Filtered by Topic: Monetary Policy Use setting Monetary Policy
High household debt will magnify the impact of interest rate hikes on the housing market and we now expect prices across the eight capital cities to fall by 5% from H2 2023. The upshot is that the RBA is unlikely to hike rates as sharply as the financial …
24th November 2021
The Central Bank of Nigeria kept its benchmark rate on hold at 11.50% today, but the statement signalled that monetary policy normalisation is now on the horizon. While we don’t expect interest rates to be raised imminently, we have pencilled in 200bp of …
23rd November 2021
The Turkish lira has plunged this morning after President Erdogan signalled yesterday that policymakers have no appetite to respond to the currency’s recent falls by hiking interest rates. Further falls in the lira are likely to lie in store and we think …
The Bank of Israel (BoI) left its policy rate on hold at 0.10% as expected at its meeting today, confirmed that it will end its bond purchase programme next month and emphasised that it will continue to intervene in the FX market for as long as necessary. …
22nd November 2021
Media reports that suggest that the Bank of Japan is losing control of short-term interest rates due to its “Special Deposit Facility” encouraging banks to park reserves at the BoJ are wide of the mark. The scheme does not threaten the viability of the …
The Loan Prime Rate (LPR) remained unchanged for the 19th consecutive month today. But officials are already easing policy in other ways, such as by relaxing constraints on mortgage lending. The PBOC has also pushed down bank funding costs via recent …
Pakistan’s central bank (SBP) today raised interest rates by an aggressive 150bp and with inflation set to remain above target and the currency likely to come under further downward pressure, further hikes are likely over the coming months. While the …
19th November 2021
The fresh falls in the Turkish lira following the CBRT’s interest rate cut today have left Turkey firmly in crisis territory and echoes of previous “sudden stops” during major EM currency crises in the past are growing louder. Without an aggressive policy …
18th November 2021
The South African Reserve Bank fired the starting gun on monetary policy normalisation with a 25bp hike in the repo rate, to 3.75%, today amidst growing concerns about inflation risks. But the statement lends support to our view that interest rates will …
The sharp falls in the lira over the past few days clearly weren’t enough for Turkey’s central bank to stand up to President Erdogan as it pushed ahead with a 100bp cut (to 15.00%) to its one-week repo rate. While the CBRT did signal that the easing cycle …
Bank Indonesia (BI) left interest rates unchanged at 3.5% today and appeared to signal that policy rates would remain unchanged for some time yet. A large output gap and weak inflation mean the central bank is in no hurry to follow other EM central banks …
The central bank in the Philippines (BSP) left its main policy rate on hold at 2.00% today to support the economic recovery, and with GDP still well below its pre-pandemic level, rates are set to remain low for a long time to come. The decision came as no …
There has been no let up for the Turkish lira today and all eyes are turning to the central bank’s interest rate decision tomorrow. Policymakers’ increased tolerance to falls in the lira as well as pressure from President Erdogan mean that an interest …
17th November 2021
Investors were initially disappointed following the decision by Hungary’s central bank (MNB) to raise its base rate by only 30bp (to 2.10%) today, but the hawkish post-meeting communications and a pledge to step up the pace of tightening by using other …
16th November 2021
The Turkish lira has remained under significant pressure at the start of this week and there is a growing risk that the central bank’s continued obedience to pressure from President Erdogan for interest rate cuts results in sharp and disorderly falls in …
By next year, Brazil’s public sector interest payments could be almost twice as large (at ~8% of GDP) as they were in 2020, making the challenge of stabilising the public debt-to-GDP ratio all the more difficult. A lot of the focus of the implications of …
15th November 2021
The Mexican central bank’s 25bp rate hike, to 5.00%, and the accompanying statement showed little sign that policymakers are likely to follow their peers in Latin America by upping the pace of tightening in response to strong inflation pressures. The …
12th November 2021
The Bank of Thailand (BoT) left interest rates on hold today at 0.5%, and the poor outlook for the economy means rates are likely to remain low for some considerable time. Today’s decision was unanimous, and the outcome was correctly predicted by all 21 …
10th November 2021
The sharp tightening of monetary policy in the region will strengthen the preference for savings, dampen lending growth and raise debt servicing costs next year. It is plausible to think that higher interest rates could trim 0.5-0.8%-pts off GDP growth …
9th November 2021
Rising interest rates will result in the RBA making further losses in the years ahead. The Bank’s existing reserves should be enough to absorb those losses in a benign scenario, but the Bank will stop paying a dividend. And in a worst-case scenario, the …
The Czech National Bank (CNB) shocked everyone with a 125bp interest rate hike at today’s meeting and while this was clearly intended to front-load tightening, the hawkish communications suggest that the tightening cycle still has some way to go. We …
4th November 2021
By leaving interest rates at 0.10% and continuing its QE asset purchases, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) didn’t set off any early fireworks today. But it did throw on the bonfire the markets’ expectations that interest rates will rise to 1.0% by the …
Following yesterday’s taper announcement by the Fed, and ahead of the knife-edge decision by the Bank of England later today (we forecast a 15bp rate hike), this morning’s announcement from the Norges Bank was less eventful. Norwegian policymakers …
The Fed unveiled its QE taper today, as widely expected, but is still insisting that the surge in inflation is "largely" transitory, which suggests the doves have the upper hand. The Fed announced that it will reduce the pace of its asset purchases …
3rd November 2021
The National Bank of Poland’s (NBP) decision to raise its policy rate by a larger-than-expected 75bp to 1.25% alongside the upwards revision to its inflation forecast suggests to us that the NBP is taking the fight against inflation much more seriously …
