Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Egypt election and UAE swap line, OPEC+, Saudi labour Egypt’s upcoming election in December has led to policy paralysis, particularly around the exchange rate. The currency swap line opened with the UAE this week appears aimed at bolstering resources to... 5th October 2023 · 8 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Romania Interest Rate Announcement (Oct.) The National Bank of Romania (NBR) kept its main policy rate unchanged at 7.00% today, and we expect policy to remain on hold into next year. The NBR will be the last in Central and Eastern Europe to... 5th October 2023 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Poland Interest Rate Announcement (Oct.) The National Bank of Poland’s (NBP’s) decision to cut interest rates again today, from 6.00% to 5.75%, suggests that the doves are ruling the roost on the MPC, but we think that interest rates... 4th October 2023 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Focus Tectonic shifts in the Saudi labour market Saudi Arabia’s labour market has strengthened markedly in its post-pandemic recovery and the headline figures mask a dramatic shift in the size and composition of the labour force. In particular... 4th October 2023 · 13 mins read
Latin America Economics Focus Brazil: rate cuts won’t prevent a sharp slowdown Brazil’s monetary easing cycle will probably lead to higher spending in interest rate sensitive areas such as furniture and appliances, autos and construction materials. But that won’t be enough to... 3rd October 2023 · 14 mins read
Emerging Markets Economics Update Reducing dollar dependence won’t deter dollarisation Talk of “dollarisation” has recently re-emerged, despite broader moves in the EM world to challenge the hegemony of the US dollar. Indeed, the fact that Argentina is considering adopting the dollar... 3rd October 2023 · 5 mins read
Latin America Rapid Response Brazil Industrial Production (August 2023) The 0.4% m/m rise in Brazilian industrial production in August failed to fully offset the decline in July and suggests that the sector was as a drag on growth in Q3. Services sectors are faring better... 3rd October 2023 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Rapid Response PMIs (Sep. 23) The September release of PMIs for the Middle East and North Africa showed that activity in non-oil private sectors in the Gulf economies remained strong up at the end of Q3, and this is likely to... 3rd October 2023 · 3 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Turkey Consumer Prices (Sep.) The small (by Turkey’s recent standards) rise in inflation to 61.5% last month, from 58.9% in August, provides the first signs that the inflation spike is close to levelling off. But the central bank... 3rd October 2023 · 2 mins read
India Rapid Response Manufacturing PMI (Sep.) India’s manufacturing PMI moderated in September but remained high. However, there are reasons to think a further slight cooling in manufacturing activity lies in store over the coming months. 3rd October 2023 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi pre-budget statement maintains loose fiscal stance Saudi Arabia’s 2024 pre-Budget statement reaffirmed the government’s commitment to sustaining its loose fiscal stance, with the government now projecting budget deficits all the way out to 2026. That... 2nd October 2023 · 3 mins read
DM Valuations Monitor Global Markets Valuations Monitor (October 2023) The valuations of “risky” assets have only been undermined a little by the big rise in the yields of “safe” assets in recent months. We think that the valuations of risky assets may fall a bit more in... 2nd October 2023 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Manufacturing PMIs (Sep.) The manufacturing PMIs increased across most of Emerging Europe last month, but remained consistent with weak industrial activity in Poland and Czechia. In Russia, the further rise in the prices... 2nd October 2023 · 2 mins read
China Rapid Response PMIs (Sep.) The PMI surveys suggest another month of stable economic activity in September. A continued acceleration in construction activity appears to have offset a further softening in services activity... 2nd October 2023 · 4 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly SA avian flu, Mozambique LNG hopes, CE Spotlight South Africa is in the midst of a severe avian flu outbreak which, coming alongside the effects of loadshedding, has prompted fears of shortages and higher prices for eggs and chicken meat. But this... 29th September 2023 · 5 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Central bank meetings, Slovakia election, Q3 Outlook The Hungarian and Czech central banks maintained fairly hawkish communications at their meetings this week, but we still think that interest rates will fall sharply in both countries by mid-2024. That... 29th September 2023 · 9 mins read