Europe Economics Update Riksbank to follow ECB lead next week The Riksbank looks all but certain to follow the ECB’s example and raise its key policy rate by 25bp next week, to 4.0%. However, while that could mark the end of its tightening cycle, on balance we... 14th September 2023 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update A coin toss decision for the SNB On balance, we think the SNB will look through the recent low inflation and hike rates by 25bp one last time to 2.00%, given policymakers’ previous hawkish commentary. But with the economy stagnating... 14th September 2023 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Update End of ECB tightening cycle Today’s 25bp rate hike by the ECB probably brings its tightening cycle to an end. Given our view that underlying inflation will ease only gradually even though the euro-zone is heading for a recession... 14th September 2023 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update Falling inflation no guarantee of higher consumption We think that the positive impact of lower inflation on households’ real incomes in the coming quarters will be offset by weaker employment and nominal wage growth. As a result, we don’t think that... 7th September 2023 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update Spain and Italy hit harder by ECB rate hikes The higher share of floating rate mortgages in Italy and Spain means that household interest spending in both countries has risen much further than in Germany and France. Interest spending is also set... 6th September 2023 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update German fiscal policy to remain looser than pre-Covid The German government is unlikely to announce the kind of big stimulus package that some are calling for. However, fiscal policy will remain much more supportive than it was before the pandemic. 6th September 2023 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Repayment of €2.2trn TLTROs to have little impact The repayment of ECB TLTROs by banks has gone smoothly so far and we expect the rest of the TLTROs to be repaid by the end of 2024 without significantly affecting financial conditions or interest... 31st August 2023 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Money and credit data show effects of tighter policy The effects of tighter monetary policy are very clear in the latest money and credit data, reinforcing our view that the euro-zone economy will perform worse than most analysts expect in the coming... 29th August 2023 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update Denmark’s success complicates monetary policy Denmark’s economy has been among the fastest-growing since the pandemic and, although growth will slow in the coming months, we expect it to continue outperforming the euro-zone. Nonetheless, the DNB... 24th August 2023 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Rise in gas prices not yet a big inflation risk The increase in the spot and particularly futures prices of European natural gas in the past few weeks suggests that there is an upside risk to our forecast for euro-zone inflation next year. However... 23rd August 2023 · 2 mins read
Europe Economics Update Boost from tourism is large this year, but will decline While difficult to quantify, we estimate that the growth of tourism added around 0.3% to euro-zone GDP growth in the first half of 2023. However, we think growth will be much slower in the second half... 22nd August 2023 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Only one more Norges Bank hike to come Norges Bank is very close to the end of its tightening cycle. After today’s 25bp hike, taking the deposit rate to 4%, we expect one final 25bp increase in September. We have then pencilled in a faster... 17th August 2023 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone industry running out of steam The support to industrial production from the end of major supply chain disruption has run its course. And while the drop in gas prices over the past year could give a boost to some firms, output... 16th August 2023 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Will euro-zone core inflation follow the US down? Core inflation has been falling for around a year in the US and we suspect that it won’t be long before it starts falling in the euro-zone too. However, while core goods inflation in the euro-zone is... 14th August 2023 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Why has the EZ labour market remained so strong? We are unconvinced by Cristine Lagarde’s claim that the recent strength of employment in the euro-zone is due mainly to labour hoarding and shifts in the sectoral composition of employment. Instead... 10th August 2023 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Update Norges Bank to hike and signal one more increase We think Norges Bank will go through with its plan to raise its policy rate by 25bp next week, to 4.0%, and follow that up with a final hike in September to 4.25%. 10th August 2023 · 3 mins read