The widening in India’s current account deficit last year, to 2.4% of GDP, was not as significant as many had feared in the context of the surge in commodity prices. Looking ahead, we think the deficit will narrow over the coming quarters as domestic …
4th April 2023
Note: Join our 6th April online briefing all about the risks to EMs from banking turmoil. Register now . Pakistan’s central bank (SBP) today raised its policy rate by a further 100bps (to 21.0%), but the tone of the statement was less hawkish than after …
Rates on hold, policy to stay tight throughout 2023 Romania’s central bank (NBR) left its policy rate on hold as expected today, at 7.00%, and we think that it will only start to cut interest rates in early 2024, which is later than its regional peers. …
Narrow money growth has turned negative as savers have shifted out of bank deposits and into money market funds and bonds, which now offer significantly higher returns. (See Chart 1.) Bank loan growth remains robust but, with the tightening in credit …
Note: Join our 6 th April online briefing all about the risks to EMs from banking turmoil. Register now . Gulf non-oil sectors still leading the pack; Egypt price pressures starting to ease March’s batch of PMIs showed that activity in non-oil sectors …
Overview – Property values fell sharply in Scandinavia and Switzerland last year, but with valuations still stretched and financing set to remain challenging, we think yields will climb higher. And with economic activity weakening and supply increasing, …
Data suggest that Nigeria’s key oil sector perked up in early-2023, but this was more than offset by weakness in the non-oil economy on the back of bungled demonetisation efforts. And we expect activity to remain subdued over the coming quarters given the …
The Reserve Bank of Australia kept open the possibility of further tightening when it decided to leave its cash rate unchanged at 3.60% today. As such, we do still expect the RBA to deliver one final 25bp rate hike in May before bringing its tightening …
RBA will deliver one final rate hike in May The RBA’s decision to keep rates on hold does not signal an end to its tightening cycle. The RBA’s decision to pause was correctly predicted by 21 out of 37 analysts polled by Reuters, including ourselves. The …
Sign up to our Drop-In on our latest outlook for financial markets We expect policymakers to keep policy rates unchanged in Australia, at 3.6%… (04.30 BST) … as well as in Romania, at 7.0% (14.00 BST) Key Market Themes Although the decision by OPEC+ …
3rd April 2023
Manufacturing PMIs: weaker activity and inflation The latest manufacturing PMIs suggest that global industrial activity was broadly flat in Q1, and confirm that the post-COVID rebound in China was concentrated in the service sector. The upside is that …
Note: Join our 6 th April online briefing all about the risks to EMs from banking turmoil. Register now . The manufacturing PMIs for March made for pretty downbeat reading in most EMs and the outlook for the coming months remains lacklustre. One source of …
There was plenty to be encouraged by in the Bank of Canada’s business and consumer surveys, with firms’ sales expectations holding up even as labour and other capacity pressures eased considerably. Wage expectations remain elevated, but the easing of …
Domestic weakness offsetting China reopening boost The slump in the ISM manufacturing index to a new cyclical low of 46.3 in March, from 47.7, indicates that the post zero-Covid recovery in manufacturing activity in China has not benefited US producers …
Israel’s central bank (BoI) raised its policy rate by a smaller 25bp, to 4.50%, as expected today and its communications sounded slightly less hawkish than at its previous meeting. Inflation pressures are likely to remain strong this year, but the door …
Note: We’ll be discussing the OPEC+ decision and answering your questions in an online briefing at 10:00 EDT/15:00 BST today . Register here . The March PMIs released for China suggest that the reopening rebound is slowing. While there seems further …
Note: We’ll be discussing the OPEC+ decision and answering your questions in an online briefing at 10:00 EDT/15:00 BST today . Register here . The surprise announcement of a further 1.66mn bpd cut to oil output by OPEC+ will reduce GDP growth mechanically …
Yesterday, OPEC+ members announced voluntary cuts to production from May until the end of the year. In total, the cuts amount to 1.16m bpd or about 1.1% of global supply, with Saudi Arabia accounting for the lion’s share of 0.5m bpd. At the same time, …
Contraction in manufacturing production in Q1 on the cards The fall in South Africa’s manufacturing PMI last month paints a downbeat picture of a sector unable to escape from a severe energy crisis. The figures are consistent with manufacturing output …
Consumer spending jumped during the first two months of the year as virus disruptions faded. The March retail sales data won’t be published for another couple of weeks. But the data we have so far suggest that the consumer recovery remained uneven last …
In the wake of the surprise move by OPEC+ to cut oil production, we held a special online briefing about the decision’s economic and market implications – as well as what this signals about global politics. Economists from across our Macro and Commodities …
Overall picture remains downbeat, but some green shoots Manufacturing PMIs for March were weak in Czechia and Poland and suggest that industry remained in recessionary territory in Q1. But there were some bright spots, including the improvement in …
Note: Join our 6th April online briefing all about the risks to EMs from banking turmoil. Register now . Vietnam’s central bank lowered its benchmark refinancing rate by 50bp, on Friday evening, citing the need to support the economy. The rate cut was in …
March’s sharp fall in headline inflation in Switzerland will provide some relief for the SNB as the decrease was spread across a wide range of goods. However, underlying price pressures remain strong by Swiss standards and we expect the SNB to hike …
