Filtered by Topic: Monetary Policy Use setting Monetary Policy
The Bank of Thailand’s (BoT) decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.5% today despite the dire outlook for the economy suggests that further cuts to the policy rate are unlikely. Instead, the emphasis over the coming months is likely to be on what …
24th June 2020
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) sounded fairly balanced when it left policy settings unchanged today. But we still think the Bank will cut rates into negative territory next year. The Bank’s decision to keep rates on hold was correctly anticipated …
The generosity of CERB, signs the government will continue payments for as long as needed, and the fact that household savings have already risen sharply all suggest the initial stages of the rebound in consumer spending will be stronger than we thought. …
23rd June 2020
Hungary’s central bank (MNB) unexpectedly cut its base rate from 0.90% to 0.75% at today’s monetary policy meeting, and we now think another cut is likely in the second half of this year. With the economic recovery likely to fall short of the central …
The Fed’s balance sheet has started to shrink again, as the emergency liquidity measures deployed at the height of the crisis have started to wind down, the pace of Treasury purchases has slowed dramatically and the rollout of the new 13( 3 ) lending …
Consumer spending is bouncing back more strongly than we had anticipated. However, that partly reflects pent-up demand and the strong support from government initiatives. Employment income has slumped and we only expect spending to return to pre-virus …
22nd June 2020
Commercial banks left the Loan Prime Rate (LPR) on hold today. We may see a cut or two next quarter but most signs suggest that the bulk of monetary easing this cycle has already taken place. The one-year rate was unchanged at 3.85% (the Bloomberg …
Russia’s central bank (CBR) didn’t disappoint at today’s meeting, cutting the key policy rate by 100bp to a new post-Soviet low of 4.50%. With disinflationary forces proving stronger than expected and financial markets stabilising, the accompanying …
19th June 2020
Peru’s economy appears to be suffering one of the largest economic hits of any country from the coronavirus, which is likely to spur further policy easing. With short-term interest rates essentially at zero, further monetary loosening would initially …
18th June 2020
We think today’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision to keep rates on hold at +0.10% and increase Quantitative Easing (QE) by £100bn is unlikely to be the last act of policy loosening. And while we wouldn’t rule out the Bank of England cutting …
Data published today show huge demand for the ECB’s targeted lending to commercial banks. So far, these operations and government loan guarantees have been successful in raising bank lending to the private sector, and there is scope for the ECB to make …
Bank Indonesia (BI) cut interest rates today for the first time in three months, but the modest 25bp cut suggests that it remains worried about the outlook for the rupiah. Given the bleak growth outlook we expect further gradual easing over the coming …
This morning’s decisions by the SNB and the Norges Bank to leave interest rates on hold at -0.75% and zero respectively were never really in doubt. Both banks are set to leave policy unchanged throughout our forecast horizon and, in the case of the SNB, …
The statement from yesterday’s Brazilian central bank meeting poured cold water on expectations in the market that the Selic rate would be cut further from its current level of 2.25% to as low as 1.00-1.50%. It seems that policymakers will consider only …
The decision by Chile’s central bank to leave its policy interest rate unchanged at 0.50% was accompanied by a statement which appeared to unveil a QE programme. The finer details will be fleshed out in the coming days but, along with a recently announced …
17th June 2020
The Bank of Japan today expanded its lending facilities further. The total amount of support for corporate funding is now equivalent to nearly 20% of the debt of non-financial firms and we don’t expect any further increases over the coming months. As …
16th June 2020
Our Taylor Rules suggest that monetary easing cycles have further to run in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, and we have pencilled in additional interest rate cuts in all three countries. Moreover, monetary policy across the region is likely to be looser than …
11th June 2020
The Fed left its policy stance broadly unchanged at the conclusion of today’s FOMC meeting, but it did strengthen its forward guidance a little – by publishing interest rate projections that show nearly all officials believe the fed funds rate will still …
10th June 2020
The minutes of the Reserve Bank’s late May policy meeting – in which it trimmed both the repo and reverse repo rates – show that the MPC has become markedly more bearish on the outlook for economic growth amid the coronavirus containment hit. And with …
8th June 2020
The ECB’s decision to increase the size and duration of the PEPP should sustain the positive sentiment towards the euro-zone in the near term and reinforce the sense that, for now, European policymakers have got their act together. But more difficult …
4th June 2020
The Bank of Canada made no new policy announcements today and instead scaled back some of its liquidity operations. But with its focus now shifting to “supporting the resumption of growth”, we think new Governor Tiff Macklem will expand the Bank’s asset …
3rd June 2020
The ECB has been purchasing a disproportionate share of Italian government bonds, but they are less heavily skewed towards Italy than we had anticipated. This in turn means that there may be less risk of a renewed flare-up of tensions over the ECB’s asset …
2nd June 2020
A look at South Africa’s recent history would suggest that the monetary easing cycle has further to run. We now expect an additional 75bp of cuts in the coming months, taking the repo rate from the current 3.75% to 3.00% by year-end. This is more …
The RBA sounded cautiously optimistic when it left policy settings unchanged today, but we still think that it will expand government bond purchases soon. The RBA surprised no one by keeping both the target for the cash rate and the target for 3-year …
