Overview – A combination of falling inflation and looser monetary policy should help growth to accelerate across Sub-Saharan Africa from early next year. But tight fiscal policy will constrain the recovery and our growth forecasts sit below the consensus. …
25th September 2024
UK 2024 October Budget …
Last week I participated in a small roundtable with investors and economists. It was notable – if not entirely surprising – that the broad topics of conversation chimed with a lot of recent discussions I’ve been having with Capital Economics' clients: How …
Riksbank cuts policy rate and raises prospect of a 50bp cut this year The Riksbank’s decision to cut the policy rate by 25bp today to 3.25% was all but guaranteed, but the accompanying statement was surprisingly dovish and policymakers raised the prospect …
Overview – A tight labour market and elevated public demand will keep the RBA from loosening policy before early-2025. Moreover, we expect the forthcoming easing cycle to be short-lived by past standards. By contrast, the more pressing need to stem the …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Disinflation gathers pace The Reserve Bank of Australia will look past the sharp fall in headline inflation in August, given that the plunge was driven in large part government …
Overview – Prospects for supply continue to dominate the near-term outlook. This is particularly the case for energy markets, where a gradual unwinding of OPEC+’s voluntary production cuts and looming ramp-up in LNG exports from Qatar and the US are …
24th September 2024
Increased supply and weak demand are both contributing to the slowdown in house price growth. The recent sharp drop in mortgage rates should cause the market to retighten, but it will take time for that to show up in house prices, which work with a …
Cardoso’s surprise 50bp hike may not be the last The Central Bank of Nigeria surprised many by raising its policy rate by 50bp to 27.25%, at its meeting today, and Governor Cardoso’s hawkishness about the risks emanating from sticky inflation, energy …
House prices lose further momentum Another muted 0.2% rise in house prices in July adds to the sense that the housing market is cooling amid weak buyer demand and growing supply. As price growth continues to moderate quickly with no signs of a turnaround …
Easing cycle resumes ... for now The communications accompanying the decision by the Hungarian central bank (MNB) to resume its easing cycle today suggests that the central bank could pause interest rate cuts again very soon. We expect just one further …
Our China Activity Proxy suggests that growth slowed in August, with construction seeing the sharpest deceleration. Alongside today’s monetary easing, an uptick in fiscal spending will help keep the economy afloat over the rest of this year, but it won’t …
Policymakers in China announced major monetary and financial policy stimulus measures today, but we doubt these will be enough to drive a sustained rebound in China’s struggling stock market. China’s equity market jumped today on the announcement of a …
Fall in inflation paves the way for another rate cut The larger-than-expected fall in Mexican inflation in the first half of September, to 4.7% y/y, supports our view that Banxico will continue its easing cycle with another 25bp cut on Thursday. The …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication Germany back in recession The fall in the German Ifo in September adds to the evidence that the German economy is back in recession. With growth in the rest of the euro-zone also …
The RBA didn’t discuss a rate hike at today’s meeting for the first time since March but reiterated its pledge that it won’t cut interest rates “in the near-term”. While the risks are starting to tilt towards an earlier rate cut, we’re sticking to our …
The government tried to prevent the Bank of Japan from hiking interest rates in 2000 but that attempt was unsuccessful and the government has respected the Bank’s independence ever since. Renewed efforts to bring the BoJ to heel look unlikely now given …
RBA will only cut in first half of next year The RBA sounded marginally less hawkish today but we still expect the Bank to only lower interest rates in Q2 2025. As widely anticipated, the Bank kept its policy rate unchanged at 4.35%. The key elements of …
But still falls short of what’s needed In a departure from their previous approach of drip-feeding piecemeal support measures, China’s financial regulators have just announced a coordinated package of stimulus measures. This is a step in the right …
Overview – With inflation normalising due to improving supply, the Fed is in the fortuitous position of being able to lower interest rates even though economic growth remains solid and the unemployment rate is still relatively low. Despite the downshift …
23rd September 2024
Our economists think Mexico will be Latin America’s worst-performing economy in the coming years. Will its new president be able to change the narrative? The build-up to Claudia Sheinbaum’s 1 st October inauguration has been overshadowed by her …
We think government bond yields in the euro-zone will rebound a bit, particularly in those countries, like France, where public finances are concerning. The September PMIs released today for the euro-zone and its two largest economies painted a very bleak …
The latest flash PMIs suggest that GDP growth slowed in advanced economies at the end of Q3, particularly in the euro-zone. Meanwhile, weaker activity seems to be weighing on services price pressures, which should give central banks confidence to continue …
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 reform programme has resulted in major societal and cultural changes, but many of the economic reforms are currently not on track to hit their targets. That is not to say Vision 2030 should be dubbed a failure. But officials …