Note: Join our 6th April online briefing all about the risks to EMs from banking turmoil. Register now . Strength of manufacturing PMI supports rate hike this week India’s manufacturing PMI reading edged up in March and points to healthy growth in the …
Note: Join our 6th April online briefing all about the risks to EMs from banking turmoil. Register now . Production likely to remain weak ahead Manufacturing PMIs in Emerging Asia dropped back in March, driven by a fall in the new export orders and …
Note: Join our 6 th April online briefing all about the risks to EMs from banking turmoil. Register now . Reopening boost to industrial activity already waning The Caixin manufacturing index was more downbeat than its official counterpart, especially when …
Reopening boost to industrial activity already waning The Caixin manufacturing index was more downbeat than its official counterpart, especially when it came to export orders. Taken together, the surveys suggest that growth in factory activity dropped …
Housing downturn has further to run With housing affordability the most stretched it’s been since the global financial crisis, we don’t think the uptick in house prices in March will be sustained. We’re sticking to our forecast that house prices will fall …
Faltering business conditions, investment intentions point to recession Today’s Tankan survey suggests that while the services sector remains resilient, the outlook for the manufacturing sector has worsened materially. The Tankan’s headline index for …
Tankan points to sharp investment slowdown The Tankan’s headline index for large manufacturers fell for the fifth consecutive quarter from +7 to +1, broadly consistent with decline indicated by the monthly Reuters Tankan (Bloomberg consensus: +3, CE …
It may be too soon to say that the banking turmoil is definitively over, but it’s not too early to try to understand why events of the past few weeks are going to leave a painful legacy for the US economy. Chief US Economist Paul Ashworth talks to David …
1st April 2023
Overview – We expect most commodity prices to drift lower in the near term as advanced economies enter mild recessions and financial market risk aversion persists. A stronger US dollar will also weigh on prices. However, later in the year, prices should …
31st March 2023
Despite only being three months old, 2023 has already seen several macro narratives play out in markets. “Soft landing” optimism in January was followed by a “no landing” narrative in February which has given way to concerns about a banking crisis in …
Despite making up some ground today, the dollar seems set to end the week somewhat lower against nearly all major currencies. Banking turmoil in the US and elsewhere appears to be receding (for now), with the latest Fed data confirming emergency …
The strength of GDP growth at the start of the year reflected several temporary factors. The Bank of Canada’s latest quarterly surveys, released next week, will provide a better guide to how firms and consumers are coping with higher interest rates. GDP …
Overview – Homegrown problems in Sub-Saharan African economies exacerbated by external headwinds are likely to curtail growth this year. We think that regional GDP will expand by 2.3%, which is well below the consensus. Public debt problems will remain …
Overview – Emerging Europe has seen less steep falls in values than elsewhere so far, but will not be immune in 2023. Higher interest rates and economic weakness mean these markets will have a challenging year and recent financial disruption only …
Copom’s minutes will leave a sour taste for Lula The minutes from last week’s Copom meeting , released on Tuesday, will have dashed any hopes (not least in the government) that policymakers might turn to interest rate cuts any time soon. Three points …
We expect the RBA to pause its tightening cycle next week (Tue.) The National Bank of Poland will probably also keep rates on hold (Wed.) We think the US labour market cooled in March (Fri.) Key Market Themes Although a “narrowing” of the stock market …
With the latest shudders in financial markets seemingly contained, most commodity prices ground steadily upward over the week. Oil prices did receive a boost from supply disruptions in Iraqi Kurdistan but, on the whole, a greater appetite for risk drove …
Strong start to the year begins to flag After an unexpectedly strong start to the year in January, which was mostly maintained in February, the March data will tell us whether that early strength was a temporary weather-related spike or a genuine pick-up …
Israel’s legal reforms spark constitutional crisis Israel’s political crisis that flared up earlier this week has since calmed down after PM Netanyahu paused the government’s controversial judicial reforms. While tensions may flare up again and Israel’s …
While there are downside risks from hidden exposures or a sudden loss of confidence and deposits, our sense is that the banking issues won’t escalate significantly further, or spread to UK banks. (See here .) The broad message from this week’s …
The strength of GDP growth in January, and probably February too, suggests the Bank of Canada will use its April meeting to reiterate that, despite the recent banking turmoil, it is still prepared to raise interest rates again if needed. The 0.5% m/m rise …
Note: Join our 6 th April online briefing all about the risks to EMs from banking turmoil. Register now . Central banks re-upping the pace of tightening Central banks in South Africa, Kenya and Ghana all delivered more aggressive interest rate hikes this …
A strong start to the year GDP rose strongly in January and the preliminary estimate points to another healthy gain in February. That strength suggests the Bank of Canada will use its April meeting to reiterate that, despite the recent issues in the US …
This time last week the markets and financial media were worrying about the future of Deutsche Bank. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz publicly stated that the bank was “very profitable” and President Macron declared that the European banking sector as a …
