Europe Economics Update Spanish inflation surge another headwind to recovery The jump in headline inflation in Spain in October was almost entirely down to the electricity component. We do not expect this bout of higher inflation to last, but in the meantime, consumers are... 12th November 2021 · 2 mins read
Europe Economics Update Effect of shortages on activity and inflation will persist There is growing evidence that global goods shortages are weighing on euro-zone activity. We expect this to contribute to a marked slowdown in growth in Q4, and the outlook for early 2022 is no better... 5th November 2021 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Spain’s recovery held back by tourism and consumers Spain is a long way behind its euro-zone neighbours in recovering from the pandemic. That is partly because its important tourism sector has been hamstrung by travel restrictions but it also reflects... 4th November 2021 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Norges Bank treads water before rate hike resumption Following yesterday’s taper announcement by the Fed, and ahead of the knife-edge decision by the Bank of England later today (we forecast a 15bp rate hike), this morning’s announcement from the Norges... 4th November 2021 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update Upward revision to our Germany inflation forecast The recent surge in energy prices and worsening supply chain disruption will keep Germany’s inflation rate higher next year than we had anticipated. However, we still think inflation will fall from a... 3rd November 2021 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Labour market slack to fall further, mitigating shortages Data published this week provide more evidence that the supply of labour has held up fairly well in the euro-zone and that those who have left the labour market have probably not done so permanently... 28th October 2021 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update ECB sticking to view that inflation is transient The ECB stuck to its script today, arguing that although the increase in inflation now underway will be larger and last longer than previously anticipated, it is still temporary. Meanwhile... 28th October 2021 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Sep.) Money growth has slowed this year and is likely to decline further next year. Meanwhile, although the pandemic has resulted in a huge increase in the money supply, we do not think this will cause... 27th October 2021 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Italy’s labour force likely to make full recovery Since the start of the pandemic, Italy has experienced a bigger drop in its workforce than other euro-zone countries. But that largely reflects temporary factors, which suggests that the labour force... 26th October 2021 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Are consumer spending habits returning to normal? We don’t have much timely official data on the detailed breakdown of consumption. But the available evidence shows a sharp (albeit uneven) increase in spending on services since the end of Q2. While... 22nd October 2021 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update “Underlying inflation” still weak Core inflation in the euro-zone rose to 1.9% in September, its highest level in nearly 13 years, but other measures of underlying inflation are much lower. This supports our view that when the... 12th October 2021 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update We think the Norwegian krone’s rally is nearing its end Although the krone has rallied this year on the back of high energy prices and the expectation of tighter monetary policy, we do not expect this to continue. We think slowing global growth and... 7th October 2021 · 2 mins read
Europe Economics Update ECB growing more uncertain about inflation outlook The account of September’s ECB meeting revealed many policymakers believed that inflation may stay higher for longer than the Bank’s projections show. Recent developments have added to the upside... 7th October 2021 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update Can Europe keep the lights on? The extraordinary rise in European gas prices in recent weeks has raised the possibility that, as a last resort, European governments may need to ration the supply of electricity to businesses or... 7th October 2021 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update What to make of Sweden’s August GDP shocker? The eye-watering decline in Swedish GDP in August suggests that supply shortages and weakening global growth will continue to take the shine off the impressive rebound in the Swedish economy in late... 6th October 2021 · 2 mins read
Europe Economics Update Changing HICP weights add to inflation uncertainty Changes to the weights applied to the goods and services in the inflation basket pushed inflation up in January, but since April the new weights have kept the headline rate lower than it would... 5th October 2021 · 3 mins read
