Europe Economics Weekly Gazprom turns the screws Gazprom’s announcement this week that it is reducing the supply of gas through Nord Stream 1 to only a fifth of its normal capacity has pushed European natural gas prices up once again and threatens... 29th July 2022 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Nordic footballing woes; Record loss for SNB The 4-nil semi-final defeat at the hands of England on Tuesday will do nothing to bolster consumer confidence in Sweden, which is sinking faster than the boats that Freya the walrus climbed onto this... 29th July 2022 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Limits to ECB’s “unlimited” tool will soon be tested The ECB new spread-fighting tool received this week a lukewarm welcome from investors, despite its potential for unlimited asset purchases. That reflects both the ambiguity surrounding the criteria... 22nd July 2022 · 9 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Denmark to seek wider rate differential with the ECB The strictures of Denmark’s exchange rate peg means that the Nationalbank will follow the ECB’s lead as it hike rates further over the coming months. But with the krone remaining towards the “strong”... 22nd July 2022 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Super-sized rate hikes rising up the policy menu The case for frontloading tightening cycles in Norway and Sweden is getting more and more compelling, not least because prolonging the inevitable would probably just raise the risk of harder landings... 15th July 2022 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Three key calls on the eurozone We published our latest European Economic Outlook this week, which sets out our view that the euro-zone is heading for recession and that core inflation will remain above 2% for several more years... 15th July 2022 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Soft period looms for Sweden after a strong Q2 The stronger-than-expected rise in Sweden’s GDP Indicator in May means that we will undoubtedly be revising our Q2 GDP forecast for the country higher when we publish updated forecasts in the coming... 8th July 2022 · 6 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Euro nears parity, energy effects erase German surplus The depreciation in the euro to its lowest level in almost two decades against the dollar this week in large part reflects investors’ view that the ECB will tighten less aggressively than the Fed. The... 8th July 2022 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Riksbank shifts up gears but rate “summit” is in sight While the Riksbank stepped up the pace of tightening this week, the fact that Swedish households are highly sensitive to rate hikes, and the likelihood that weakening activity will soon reduce the... 1st July 2022 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB heading for a hawkish 25bp hike Despite President Lagarde’s hawkish language at Sintra and inflation once again coming in higher than expected in June, we think the ECB will raise rates by “only” 25bp later this month. However, with... 1st July 2022 · 7 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly US recession fears won’t deter ECB Fears about a possible US recession have prompted investors to revise their ECB interest rate expectations down this week, but we have pushed ours up to show the deposit rate peaking at 2%. While next... 24th June 2022 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Don’t bet against a 50bp Norges Bank hike in August The Norges Bank intends to follow this week’s 50bp interest rate hike with a 25bp rate rise in August, but the combination of strong global inflation pressures, an incredibly tight labour market in... 24th June 2022 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly More on the SNB; Norges Bank to hike by 50bp Even after the strong gains in the franc against the euro and US dollar after yesterday’s SNB rate hike, the Swiss real effective exchange rate is still about 5% below its level in early 2020 when the... 17th June 2022 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB has done the easy bit, harder work is to come This week, the ECB arrested the sell-off in peripheral bond markets without announcing very much at all, but there’s only so long that markets will be soothed by encouraging words about a possible... 17th June 2022 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Farewell, Cecilia Skingsley; rate hikes & house prices We expect house prices to fall in Sweden and Norway this year as rising interest rates push up borrowing costs. But the peak-to-trough declines are likely to be smaller than those in Canada, Australia... 10th June 2022 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly High inflation will keep ECB hawks in charge this year Euro-zone inflation is likely to remain higher than the ECB expects over the rest of this year. That will keep the balance of opinion on the Bank’s Governing Council tilted firmly in favour of the... 10th June 2022 · 7 mins read
