Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkish central bank keeps rates on hold, policy to remain tight The Turkish central bank kept its key interest rates unchanged today, but there are signs that policymakers have started to tighten monetary conditions via the interest rate “corridor” to counter the... 25th September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Hungary to keep rates at record low well into next year The National Bank of Hungary’s post-meeting press release reinforced the message that the MPC sees little pressure to raise interest rates. Indeed, with inflation likely to remain low, and economic... 23rd September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Falling commodity prices to help keep EM inflation subdued Recent falls in the prices of oil and a number of agricultural commodities add to the reasons to expect EM inflation to stay muted over the coming months. But while in aggregate we think that... 23rd September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Assessing the impact of the Ukraine crisis on the Baltics So far at least, the crisis in Ukraine doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact on overall exports from or capital flows to the Baltic States, despite their relatively large ties to Russia. However... 22nd September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Problems at Bank Asya turn attention to Turkey’s bank risks The near-collapse of the Turkish Islamic bank, Bank Asya, seems to be an isolated incident, the result of political feuding more than bad credit decisions. But it has put the spotlight back onto... 19th September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russia’s economy continues to stagnate August’s raft of Russian activity data suggests that the economy continued to stagnate. Growth in the industrial sector slowed, while the slump in investment activity deepened further. What’s more... 17th September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Drop in ruble strengthens case for interest rate hike The sharp fall in the ruble over the past week or so reflects a combination of factors, including the drop in oil prices, continued capital flight in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and... 16th September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russia keeps interest rates on hold, but hikes still on the cards The Russian central bank left interest rates unchanged today, having raised rates by 250bps over the firstsix months of the year. But with inflation set to rise further over the coming months and... 12th September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Euro-zone more to blame for Q2 slowdown than Ukraine The slowdown in Central and South Eastern Europe in the second quarter has raised concerns about the region’s exposure to the crisis in Ukraine. In this Watch, we dig deeper into the GDP data to see... 11th September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkish economy slows sharply on weak domestic demand Today’s weaker-than-expected Turkish Q2 GDP data reinforce the point that interest rate hikes earlier in the year are continuing to weigh on domestic demand. The poor figures are likely to result in... 10th September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Polish MPC signals rate cuts The Polish MPC made it pretty clear at today’s post-meeting press conference that subdued growth and extremely low inflation mean that interest rates will be lowered over the coming months. For now... 3rd September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update August’s PMIs suggest growth in Central Europe slowed further Last month’s batch of manufacturing PMIs suggests that the recent slowdown in the Turkish economy may have bottomed out but it provides yet further evidence of weakening growth in Central Europe. 1st September 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Renewed escalation in Ukraine hits region’s financial markets Claims by Ukraine’s government that Russia has deployed troops in the east of the country have led to sharp falls in financial markets across Emerging Europe today. Some of the sharpest falls have... 28th August 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Latin America inflation woes deepen Although inflation at the aggregate EM level remains fairly benign, there are big differences between the main EM regions. Inflation is fairly low in most of Emerging Asia, but is high and rising in... 27th August 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkish policymakers too sanguine on external vulnerabilities The decision by Turkey’s central bank to cut its overnight lending rate, which forms the upper bound of the corridor in which market rates are allowed to fluctuate, suggests that it is becoming less... 27th August 2014 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Drop in oil prices underscores Russia’s vulnerabilities The fall in oil prices over the past month poses another headwind for Russia’s struggling economy. The drop in prices is unlikely to have a major bearing on the outlook for the rest of this year –... 22nd August 2014 · 1 min read
