This page has been updated to include additional analysis and charts. PMIs suggest economic downturn might have started in June The fall in manufacturing PMI readings in June’s flash estimates suggest the recession we’re expecting in the second half might …
23rd June 2023
This page has been updated to include additional analysis, charts and a table. Inflation should fall below 3% by year-end Nationwide inflation played out largely in line with the timelier Tokyo CPI data in May. Headline inflation fell largely due to a …
Inflation to dip below 3% by year-end Headline inflation fell nationwide largely in line with the timelier Tokyo CPI data, while once again, underlying inflation rose despite that. As falling import price inflation brings down inflation in consumer prices …
Banxico stands pat as inflation drifts lower The further falls in headline and core inflation in recent months prompted Mexico’s central bank to leave its policy rate on hold at 11.25% at today’s Board meeting, but we doubt that monetary loosening will be …
22nd June 2023
Sales remain weak As expected, existing home sales remained relatively unchanged in May, rising by +0.2% m/m to 4,300,000 annualised. Despite this marginal rise, a decline in mortgage applications for home purchase in May suggest we have further falls to …
This webpage has been updated with a table and chart of key data. Falling inflation to keep Banxico on hold later today The further decline in Mexico’s headline inflation to 5.2% y/y in the first half of June will comfort policymakers at Banxico and …
50bps and at least another 25bps hike to come The Bank of England’s decision to raise rates by 50bps, from 4.50% to a near 15-year high of 5.00%, is unlikely to be the last hike given the UK’s higher and longer lasting inflation problem. We think the …
CBRT underwhelms with rate hike, but communications provide room for hope The 650bp interest rate hike by Turkey’s central bank today (to 15.0%) will underwhelm investors that wanted a faster and more aggressive monetary tightening. But the communications …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication . Economy continues to struggle May’s industrial production and retail sales data out of Poland were weaker than expected and are consistent with our forecast that GDP growth …
Norges Bank steps up the pace of rate hikes, more to come Today’s 50bp rate hike by the Norges Bank, taking its policy rate to 3.75%, won’t be the end of its tightening cycle. We already expected the policy rate to hit 4%, above the consensus forecast, …
SNB hikes by 25bp and signals more to come The 25bp rate hike announced by the SNB this morning was in line with market expectations but less than the 50bp we had predicted. However, the accompanying statement and upward revision to inflation forecasts …
With inflation back to target, rate cuts likely to come soon Bank Indonesia’s (BI) decision to keep interest rates unchanged today at 5.75% came as no surprise and was correctly predicted by all 34 analysts polled by Reuters. With the economy struggling …
Philippines Monetary Policy Meeting (June) Tightening cycle at an end, rate cuts early next year The central bank in the Philippines today left interest rates unchanged (at 6.25%) for a second consecutive meeting. While it gave no clear guidance over its …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Broad-based resilience in spending The stronger-than-expected rise in retail sales in April suggests that household spending was resilient going into the second quarter. Both the …
21st June 2023
This page has been updated with additional analysis since the post-meeting statement and press conference. Hawkish CNB will turn dovish by year-end The Czech National Bank (CNB) left its main policy rate on hold again today, at 7.00%, and the hawkish …
This webpage has been updated with a table and chart of key data. Weaker inflation probably means tightening cycle is over The larger-than-expected decline in South Africa’s headline inflation rate, to 6.3% y/y, reinforces our view that the tightening …
Ugly inflation print tips balance to 50bp hike tomorrow In response to May’s inflation data , released earlier today, we now expect the MPC to raise interest rates by 50bps to 5.00% at tomorrow’s meeting. A lot of attention has focussed on the fact that …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Public finances limits the Chancellor’s room for manoeuvre Note: We’ll be discussing the UK’s economic, housing market and policy outlook in light of the BoE’s June rate decision …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Note: We’ll be discussing the UK’s economic, housing market and policy outlook in light of the BoE’s June rate decision in an online briefing on 22nd June at 10:00 EDT/15:00 BST. …
Strongest monthly rise in single-family starts for nearly three years Single-family starts saw the largest monthly increase in nearly three years in May, suggesting homebuilders have been responding to the recent rises in new home sales. We still expect a …
20th June 2023
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. MNB leading the EM cutting cycle Hungary’s central bank (MNB) announced a cut to its one-day quick deposit rate (the key policy rate at the moment) by 100bp, to 16.00%, today. We …
RBA will keep hiking to 4.85% The minutes of the RBA’s June meeting largely reaffirmed the Bank’s pivot to a more hawkish stance. To be sure, the Board did discuss the option of leaving rates unchanged, given the ongoing fall in households’ real …
Rebound in confidence likely to be short lived The end of the debt ceiling stand-off probably drove some of the rebound in the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index to 63.9 in early June, from 59.2. Despite that, confidence remains …
16th June 2023
More easing coming in Vietnam Vietnam’s central bank today announced a further 50bps cut to the refinancing rate (to 4.5%) as it aims to support the struggling economy. With inflation on the way down and growth set to remain weak, further cuts are likely …
More inaction to come As was widely expected, the Bank of Japan didn’t make any policy changes to either the short-term policy rate or Yield Curve Control (YCC) at Governor Ueda’s second meeting today. There was also no change to the Bank’s less upbeat …
