Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Swedish election not a game-changer The latest opinion polls suggests that Sunday’s general election in Sweden will be a close call. But the outcome of the vote is unlikely to significantly alter the outlook for the economy or monetary... 7th September 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Weak activity data not a sign of things to come The latest official data on activity in the euro-zone have been fairly weak, but the timelier survey indicators paint a more positive picture. Meanwhile, Italian bond yields have fallen recently... 7th September 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Swiss franc strength unlikely to last The Swiss franc has strengthened against the euro this week, but we doubt that this will last. Meanwhile, we think that Sweden’s forthcoming general election is unlikely to have much of a... 31st August 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Strong growth, weak inflation Euro-zone data published this week showed a picture of fairly strong growth but continued subdued inflationary pressure. In the coming years, we expect GDP growth to slow, but underlying inflation to... 31st August 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly New franc forecasts, Swedish election heats up The upward pressure on the Swiss franc eased this week and our forecasts for monetary policy in Switzerland suggest that the currency will continue to depreciate against the euro over the next couple... 24th August 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly US tariffs, Greece and Italy all pose risks Greece’s exit from its bailout on Monday was widely hailed by European policymakers as a sign of success, but its problems are far from over. Meanwhile, comments from President Trump emphasised that... 24th August 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Contagion from Italy likely to remain limited The sell-off in Italian bonds continued this week, and although we think that Italian yields have further to rise, we suspect that contagion will remain limited. Meanwhile, data released this week for... 17th August 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Franc strength in focus, Norges Bank signals rate rise The further appreciation of the franc this week strengthens our view that the SNB will be very cautious about policy tightening, keeping rates on hold until 2020. Meanwhile, with inflationary... 17th August 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly SNB won’t welcome franc’s safe haven boost The renewed appreciation of the Swiss franc this week as investors sought out safe haven assets will not have been welcomed by the SNB. But the franc is still weaker than it has been over the past few... 10th August 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Worries over Turkey and Italy hit European markets While worries about the exposure of euro-zone lenders to Turkey weighed on the euro and European banking stocks on Friday, the economic spillovers to the region should be fairly modest. Meanwhile... 10th August 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly PMIs point to decent start to Q3 July’s PMIs for the Nordic and Swiss countries, which were published this week, suggest that these countries continued their strong performance at the start of Q3. Swiss inflation data released... 3rd August 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Further slowdown in Q2, but surveys bode well Disappointing euro-zone Q2 GDP data published this week have made our forecast of a 2.2% rise in GDP this year look optimistic. But July’s business surveys were more upbeat and suggest that a marked... 3rd August 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Temporary reprieve as EU-US trade tensions ease Given the openness of the Nordic & Swiss economies, their policymakers will have breathed a sigh of relief at the easing of trade tensions this week between the EU and the US. But should the current... 27th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly EU and US still a long way from a trade deal The easing of trade tensions between the US and EU this week reduces the risk that the US will soon increase tariffs on EU cars, but it still leaves us a long way from any action to reduce trade... 27th July 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Is franc strength still a worry? While Swiss politicians have long railed against the strength of the franc, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer appeared to throw in the towel this week. But we doubt that exporters, which fared very well in... 20th July 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Positive monthly data, Japan deal not a game-changer Recent euro-zone data releases have generally been encouraging, supporting our view that GDP growth picked up from 0.4% in Q1 to 0.5% in Q2. Meanwhile, the EU-Japan trade deal, signed this week, is... 20th July 2018 · 1 min read