Political chaos rattles Peru It’s been a tumultuous week in Peru that culminated in the ousting of left-wing President Pedro Castillo on Wednesday after he attempted to stage a “self-coup”. He was arrested on charges of rebellion and conspiracy (and …
9th December 2022
Sentiment remains at recessionary levels The small rebound in the University of Michigan index to 59.1 in December, from 56.8, indicates that the slump in gasoline prices and recovery in the stock market is supporting consumer sentiment. But the index …
Fiscal policy coming back to life Fiscal policy has not played much of a role supporting the economy this year. A large part of the blame lies in an inflexible budget process that makes it hard for the finance ministry to depart from limits set in …
Fed could be upstaged by CPI data The Fed is used to holding centre stage, but next Wednesday’s policy announcement could end up being overshadowed by the November CPI data, due for release on Tuesday. If we’re right and core prices increased by another …
Hungary’s fuel crisis reaches breaking point Hungary’s government was forced to abandon its cap on petrol and diesel prices earlier this week as fuel shortages intensified across the country. The cap had been introduced at the end of last year and has …
The Canadian dollar has underperformed most other currencies over recent weeks, and we expect it to depreciate further against the US dollar over the first half of next year. The loonie has been the worst performer among major currencies since the US CPI …
If you haven’t started your Christmas shopping, you may not be alone. Both the CBI Distributive Trades Survey and the CHAPS spending data point to a fall in retail sales volumes in November. The BRC/KPMG Retail Sales Monitor, which has a somewhat …
Wage growth peaking? Policymakers at the ECB will have taken some heart from the latest wage data published by Indeed. The data track pay offered in job adverts and they have shown a rapid acceleration over the past 18 months or so. But at least on …
The end of the cycle is nigh… Next Thursday will see the last scheduled meetings of the year for several European central banks. The ECB and BoE will grab most of the attention, but the SNB and Norges Bank will also be in action and we expect both to …
Inflation eases further, but Copom’s eyes are on fiscal risks The further fall in Brazilian inflation, to 5.9% y/y, last month will help to ease the squeeze on household incomes. But with the prices of many core goods and services still rising rapidly …
Inflation still rising in the Philippines The past week has brought mostly good news on the inflation front. Of the nine countries in the region to have reported November inflation figures, the y/y rate dropped or was stable in eight of them. (See Chart …
The rise in net lending to real estate over the past couple of months may reflect some investors looking to buy commercial property assets at discounted prices. But a repeat of the mid-2000s, when lending held up even as commercial values started to fall, …
BJP win in Gujarat could boost reform agenda The incumbent BJP, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, secured a massive victory in the state election in Gujarat. The results announced on Thursday showed that it increased its assembly …
Q3 private consumption revised down Q3 real GDP growth was revised up to a contraction of 0.2% q/q from a 0.3% fall in the second estimate released yesterday. However, private consumption was revised down from a 0.3% q/q rise to 0.1% q/q. Rather than …
Overview – The authorities are making policy changes to address two of the key drags on China’s economy, the zero-COVID policy and the property sector downturn. But it will be a while before these efforts bear fruit. And in the meantime, the economy will …
Consumer spending surpasses pre-virus levels The main driver behind the 0.6% q/q rise in Australia’s Q3 GDP was a 1.1% q/q increase in consumption, which lifted spending above its pre-virus trend for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The …
We expect the 10-year Treasury yield to decline only a little further as US inflation continues to ease. Treasury yields have fallen sharply in recent weeks, as investors have revised down their expectations for the path of the federal funds rate . The …
Fall in inflation won’t stop 25bp Norges Bank hike The declines in headline and core inflation in November won’t stop the Norges Bank from raising interest rates by 25bp next week. But they support our view that the tightening cycle is very nearly over. …
Inflation likely to remain subdued even amid reopening Consumer price inflation dropped to its lowest in eight months in November and producer price inflation stayed at a 23-month low. The shift away from zero-COVID could put some upward pressure on …
We think price pressures in China cooled further in November… (01.30 GMT) … while a decline in US PPI could foreshadow a similar drop in CPI next week (13.30 GMT) University of Michigan consumer confidence is probably still historically weak (15.00 GMT) …
8th December 2022
We expect the Norges Bank to raise its policy rate by 25bp next week, to 2.75%. Signs that the economy is weakening by more than expected might encourage policymakers to nudge down their interest rate forecast. But we still suspect that the policy rate …
Egypt getting its IMF deal, but Tunisia made to wait The IMF will formally sign off on its deal with Egypt next week, but Tunisia’s deal remains up in the air, increasing the threat of a messy sovereign default. As we highlighted when the staff-level …
We suspect that the S&P 500 will make a new cyclical low by the spring of 2023 as a shallow recession gets underway in the US, before rebounding to end next year higher than it is now. Our forecast is that there will be a mild economic downturn in the US …
The Bank is most likely to slow the pace of rate hikes to 50bp next week. But we forecast a further 100bp of hikes next year to a peak deposit rate of 3%. The key principles guiding QT will be that it is steady and slow. There is a case for the ECB to …