Overview – We are expecting another year of below-trend economic growth in 2025 across Asia, as subdued exports, worsening labour markets and tighter fiscal policy weigh on demand. Inflation is back to target nearly everywhere. With growth set to struggle …
Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 reform programme is passed its halfway point with clear evidence of major societal and cultural changes. But the authorities are currently on track to miss many of their economic targets, leaving the Kingdom’s long-term economic …
Flash PMI suggests continued rebound in activity The composite PMI remained at healthy level in September which suggests that the strong rebound in activity that started last quarter will continue across the second half of the year. Today’s flash estimate …
We held an online Drop-In session last week to discuss the likely pace and extent of interest rate cuts and their implications now that the US Fed has joined the party. (See a recording here .) This Update answers some of the questions that we received, …
The imminent closure of the UK’s last coal power plant is a further reminder that thermal coal’s days in Europe are numbered. In Asia, coal will remain a major source of power for many years to come but global demand will still slow as growth in India …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Growth slowing, not collapsing The fall in September’s composite flash PMI is probably not a sign that the economy is on the cusp of another downturn, but instead is further …
Growth softening The weaker-than-expected set of Polish activity data for August suggest that GDP growth softened over Q3. That said, we still maintain our forecast for relatively strong growth of 3.0% for this year as a whole, and this batch of data is …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Flash PMIs point to sharp slowdown The big decline in the euro-zone Composite PMI suggests that the economy is slowing sharply, that Germany is in recession and th at France’s …
After two disappointing years, recent data suggest Europe’s commercial real estate market is stabilising. But will recovery follow and how strong will it be? Join our 20-minute online session on Wednesday 25th September at 10:00 BST as we discuss the …
After the long-awaited start to the Federal Reserve’s easing cycle, Group Chief Economist Neil Shearing discusses next steps. He answers client questions about the risks of inflation bouncing back and explains why we expect rates to settle at levels much …
20th September 2024
The FOMC’s decision to kick off its easing cycle with a bang has boosted risk sentiment – with the S&P 500 surging to a new all-time high – and put the US dollar on the backfoot again. However, the US economy is still in solid shape and Chair Powell …
Milei’s ‘zero deficit’ budget The cornerstone of Argentine President Milei’s draft 2025 budget is a continuation of his ‘zero deficit’ policy, which implies a primary surplus of 1.3% of GDP in 2025 (versus 1.5% this year). But this looks optimistic, for a …
Offices are still in for a tough few years, with markets like San Francisco, LA and Seattle likely to come out of the downturn with values down 55% or more from their 2019 peaks. However, there are markets, predominantly in the South, where rising office …
SARB predicts higher growth and lower inflation The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) outlined a “goldilocks” scenario of stronger growth and lower inflation at its MPC meeting this week. The actual decision to cut the benchmark repo rate by 25bp, to …
Bank to step up the pace of easing The Summary of Deliberations from September’s policy meeting, published on Wednesday, revealed that the Bank of Canada is placing increasing emphasis on the downside risks to inflation and activity. Some on the Governing …
Fed opts for a 50 despite strong GDP growth Fed goes big The Fed’s decision to start its rate cutting cycle with a bang was not a big surprise after the seemingly coordinated media articles late last week warning that the 25bp vs 50bp debate was closer …
Stronger third quarter consumption The rebound in retail sales volumes in July will be welcome news to the Bank of Canada, which has been concerned about the downside risks to the economy. With the outlook for sales positive, there is a better chance …
The contrast between the Bank of England keeping interest rates on hold at 5.00% this week, along with the accompanying message that it will cut interest rates only gradually, and the US Fed kick-starting its easing cycle with a big 50 basis point (bps) …
After the Fed recently delivered its first rate cut, we look at previous US loosening cycles to analyse how emerging markets assets have performed. This time around we expect the US to skirt a recession, and our view is that most of the easing cycle is …
Note: We’ll be discussing key takeaways from our Europe Economic Outlook, including the scope of Germany’s downturn, in a Drop-In on Tuesday, 24th September . Register here for the 20-minute online briefing. The US Fed’s decision this week to cut interest …
The Fed’s decision to cut interest rates by 50 bp gave most commodity prices a boost this week. We suspect that lower interest rates won’t have a sizeable impact on US commodity demand this quarter and, next year, prices are more likely to be driven by …
Tailwind from Fed’s easing cycle will be small The US easing cycle that got underway with a 50bp cut this week will provide a boost to economic activity in Hong Kong, where a fixed exchange rate means interest rates track those in the US. We expect the …
Storm Boris floods Central Europe The flooding in Central Europe over the past week has been described as the worst in the region in the last two decades and our thoughts are with those affected. The most heavily impacted areas have been in Poland, …
