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The Russian central bank (CBR) delivered a 150bp interest rate cut to 9.50% today as its focus continued to shift away from inflation risks towards supporting the economy. We think further reductions are likely to be more gradual, with rates ending this …
10th June 2022
Signs that inflation has already peaked The sharp fall in Russian inflation in May to 17.1% y/y suggests that inflation may have already peaked and price pressures are likely to ease further in the coming months. This will give the central bank room to …
8th June 2022
The Turkish lira has continued to slide and the current backdrop is eerily similar to that which preceded previous currency crises. Sharp and disorderly falls in the lira over the coming weeks are now a real risk. The lira slipped beyond 17/$ this morning …
Sanctions take their toll as activity falls sharply in April The April activity data for Russia released today show that the imposition of Western sanctions has caused a sharp fall in oil and gas production, a plunge in motor vehicles output and resulted …
1st June 2022
EU oil embargo not a disaster for Russia After weeks of intense negotiation, the EU eventually agreed to impose an embargo on seaborne imports of Russian crude and petroleum products that will likely result in a 90% fall in Russian oil exports to the EU …
Weak external demand and war in Ukraine take their toll Manufacturing PMIs for May showed that weaker external demand weighed on export orders in Emerging Europe, and that spillovers from the war in Ukraine hit output. There were some signs of improvement …
GDP across Central Europe expanded strongly in Q1 and the latest figures for March and April suggest that activity has remained resilient since the war in Ukraine started. Russia’s economy has not (yet) fallen off a cliff as had been expected. Industry in …
31st May 2022
Resilient Q1, but economy to struggle over rest of 2022 Turkey’s economy performed better than expected in Q1, with GDP rising by 1.2% q/q, as the boost to net trade from the lira’s collapse late last year more than offset the blow to household spending …
Sentiment a mixed bag in May The EC’s Economic Sentiment Indicators for Central and Eastern Europe were a mixed bag in May, but there were some encouraging signs that industrial sentiment has started to improve and that price pressures may be nearing a …
30th May 2022
Russia and default (yes, we’ve been here before!) A Russian sovereign default moved a step closer this week after the US government decided not to extend a waiver that allowed US investors to receive debt payments from Russia’s government. We looked at …
27th May 2022
Despite the backdrop of inflation at 70% and the lira falling by falling by 10% against the dollar this month, Turkey’s central bank left interest rates on hold at 14.00% today. So long as President Erdogan is in power, rate hikes will remain off the …
26th May 2022
Exports from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) face growing headwinds, and this feeds into our below consensus view on economic growth in the region. The larger economies in CEE such as Poland and Hungary are particularly exposed to slower growth in the …
25th May 2022
In this Update , we answer a number of key questions on Russia’s public finances, including the likelihood of a sovereign default, the impact of higher energy prices and the collapse of the economy on the budget position, and how the government would be …
23rd May 2022
The Bank of Israel (BOI) hiked its policy by a larger-than-expected 40bp today, to 0.75%, and the backdrop of a strong economy, tight labour market and mounting inflation pressures means that we think it will deliver further hikes at its upcoming …
Soft start to Q2 April’s activity data for Poland suggest that the economy lost some steam at the start of Q2 and the effects of the war in Ukraine will remain a key headwind over the coming months. That said, we think Poland will avoid a contraction and …
Hungary: policymakers seek to fight imbalances Officials in Hungary sought this week to reassure investors that they will tackle inflation and mounting macro imbalances. Tighter policy is needed, which underpins our below-consensus growth forecasts. In a …
20th May 2022
The war in Ukraine will exacerbate two key macro risks in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) this year: wage-price spirals (particularly in Poland) and widening current account deficits (particularly in Hungary and Romania). Monetary policy will do most of …
19th May 2022
The Turkish lira has come under renewed pressure in recent weeks but interest rate hikes to shore up the currency are off the cards. Instead, further sharp and disorderly falls would most likely be met by formal capital controls and more strident …
Q1 resilience to be followed by steep downturn in Q2 The 3.5% expansion in Russia’s GDP in Q1 is consistent with a small contraction in q/q terms, and this will almost certainly be followed by a steep fall in output in Q2 as the effects of Western …
18th May 2022
Overheating in Q1 Q1 GDP figures for Central and Eastern Europe smashed expectations in Poland, Romania and Hungary and suggest that their economies were running hot at the start of the year. The war in Ukraine will dampen activity in Q2, but demand is …
17th May 2022
Q1 contraction not a sign of weakness The 1.6% q/q annualised contraction in Q1 GDP in Israel was weaker than analysts expected, but it was more or less in line with our forecast and doesn’t change the bigger picture that Israel’s economy is operating in …
16th May 2022
Monthly price increases slow sharply as ruble appreciates Russian inflation came in broadly as expected in April, rising from 16.7% y/y to a two-decade high of 17.8% y/y and it looks like further increases in the coming months will be modest. This will …
13th May 2022
Gas supply concerns remain The threat of gas supplies from Russia being cut off continued to rise this week. First, Ukrainian pipeline operator GTSOU suspended the flow of gas through the Sokhranivka transit point, which could reduce gas supplies to …
Better-than-expected Q1, but economy faces strong headwinds Turkey’s activity data for March suggest that the economy held up better than expected in Q1 as a weak lira appears to have supported industry, while policies to preserve households’ purchasing …
News of force majeure on one of the pipelines in Ukraine bringing Russian natural gas to Europe just adds to our conviction that Europe is going to struggle to meet its gas needs over the next year. The heightened competition for gas imports suggests that …
