven by investment Stronger investment drove a pick-up in GDP growth across Central Europe in Q3, despite a big drag from net trade. But investment is likely to lose steam over the coming quarters, which is part of the... 5th December 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Retail spending to remain a soft spot in Russia’s recovery The recent slowdown in Russian retail spending appears to be close to bottoming out. But we doubt that retail sales will grow by any more than 2.0-2.5% y/y over the next twelve months. 4th December 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Lower oil prices shouldn’t derail Russia’s recovery The latest fall in oil prices will reduce Russia’s export revenues, but the budget and current account should remain in surplus and a significant shift in fiscal (or monetary) policy is unlikely. As a... 28th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Fiscal support will boost Polish & Czech economies Strong budget positions in Poland and the Czech Republic will allow governments to ramp up spending next year. That’s one key reason why we expect that GDP growth in 2019 in these countries will be... 27th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update How will Hungary’s National Bank tighten policy? We’ve argued for a long time that the monetary stance of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) is far too accommodative, and it finally appears that tightening is on the horizon. The complex nature of the... 19th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey: weaker lira softening the blow The sharp fall in the Turkish lira since the start of the year has pushed up inflation and caused financial conditions to tighten markedly, tipping the economy into recession. But there are signs that... 13th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Has a weaker ruble helped Russia’s economy? There’s little evidence so far to suggest that the fall in the ruble this year has boosted Russia’s economy, but we think the positive effects will begin to materialise in 2019. 9th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Car emission tests not the key driver of CEE Q3 slowdown The net impact of a new vehicle emissions testing procedure on Q3 GDP growth appears to have been minimal in Poland and the Czech Republic, but could have knocked up to 0.4%-pts off quarter-on-quarter... 8th November 2018 · 1 min read