Starts rebound, but headwinds remain Single-family starts edged higher in September to 963,000 annualised from 933,000 in August and building permits also rose to a 15-month high. However, we don’t think this means single-family construction activity has …
18th October 2023
The ongoing outflow of funds from the Fed’s reverse repo facility has completely offset the downward pressure on bank reserves from quantitative tightening (QT), suggesting that the Fed could continue to let its asset holdings run down for longer than …
India’s economy appears still to be holding up well in the second half of the year. And although inflation has dropped back sharply to within the RBI’s target range, the outlook is still clouded by uncertainties related to food prices. This is a key risk …
The weakness of GDP growth in the second and third quarters means that the Bank of Canada is likely to make a marked re-assessment of its output gap estimates in its October Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Some indicators suggest that output has already …
There is a growing body of evidence that suggests wage pressures are past their peak, but it’s not clear how quickly wage growth will slow. The gradual loosening in the labour market and the experience in the US suggests that UK wage growth may ease only …
Activity improves, but slow growth set to continue The batch of South African activity data for August was a mixed bag, but the overall picture is that the economy struggled for growth in Q3. And tight policy means that growth in 2024 will be modest too. …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Fall in inflation in September will not change ECB's tune The breakdown of euro-zone HICP inflation data for September, published today, reveals that there was a significant fall …
The surge in mortgage rates to a 23-year high has caused both buyers and sellers to withdraw from the market, and total home sales to drop to their lowest level since 2011. While we’ve revised down our near-term sales volumes forecasts, our view that the …
Inflation rise means SARB won’t cut rates until 2024 The larger-than-expected rise in South Africa’s headline inflation rate, to 5.4% y/y, in September supports our view that the Reserve Bank will only turn towards interest rate cuts from next year. The …
The failure of CPI inflation to fall in September from August’s rate of 6.7% will be a bit of a disappointment to most (consensus forecast 6.6%, CE forecast 6.8%). But at 6.7% it is still below the 6.9% rate the Bank of England projected back in August …
This page has been updated with additional analysis and charts since first publication . According to official GDP, growth more than doubled in q/q terms between Q2 and Q3, reaching a healthy 5.3% annualised rate. Our China Activity Proxy suggests that …
Economists from our ANZ and Markets teams held an online briefing following the release of Australian Q3 inflation data. During this discussion, Asia-Pacific head Marcel Thieliant, ANZ Economist Abhijit Surya and Senior Markets Economist Tom Mathews …
17th October 2023
We have recently published detailed analysis arguing that equilibrium interest rates in advanced economies are now higher than they were before the pandemic, and that they will continue to rise over the rest of this decade. (See here .) The key …
We think equilibrium real policy rates in advanced economies will continue to rise over the next decade or so. That has profound implications for government bond yields and risky asset valuations. Discussions of ‘higher for longer’ generally relate to the …
Switzerland’s government looks set to remain largely unchanged after the federal elections this Sunday, and we do not expect a significant change in economic policy. But voters’ grievances about the failure of Credit Suisse will keep the pressure on …
House prices heading lower again The renewed increases in mortgage rates and new listings mean we now expect house prices to fall by 5% over the next six months. The big risk, however, is that we are underestimating the degree to which forced sales are …
The full report is available to download from the button at the top right to Global Economics, Global Markets, Asset Allocation and The Long Run subscribers, as well as to CE Advance clients. If this is outside of your current subscription and you would …
Further evidence of economic strength in September The 0.3% m/m rise in industrial production in September is another sign that the real economy remains in solid shape. Production was hit by a slight 0.3% m/m drop-back in utilities output, but that was …
It has been almost a year since Egypt reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF, but progress on key policies that form part of the program has stalled. The pound has been a de-facto peg since January. And the Fund has delayed two tranches of …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Fall in inflation to keep Bank on the sidelines The larger-than-expected falls in headline and core inflation in September should be enough to finally persuade markets that there …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Consumption solid heading into Q4 The unexpectedly-strong 0.7% m/m rise in retail sales in September continues the theme of consumer resilience in the face of higher interest …
Argentines face the choice between a shock-therapy style approach to tackling the country’s economic issues or more of the same unorthodox policymaking when they head to the polls in Sunday’s presidential election. The latest polls suggest that, while …
What will a world of structurally higher interest rates look like? How will central bank behaviour change in the coming years? What will this mean for market returns? Our senior economist team hosted a special online briefing all about their new work …
