Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Taking stock of the policy responses so far Following the raft of policy measures by Nordic central banks this week, the focus next week will be on what the SNB has up its sleeve. We have pencilled in a cut in the policy rate, to -1.00%. Other... 13th March 2020 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Policymakers edging closer to a coronavirus response It’s a very close call, but we think that the Riksbank will cut the repo rate back to -0.25% at its next scheduled rate decision on 28th April, if not before. Meanwhile, the recent rise in the Swiss... 6th March 2020 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Positive surveys, but they are now old news While the improvements in the latest surveys from Sweden and Switzerland offer some encouragement that the two economies gathered a bit of momentum at the start of 2020, they are already old news... 28th February 2020 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Riksbank as divided as ever; Swiss industry in a rut While the Riksbank is keen to present a united front, the minutes from its February meeting, published this morning, show that the Executive Board is as divided as ever. Next week, Q4 GDP data from... 21st February 2020 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Riksbank still in love with zero While the Riksbank left policy unchanged this week, we suspect that weak GDP growth and inflation will prompt it to ease policy soon. Next week’s data are likely to show that inflation fell in Sweden... 14th February 2020 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Soft patch for Norwegian GDP set to be short lived Q4 GDP data from Norway confirmed that the mainland economy lost momentum late last year, but we think that it is only a matter of time before activity regains momentum. Next week, the Riksbank is all... 7th February 2020 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Swedish krona has further to fall The recent run of positive economic data from Sweden did not prevent the krona from having its worst week against the euro since August. We forecast the currency to fall further, and to underperform... 31st January 2020 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Norges Bank on hold; Franc rises to near 3-year high Political developments in Norway this past week are no game changer for the economic outlook; we suspect that monetary policy there will remain on hold for the foreseeable future. In contrast, we... 24th January 2020 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly SNB stuck between a rock and a hard place The re-inclusion of Switzerland on the US Treasury’s Monitoring List of potential currency manipulators this week was interpreted by investors as a shot across the bow of the SNB. However, we doubt... 17th January 2020 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Riksbank leaves door ajar for rate hike reversal Having resumed its interventions to weaken the Swiss franc after the recent flare-up in geopolitical tensions, we think that it will only be a matter of time before a rate cut comes back on the agenda... 10th January 2020 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Swiss economy sluggish, Sweden’s woes persist The latest surveys suggest that the Swiss economy is set to carry on growing at a fairly sluggish pace in the first half of this year, while Sweden’s manufacturing sector continues to struggle... 3rd January 2020 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Two Riksbank doves; E-krona edging closer to reality Confirmation this week that the new member of the Riksbank’s Executive Board, Anna Breman, is more a dove than a hawk lends support to our non-consensus forecast that the Bank will end up cutting the... 20th December 2019 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly NOK and SEK diverge; Riksbank to hike back to zero The weak Regional Network Survey triggered a sell-off in the Norwegian krone on Tuesday, but it has since made up all the ground that it lost, and more. We are comfortable with our forecast for it to... 13th December 2019 · 4 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Weak Swedish data; SNB to maintain the status quo The latest run of weak data from Sweden is unlikely to sway the Riksbank from hiking on the 19 th December, but only reaffirms our view that the Bank will have to loosen policy next year. We think... 6th December 2019 · 6 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Q3 GDP data are not a sign of things to come While Q3 GDP data from Switzerland and Sweden, released this week, were stronger than what we had pencilled in, they do not change our views on the outlooks for monetary policy in either case. We... 29th November 2019 · 5 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly ‘Booming’ Swiss IP; GDP data to show slower growth The 8% y/y increase in Swiss industrial production in Q3 masked a “two speed” sector, in which pharmaceutical production is trending up but German-facing firms are struggling. Meanwhile, after a... 22nd November 2019 · 7 mins read