11th May 2022
Russia has suspended the publication of monthly trade data, but figures from its trading partners show that import values plunged 45% m/m in March while exports rose slightly amid high commodity prices. This is likely to remain the case, pushing Russia’s …
Industrial production in Central Europe performed much better than expected in March given the sharp fall in German production. We still think industry will weaken in Q2 as supply chain disruptions bite, but we’re hopeful that the major economies in …
10th May 2022
Making sense of the Russian ruble’s rally While the Russian ruble has weakened against the dollar today, it has been on a remarkable rally in the past week or so – it is now at a two-year high of 66/$ and is twice as valuable against the dollar compared …
6th May 2022
Central banks in Czechia and Poland caught investors by surprise today as the Czech central bank (CNB) unexpectedly re-accelerated the pace of its tightening cycle with a 75bp hike while Poland’s central bank (NBP) slowed the pace of tightening with a …
5th May 2022
Poland’s government has shown no signs of meeting President Putin’s demand to get gas flows restored, but we think the economy is relatively well placed to deal with a loss of Russian supplies. As things stand, we do not expect any energy rationing and we …
We think that the surprising stability of the Turkish lira so far this year will not last much longer and we forecast it to weaken against the dollar over the coming months, from ~14.8/$ now to 18/$ by end-2022. This would be a fall of around 20% and, …
Inflation closes in on 2002 peak Turkey’s headline inflation rate recorded another sharp increase to 70.0% y/y in April and there’s a strong chance that it moves beyond its peak in the early 2000s in the coming months. Despite this inflation backdrop, a …
The EU proposal to end imports of Russian crude oil and petroleum products by the end of the year has long been in the works. If approved, we expect Russia’s oil exports to fall by around 20% this year, which in turn would keep oil prices over $100 per …
4th May 2022
Hungary’s imbalances in the spotlight Hungary’s central bank this week gave its most vocal assessment yet about the risks posed by growing macro imbalances. Policymakers now seem to be moving closer towards a joint tightening of monetary and fiscal policy …
29th April 2022
Russia’s central bank (CBR) cut its policy rate by another 300bp to 14.0% today and the communications suggest that the CBR is now more focused on boosting credit growth than it has been in the past. This shift in the CBR’s policy framework is likely to …
Slowdown in Q1, contraction likely in Q2 The 0.7% q/q expansion of Czech GDP in Q1 was slightly stronger than expected, although it still marked a slowdown in growth and, in particular, there were signs of weakness at the end of the quarter. We think that …
Surging commodity prices have pushed up inflation across the region and we expect inflation to hit fresh multi-year highs in the coming months. A loss of Russian gas supplies should not lead to rationing in Poland, but it will have a big impact in …
28th April 2022
Surprising resilience in March, but deeper downturn likely in Q2 The latest activity data for Russia beat expectations in March and suggest that the economy entered a softer downturn than had been expected. We have reservations about the accuracy of the …
27th April 2022
Russia’s decision to suspend gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria from today because of a payments dispute will only strengthen the EU’s resolve to end its dependency on Russian gas, keeping gas prices historically high for months to come. The move also …
Spillovers from the war in Ukraine are likely to cause Turkey’s current account deficit to widen to more than 4% of GDP this year. In the recent past, deficits of this scale have tended to precede sharp falls in Turkey’s currency. Turkey’s current account …
25th April 2022
Russia: crisis easing, but challenges await Comments from Elvira Nabiullina this week during her appearance in the State Duma to be reappointed as CBR governor for another five-year term underline the view that the most acute phase of Russia’s economic …
22nd April 2022
Solid expansion in Q1, but growth to soften this quarter Industrial production and retail sales figures in Poland remained incredibly strong in March and point to a solid expansion in Q1. A lot of this strength is unlikely to last as the effects of the …
Overview – The Russian economy will collapse this year and we expect spillovers from the war in Ukraine to cause a recession in many of the smaller countries in the region, particularly Bulgaria and the Baltic States. Loose fiscal policy and strong labour …
20th April 2022
Fiscal support may not prevent Q2 contraction Governments stepped up policy support this week to protect against the surging cost of living and, while the measures should help to shield households and firms from surging inflation, we don’t think they will …
14th April 2022
Industry and retail sales on diverging paths Turkey’s activity data for February point to a growing divergence between industry, which is being supported by a weak lira, and retail sales which continues to struggle in face of the surge in inflation. On …
12th April 2022
The Bank of Israel kick-started its tightening cycle today with a 25bp interest rate hike to 0.35% and we think it will deliver further hikes at its upcoming meetings, taking rates to around 2.00% in the first half of next year. This is currently more …
11th April 2022
Largest monthly increase since the late-1990s The 7.6% m/m rise in consumer prices in Russia in March was the highest monthly increase since the 1990s. It pushed the headline inflation rate up to 16.7% y/y and we think it will rise towards 23% y/y in the …
8th April 2022
Russia hit with new energy sanctions This week’s announcement that the EU will ban the import of Russian coal from mid-August will not have a major impact on Russian export revenues, but it marks a clear shift in the EU’s aim to target Russia’s energy …
Timely indicators suggest that Russian manufacturing contracted by around 20% y/y in March and that consumer spending fell by 10% y/y at the start of April. Russia’s economic downturn looks set to deepen in the coming months as the effects of sanctions, …
7th April 2022
The National Bank of Poland (NBP) unexpectedly delivered its largest interest rate hike in 22 years today (100bp, to 4.50%) to get on top of the deteriorating inflation outlook and we think there’s little argument against further hikes to come. We now …
6th April 2022