Chapter 4: Financial market implications …
Chapter 3: Where will inflation (and nominal rates) settle? …
Chapter 2: How will the savings/investment balance affect r*? …
Chapter 1: Will stronger potential growth boost r*? …
Introduction and framework …
German economy still in the doldrums Although the headline ZEW survey for Germany rose in October it was still very weak, while the low reading for the current conditions index supports our view that the economy is in recession. The jump in the ZEW …
r* and the end of the ultra-low rates era: executive summary …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Wage growth passed its peak, but it will fall only gradually Cooling labour market conditions appeared to start feeding through into an easing in wage growth in August. That …
RBA will probably hike rates in November The minutes of the RBA’s October meeting support our view that the Bank will deliver a final 25bp rate hike at its November meeting. While the Bank decided to keep rates unchanged at that meeting, it kept …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. RBNZ to remain on hold as inflation continues to soften With price pressures on track to moderate further, we think that Reserve Bank of New Zealand won’t lift rates any higher. …
16th October 2023
Market jitters around the war between Hamas and Israel appear to have stabilised today. But given that the uncertainty on that front is unlikely to fade entirely any time soon, it is worth taking stock of the warning signs evident in commodity markets. …
The reported deal that is close to being reached to lift US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector in return for competitive elections would help to raise the country’s oil output from very depressed levels. But the sector requires enormous investment to …
The Bank of Canada’s quarterly surveys show that businesses’ inflation expectations continue to decline, albeit slowly, and point to a growing risk that the economy will fall into recession. Accordingly, we continue to doubt that the Bank will raise …
September saw sharp drawback in lending The jump in lending in August proved temporary as net lending to commercial property totalled just $13.5bn in September, below the average for 2023 thus far. This took total outstanding real estate debt to $5.5trn. …
Manufacturing losing momentum The surprise fall in manufacturing sales volumes in August reduces the chance of GDP rising by any more than the initial preliminary estimate of a 0.1% m/m gain, and means a second consecutive contraction is still on the …
All else equal, our view that the AI revolution will lead to faster productivity growth in the late-2020s and early 2030s implies that greenhouse gas emissions will be higher during this period than we previously expected. That said, the net impact of AI …
Saudi Arabia’s economy is in a recession and, with oil output cuts extended until the end of this year at least, GDP will contract further. We think that the economy will shrink by 1.3% this year which is towards the bottom of the consensus range and …
The exit poll from Poland’s parliamentary election on Sunday suggests that the incumbent PiS will fall short of forming a majority and that the pro-EU opposition will be able to form a coalition government. This would help to improve relations with the EU …
Perceptions matter at least as much as actual policies in determining fiscal stability. Accordingly, the surge in bond yields over the past month poses the greatest risk to those countries where the government’s commitment to fiscal rectitude over the …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication . Inflation accelerates once again, setting the stage for Central bank hikes Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose again to an almost-18 year high of 26.7% y/y in September, …
Global bond markets have clawed back some of the wrenching losses of recent weeks, but yields remain far above levels seen over much of the post-global financial crisis period. This shift upwards reflects a painful adjustment from the zero interest-rate …
The job-to-applicant ratio has usually signalled earlier than the Tankan that the labour market has taken a turn for the worse. But despite the recent fall in the number of jobs relative to applicants, we still think that the labour market will soon start …
There are growing indications that household finances are coming under pressure as mortgagors struggle with rising debt-servicing costs. Although households benefit from substantial liquidity buffers, we suspect they won’t be rushing to run those down to …
The surprise attack on Israel by Hamas last weekend upended a lot of geopolitical assumptions, but what will this mean for the economic and markets outlook? Liam Peach , a senior economist on our Macro team, and Chief Commodities Economist Caroline Bain …
13th October 2023
After another topsy-turvy week in financial markets, the dollar appears to be back on the front foot. In part, that probably reflects Thursday’s US CPI print, which came in a touch higher than expected. That led to a rebound in US Treasury yields, which …
Spanish inflation doubled from 1.6% in June to 3.2% in September and is likely to rise to over 4% by the end of the year. However, ECB policymakers won’t be too concerned as the increase is largely due to rising energy inflation while core inflation looks …
Ghana rate cuts more likely as inflation falls Annual inflation in Ghana eased again to 38.1% y/y over September which gives the central bank some leeway to consider cutting rates at its next meeting. The drop in inflation last month was down from 40.1% …