Shift down from 75bps hike in November to 50bps hike in December MPC starting to think more about the level of rates rather than the pace of rate hikes We think rates will rise to a peak of 4.50%, before being cut sharply in 2024 A shift from the 75 …
Overview – The economy is heading for a moderate recession, as higher interest rates weigh on domestic demand and exports contract amid the global downturn. Weaker demand, together with lower commodity prices and an easing of supply shortages, should …
Overview – The RBI has slowed the pace of rate hikes and is likely to call a halt to tightening in early 2023. As the economy weakens, rate cuts could come onto the agenda by late next year and materialise in early 2024, several months sooner than the …
The SNB is likely to look through the recent fall in inflation and hike rates by 50bp next Thursday, to 1.0%, in line with market expectations. We now think that this will be the end of the tightening cycle. Recall that the SNB raised its policy rate by …
Money growth has stagnated as the Fed’s monetary tightening ramps up, and, while bank loan growth remains robust, we expect it to fade in response to the lagged impact of higher rates and tighter credit conditions. (See Chart 1.) To the extent that …
The single-family rental market has been on a roll since the GFC and the pandemic provided a further boost. Nonetheless, while it may hold up slightly better than multifamily over the next year or so, affordability pressures mean that current rental …
Inflation drops back, but stronger core rate to prompt a bit more tightening Mexico’s headline inflation rate continued to drop back to 7.8% y/y in November but this was driven by weaker non-core inflation; core inflation actually strengthened further. We …
The impeachment of Peru’s controversial (former) left-wing President Pedro Castillo might bring short-term relief to investors, but it does not solve Peru’s governability issues. With policy paralysis here to stay, business confidence and investment are …
Survey shows prices and activity continuing to fall in November The RICS survey confirmed that there were widespread house price falls in November. Surveyors expect a further drop in prices and slowdown in transactions ahead, in line with our forecasts. …
Rather surprisingly, commodity imports generally ticked up in November, despite the wider deterioration in China’s trade position. However, we think this reflects undue optimism about an imminent pick-up in economic activity. Accordingly, we could see …
The statement accompanying the Brazilian central bank’s meeting yesterday, at which the Selic rate was left at 13.75%, made clear that policymakers are increasingly concerned about fiscal loosening when president-elect Lula takes power. This reinforces …
This page has been updated with additional analysis, chart, and table of key figures. Jump in inflation a sign of things to come; tightening still on the agenda Egypt’s CPI inflation rate jumped from 16.2% y/y in October to 18.7% y/y in November – its …
Net trade to boost GDP growth a bit in Q4 The October trade data point to a huge boost from net trade to Q4 GDP growth but we suspect that a further fall in exports will moderate that contribution. The decline in the trade surplus, from $12.4bn in …
Net trade should boost GDP growth in Q4 The October trade data point to a huge boost from net trade to Q4 GDP growth but we suspect that a further fall in exports will moderate that contribution. The decline in the trade surplus, from $12.4bn in September …
Slowing growth keeps the NBP on hold Poland’s central bank (NBP) stuck to its script today as it left interest rates on hold at 6.75% for the third consecutive meeting. With inflation nearing a peak and the economy slowing, we think the tightening cycle …
7th December 2022
Rising product stocks should eventually translate into lower crude demand Commercial crude stocks fell again, but there were some chunky builds in product stocks. Given the rise in stocks, product prices should fall further, which will eventually lead to …
The Bank of Canada delivered a somewhat dovish 50bp rate hike today, by softening its explicit forward guidance that interest rates will need to rise further. Our GDP and inflation forecasts suggest there is little need for the Bank to raise rates …
The end of the tightening cycle? The Bank of Canada delivered a somewhat dovish 50 bp policy rate hike today by softening its explicit forward guidance that interest rates will need to rise further. We would not rule out a final 25 bp interest rate hike …
We think the Bank of Canada will hike rates by 25bp later today… (15.00 GMT) …but central banks in Brazil and Poland will probably keep rates unchanged Catch-up here on yesterday’s Drop-In on inflation in the US and the Euro-zone Key Market Themes An …
Housing demand rises for first time since March A fall in mortgage rates from recent 20-year highs helped home purchase applications rise for the first time in eight months in November. However, while we expect mortgage rates to continue to trend lower …
Pace of tightening to slow with 50bp rate hike Powell to maintain hawkish line; projections may show higher peak in rates But further good news on inflation will prompt a rethink soon The Fed is set to slow the pace of tightening with a 50bp rate hike …
Overview – The recent resilience of economic activity in Latin America will not last and we think that growth will slow by more than most expect in 2023. Having been among the first to tighten monetary policy last year and with interest rates well above …
Overview – 2023 will be a tough year for the economy as the effects of the previous rises in inflation and previous hikes in interest rates (as well as a future rise from 3.00% now to a peak of 4.50% in early 2023) are felt. Our view that inflation and …
Data over the past month have brought the clearest signs yet that inflation is starting to ease. Our estimate of world CPI inflation fell for the first time in 15 months in October, from 7.9% to 7.7%. Of course, that is still a very high rate, but there …
Global risk appetite has improved in recent weeks, easing some of the strains in EMs. But economic and financial vulnerabilities in EMs are larger going into 2023 than they were at this point last year. More Frontier Markets are likely to join Sri Lanka …
