Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Swiss franc likely to remain broadly stable We had previously forecast the Swiss franc to rise against the euro in the first half of the year as we thought the ECB would raise interest rates a bit less than the market anticipated and that there... 20th January 2023 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Recession postponed or even cancelled We suspect that the resilience of the economy in late-2022 was due to the combination of lower energy prices, increased government support and easing supply problems in industry, while the drag from... 20th January 2023 · 8 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Economic outlook improving, but still poor The euro-zone economy held up better than we anticipated in Q4 and the outlook for the coming quarters has improved. But with high inflation set to continue to weigh on household incomes and the drag... 13th January 2023 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Norges Bank, Riksbank and ECB to converge on 3% With economic activity and inflation both ending last year a bit stronger than anticipated, central banks are on track to deliver more policy tightening in the coming weeks, beginning with a 25bp hike... 13th January 2023 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Contrasting outlooks for Swiss and Swedes The latest data underline Sweden is suffering both a sharper slowdown and higher inflation than Switzerland. Meanwhile, we expect to learn next week that underlying inflation remains uncomfortably... 6th January 2023 · 9 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Some (moderately) good news on inflation and activity Data released this week suggest that headline inflation in the euro-zone has passed its peak, but that core price pressures remain strong. Meanwhile, the latest activity indicators have been a bit... 6th January 2023 · 7 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Gas price ceiling, new year forecasts The ceiling on gas prices agreed in principle by the EU this week is unlikely to have any practical impact. The big picture is that gas prices look set to remain very high next year. The key release... 22nd December 2022 · 9 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Swiss money supply, Swedish surveys The recent jump in money growth in Switzerland doesn't change our view that the SNB will raise interest rates only once more, to a peak of 1.25%, which would be lower than is priced into markets... 22nd December 2022 · 8 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Central banks unfinished in their battle with inflation Rate hikes were announced by many central banks this week, including the SNB and Norges Bank which raised rates by 50bp and 25bp respectively. However, inflation forecasts issued by the central banks... 16th December 2022 · 5 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Hawkish ECB, survey rebound continues Thursday’s ECB meeting confirmed that the Bank is a long way away from pivoting to looser policy. And the strong inflation print in November and rebound in activity surveys in December are only likely... 16th December 2022 · 6 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Wage growth strong; recession underway Policymakers may have taken some heart from the latest data published by Indeed which suggests that wage growth has started to edge down. However, wage growth is still very strong and other measures... 9th December 2022 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly SNB and Norges Bank to hike on “Super Thursday” We expect the Norges Bank and Swiss National Bank to raise interest rates next Thursday, by 25bp and 50bp respectively, bringing an end to the tightening cycle for the SNB and getting close to the end... 9th December 2022 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Tweaking our forecast for Switzerland With recent data suggesting that the Swiss economy is holding up better than we had anticipated, we now think GDP will be unchanged in 2023 compared to this year. That would still imply a weaker... 2nd December 2022 · 6 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Tide turning or false dawn? The first fall in inflation for seventeen months suggests that the headline rate may now have peaked. However, this is far from certain, and in any case core inflation did not fall and is likely to... 2nd December 2022 · 8 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly 75bp hike still on the table, QT talk intensifying Comments by ECB officials suggest that a slowdown in the pace of tightening, from a 75bp to a 50bp hike, still looks likely in December. But it’s not yet a done deal, with some officials seemingly... 25th November 2022 · 9 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Riksbank risks; Norway’s labour market tight The Riksbank’s 75bp hike on Thursday, together with the increases to its interest rates forecasts, highlighted policymakers’ concerns about inflation. Meanwhile, data from Norway emphasized the... 25th November 2022 · 7 mins read