While the recent rise in the yields of short-dated developed market (DM) government bonds looks overdone to us, we still think that the yields of long-dated bonds will resume their rise . Charts 1 and 2 show that DM yield curves have flattened …
The economic and political backdrop in Turkey is eerily similar to that which preceded the currency crisis in 2018, although one key difference now is that the lira doesn’t appear to be fundamentally misaligned. The upshot is that, even if the lira were …
Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) left its main policy rate unchanged at 1.75% today, and with inflation set to remain subdued, rates are likely to stay on hold at their current all-time low throughout next year. We think financial markets are getting well …
If the RBA hiked rates by nearly 200bp as the financial markets were anticipating until recently, households’ debt servicing burden would hit an all-time high and housing would become the least affordable since the global financial crisis. That would slow …
The RBA abandoned its yield target and its pledge that rates will remain low until 2024 today, but still sounded dovish. While the financial markets expect the first rate hike in May next year, we expect the Bank to wait until early-2023. The Bank pinned …
2nd November 2021
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) kept interest rates unchanged at Thursday’s MPC meeting amid rising price pressures. Against this backdrop, we think that the central bank is likely to delay the resumption of its easing cycle until the middle of next year. …
29th October 2021
The ECB stuck to its script today, arguing that although the increase in inflation now underway will be larger and last longer than previously anticipated, it is still temporary. Meanwhile, confirmation that the PEPP will end in March tells us nothing …
28th October 2021
The Bank of Japan shocked no one in keeping its interest rate targets unchanged today, a status quo we think will last for years. The Bank also revised down its growth forecasts for the current fiscal year and signalled that policy will have to remain …
The Brazilian central bank’s decision to up the pace of tightening to a 150bp rate hike (which took the Selic rate to 7.75%) was a clear response to concerns about a looser fiscal stance. With fiscal risks likely to persist, we now expect a 150bp hike in …
The Bank of Canada called time on its QE program today and indicated that it could raise interest rates as soon as the second quarter of next year. The Bank’s GDP forecasts still look too upbeat to us, however, so we expect it will wait until the third …
27th October 2021
Money growth has slowed this year and is likely to decline further next year. Meanwhile, although the pandemic has resulted in a huge increase in the money supply, we do not think this will cause inflation to rise because the relationship between the …
The minutes of the Reserve Bank’s October policy meeting suggest greater divergence of opinion within the MPC, with two members calling for more definitive steps towards policy normalisation. But most members – including Governor Shaktikanta Das – are …
25th October 2021
Russia’s central bank (CBR) stepped up the pace of its tightening cycle again at today’s meeting with a larger-than-expected 75bp interest rate hike, to 7.50%, and the hawkish tone of the accompanying communications suggest that further tightening will be …
22nd October 2021
Any remaining confidence in the credibility of Turkey’s central bank (CBRT) was shattered after today’s larger-than-expected 200bp interest rate cut, to 16.00%. The lira hit a fresh record low against the dollar and we think that it will continue to …
21st October 2021
The Loan Prime Rate (LPR) remained on hold for the 18th straight month today. And investors have recently pared back their expectations for monetary easing. But given growing economic strains, especially in the property sector, we still think the PBOC …
20th October 2021
Bank Indonesia today left its policy rate unchanged at 3.5% and signalled that it is likely to leave rates on hold for a prolonged period of time. With the economy rebounding but inflation set to stay low, we think interest rates will be left on hold …
19th October 2021
The surprisingly large 125bp rate hike delivered by Chile’s central bank yesterday, to 2.75%, suggests that it will continue to front-load its tightening cycle to clamp down on high inflation. We now expect a further 225bp of hikes in this cycle, to …
14th October 2021
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) tightened policy today, as it looked past the lacklustre rebound in GDP last quarter and looked to curb further rises in inflation. Core inflation is unlikely to rise substantially next year, even as the recovery …
After leaving rates on hold today, the Bank of Korea gave strong signals of its intent to hike again in November. And given the Bank’s hawkish comments, we are adding another rate hike into our forecast for next year, bringing the total to a further 75bps …
12th October 2021
The Reserve Bank kept the repo rate on hold at a record low today and stressed that its latest liquidity-withdrawal measures do not constitute policy tightening. Given our view that the recovery will only be back on more solid footing next year, we …
8th October 2021
The Bank of Israel revised up its forecast for GDP growth at today’s meeting and struck a more hawkish tone on inflation as it announced that it will end its asset purchase programme later this year. This was in line with expectations, but Governor Yaron …
7th October 2021
The National Bank of Poland (NBP) unexpectedly hiked its policy rate by 40bp to 0.50% at today’s MPC meeting, but the accompanying communications were underwhelming and suggest that the rate hike was not as hawkish a move as might have been first …
6th October 2021
The sharp slowdown in economic growth in the past couple of quarters suggests that the probability of the Bank of Canada following other central banks in becoming more hawkish is low. The risk will rise, however, if the September Labour Force Survey shows …
The RBNZ’s decision to begin its hiking cycle while Auckland is still in lockdown highlights that the New Zealand economy is on the brink of overheating. And as restrictions ease, we think the Bank will continue hiking rates in the months ahead. Today’s …
Korean consumer prices saw another strong m/m rise last month, and while we don’t think this is a major cause for concern it still adds weight to our view that the central bank will hike rates again later this year. Data released today show that while the …
