Emerging Europe Rapid Response Russia Interest Rate Announcement (Feb.) Russia’s central bank (CBR) left its policy rate on hold at 16.00% as expected today and we think that inflation pressures will prevent it from cutting interest rates for most of this year. 16th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Czech Consumer Prices (Jan.) We’d expected a large fall in Czech inflation in January, but the collapse from 6.9% y/y in December to just 2.3% y/y shows that price pressures are dissipating even more quickly than we’d anticipated... 15th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Russia Consumer Prices (Jan.) The stabilisation in Russian inflation in January, at 7.4% y/y, should provide cover for the central bank to leave its policy rate unchanged at 16.00% at its meeting on Friday, rather than continue... 14th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Central & Eastern Europe GDP (Q4 2023) Q4 GDP figures out of Central and Eastern Europe showed that the region ended last year on a weak note, but the outlook for 2024 looks brighter. While soft external demand is likely to remain a drag... 14th February 2024 · 3 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Romania Interest Rate Announcement (Feb.) The National Bank of Romania (NBR) left its policy rate on hold at 7.00% again today and, while interest rate cuts are likely to start around mid-year, we think that monetary easing will be less... 13th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Czech Interest Rate Announcement (Feb.) The Czech National Bank accelerated the pace of its monetary easing cycle today with a 50bp interest rate cut, to 6.25%, and the post-meeting communications support our view that an even larger... 8th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Turkey Inflation Report Briefing (Feb.) The communications from new Turkish central bank governor Karahan at today’s Inflation Report briefing will have helped to reassure investors that the change at the helm of the central bank won’t lead... 8th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Russia GDP (2023) & Activity Data (Dec.) Russia’s economy expanded by 3.6% over 2023 as a whole, marking a sharp rebound from a contraction of just 1.2% in 2022 (revised from 2.1%). The activity data for December suggest that the economy... 7th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Poland Interest Rate Announcement (Feb.) The National Bank of Poland (NBP) left interest rates on hold again today, at 5.75%, and we think that an interest rate cut at the next meeting in March looks finely balanced. Our current assumption... 7th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Turkey Consumer Prices (Jan.) Headline inflation edged up slightly in Turkey to 64.9% y/y in January, and the m/m figure – a 6.7% increase on the back of a large minimum wage hike – looked even worse. The figures highlight the... 5th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Manufacturing PMIs (Jan.) The manufacturing PMIs out of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) for January remained soft and haven’t changed the broad picture that the region’s industrial sectors continue to struggle. Turkey’s PMI... 1st February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Poland Annual GDP (2023) The weaker-than-expected 0.2% expansion in Polish GDP over 2023 as a whole suggests that the economy struggled at the end of the year. We think this weakness will prove temporary and that activity... 31st January 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Hungary Interest Rate Announcement (Jan.) The Hungarian central bank’s communications following its meeting today confirm that the decision not to accelerate the pace of its easing cycle was due to the recent ratcheting up of tensions between... 30th January 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Economic Sentiment Indicators (Jan.) The European Commission's Economic Sentiment Indicators for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) were a mixed bag in January, but our regional measure rose for the fourth consecutive month and points to... 30th January 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Czech GDP (Q4) The meagre 0.2% q/q expansion in Czech GDP in Q4 confirms that the economy contracted over 2023 as a whole, and we think that this is likely to be followed by tepid growth this year. We maintain our... 30th January 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Turkey Interest Rate Announcement (Jan.) The 250bp interest rate hike from Turkey’s central bank (CBRT) today, to 45.00%, marks an end to its tightening cycle. Encouragingly, the communications were relatively hawkish and suggest that... 25th January 2024 · 2 mins read