Manufacturing stagnant, but better than the drop back we had expected The 0.2% m/m decline in industrial production in May was due to a 1.8% m/m drop in utilities output and a 0.4% decline in mining. Manufacturing output increased by 0.1% m/m, which …
15th June 2023
Sales soft, despite suspicious increase in vehicle sales The 0.3% m/m increase in retail sales included a 1.4% m/m gain in the value of motor vehicle sales, which is very hard to square with the 6.5% m/m decline in light vehicle unit sales already …
ECB hikes and signals more to come The ECB raised interest rates by 25bp today, as expected, and the press release implies that we can expect at least one further hike in July. We might get a bit more colour in the press conference, but whatever hints we …
Stage set for rate cuts later in the year Taiwan’s central bank (CBC) today kept its main policy rate unchanged (at 1.875%), but with the economy struggling and price pressures set to ease further, we expect the central bank to start cutting interest …
We will update the linked webpage with additional analysis during the next hour. Inflation edges up, but should resume slowdown over the rest of the year Saudi Arabia’s inflation rate rose a touch to 2.8% y/y in May, as an acceleration in non-food …
This page has been updated with additional analysis and charts since first publication. We discussed the state of China’s post-zero-COVID recovery, what we're expecting in response from policymakers, and the implications for markets, in an online briefing …
Tight labour market will prompt more monetary tightening With the labour market still firing on all cylinders, we’re happy with our forecast that the Reserve Bank of Australia will lift the cash rate all the way to 4.85% by September. The 75,900 rise in …
Struggling exports a prelude of downturn to come Export values inched up by just 0.6 y/y in May. That translated into a 3.1% m/m fall in seasonally adjusted terms. With export prices having risen by 2.0% m/m in May, volumes probably saw a sharp fall, …
Recession will drive RBNZ to cut rates by Q4 With New Zealand now in recession, we’re more confident that the RBNZ will start cutting rates by Q4 of this year itself. The -0.1% q/q contraction in production GDP was in line with what most, including …
Fed pauses as expected but, in hawkish move, eyes 50bp in additional rate hikes As expected, the Fed held its policy rate unchanged at between 5.00% and 5.25% today, but it made clear in the accompanying statement that pause was only to allow officials to …
14th June 2023
Policy shift continues, but reasons to remain cautious Reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria has devalued the naira would, if confirmed, represent another positive policy step by the new Tinubu administration. But we retain our reservations this is a …
Inflation coming down but Riksbank to hike by 25bp Headline inflation declined as expected in May but the underlying measure fell a bit less than anticipated and points to upside risks to our forecast that the Riksbank will raise interest rates just once …
Resurgence in activity unlikely to last The 0.2% m/m rise in real GDP in April will further raise hopes that the economy will escape a recession this year. But the rise in GDP is not as good as it seems. And with the full drag from high interest rates …
Core inflation remains uncomfortably high for the Fed Headline CPI inflation fell to a more than two-year low of 4.0% in May, thanks to favourable base effects and another sharp drop back in energy prices last month but, with core price inflation still as …
13th June 2023
This page has been updated with additional analysis and charts since first publication. A worrying deceleration Broad credit growth slowed sharply in May and has now reversed almost all its reopening recovery. This poses a downside risk to growth and …
Reacceleration in wage growth supports the case for further rate hikes The labour market became tighter in April and wage growth reaccelerated. That will only add to the heat already on the Bank of England to raise interest rates further at the policy …
This report was first published in response to the PBOC’s cut to its 7-day reverse repo rate. It has since been updated to reflect subsequent developments. 13th June: Additional analysis and charts added. 15th June: Coverage of MLF cut added. 20th June: …
Surprise increase in lending in May, but signs of distress growing While bank net lending to commercial real estate (CRE) turned positive again in May, growing signs of distress for existing loans point to further weakness ahead. (See Chart 1.) The …
12th June 2023
Labour market starting to loosen The increase in the unemployment rate to 5.2% in May will probably not prevent the Bank of Canada from raising interest rates again at its July meeting, as the weakness was partly a statistical effect related to reduced …
9th June 2023
Industry struggling to sustain momentum from early 2023 Mexico’s industrial sector expanded by 0.4% m/m in April but this only partially reversed a sharp decline in March and suggests that the economy is struggling to sustain its momentum at the start of …
CBR turns its hawkish rhetoric up a notch Russia’s central bank left rates on hold at 7.50% as expected today, but delivered an even more hawkish message as it said that pro-inflation risks have increased further and that it will consider the need to hike …
This page has been updated with additional analysis and charts since first publication. Inflation remains low as initial reopening effects begin to fade Producer price deflation deepened further last month to a 87-month low. Consumer price inflation …
Inflation drops, but rate cuts still some time away Headline inflation in Mexico dropped to a 21-month low of 5.8% y/y in May and will continue to decline over the coming months. That said, the strong labour market and rapid wage growth mean that …
8th June 2023
EZ already in recession, outlook still poor News that GDP contracted in Q1 after all means that the euro-zone has already fallen into a technical recession. We suspect that the economy will contract further over the rest of this year. Data released today …
RBI could be laying groundwork for cuts before long The RBI’s decision to keep the repo rate on hold (at 6.50%) today comes as no surprise given the recent sharp drop in inflation. The door remains ajar for further hikes but with headline inflation set to …