Bank lending to firms jumped again in April, suggesting that government loan guarantees and cheap ECB funding for banks are having the desired effects. But the central bank’s work is far from done. We expect it to announce a further increase in its …
29th May 2020
We think that today’s 100bp interest rate cut by the Nigerian central bank, to 12.50%, will be followed by further loosening as economic recovery proves weaker than the central bank expects. We have pencilled in an extra 50bp cut, most likely at the …
28th May 2020
The prospect of a joint European fiscal response has helped to ease upward pressure on the Swiss franc and means that there is light at the end of the tunnel for the SNB following its recent bout of FX interventions. While monetary policy will remain …
The Bank of Korea (BoK) cut its policy rate by 25bps to a new record low of 0.50% and gave some vague assurances that it would act to keep long term government bond yields down. With growth likely to disappoint and conventional policy reaching its limit, …
The RBI has further stepped up its response to the collapse in economic activity from the coronavirus and containment measures in another emergency announcement today. The central bank has also left the door open for further loosening and, with the …
22nd May 2020
This Update summarises the key announcements from the National People's Congress. For in depth analysis, see this Focus . We had anticipated that the National People’s Congress (NPC) would lay out plans for a further ramp up in policy support and it did …
The Bank of Japan launched a new lending facility today to support bank lending to small businesses and we suspect its measures will now be sufficient to secure the financing needs of firms throughout the coronavirus crisis. As widely anticipated, the …
South African policymakers continued to cut interest rates today, taking the repo rate down by 50bp to 3.75%, but the end of the easing cycle appears to be on the horizon. At this stage, we expect one more cut, of 25bp, to 3.50%. With the eventual …
21st May 2020
Turkey’s central bank stepped up its monetary support for the economy with a 50bp cut in interest rates today and recent announcements of financial support from Qatar and Japan probably tips the balance in favour of further easing at June’s meeting. A …
With policy rates close to the zero bound in Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, we think it is only a matter of time before central banks in these economies implement full-blown quantitative easing (QE) programmes. Malaysia may not be far behind either. But …
With the economy in a massive slump and prices falling sharply, today’s decision by the Bank of Thailand (BoT) to cut interest rates by a further 25bp to a new all-time low of 0.50% came as no surprise. With the policy rate now not much above zero, the …
20th May 2020
Commercial banks left the Loan Prime Rate (LPR) on hold today. But the dovish tone of the PBOC’s latest monetary policy report and growing pressure on the central bank to do more, including calls for QE, suggest that this is a pause in, rather than an end …
We think that Nigerian policymakers will have to allow the naira to weaken further in order to address mounting strains in the balance of payments. But hopes of a unified, flexible exchange rate regime will probably be dashed. Nigeria’s external position …
19th May 2020
Bank Indonesia’s (BI) decision to leave interest rates unchanged today at 4.5% is a big surprise given the slump in economic activity and the rebound in the rupiah. We think it will cut interest rates again soon. Having cut interest rates by 25bp in both …
In response to the rapidly worsening outlook for the economy, Pakistan’s central bank (SBP) today slashed its key policy rate by a further 100bp to 8.0%. With the economy in freefall and the authorities struggling to contain the spread of the virus, more …
15th May 2020
Canadian banks and households are in some respects better placed to deal with the side-effects of negative interest rates that their peers elsewhere have faced. But in contrast to the banking sectors of economies with negative rates, Canada’s is very …
The Central Bank of Egypt’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged today was not a major surprise given that efforts to prop up the pound have taken precedence over supporting the economy. If the IMF manages to persuade the central bank to loosen its …
14th May 2020
We think it is far more likely that the Bank of England will use further rounds of Quantitative Easing (QE) to boost demand rather than cut interest rates into negative territory as the market is suggesting. Over the past few days money markets in the UK …
The federal government’s spending measures are dwarfed by those in the US, and the Bank of Canada’s plans look underwhelming compared to those of the Federal Reserve. But the overall fiscal packages look similar once we incorporate likely provincial and …
13th May 2020
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) massively expanded its annual target for asset purchases at its meeting today and we still think the Bank will cut rates into negative territory before long. The Bank’s decision to keep rates on hold at 0.25% was …
Vietnam’s central bank (SBV) today cut its main policy rate by 50bp to 4.5%, and further rate cuts are likely given the poor economic outlook. Although life in the country appears to be slowly returning to normal after the lockdown came to an end late …
12th May 2020
The Fed has developed a habit of caving in the face of market pressure in recent years, but we still think the chances of it pushing the fed funds rate into negative territory are low. Fed officials have been united and consistent in arguing that the …
11th May 2020
The Czech central bank delivered a larger-than-expected interest rate cut at today’s MPC meeting but also disappointed those that had expected some unconventional measures to be announced to support the economy. Policymakers’ cautiousness and conservatism …
7th May 2020
This morning’s 25bp rate cut by the Norges Bank, to a fresh record low of zero, took the consensus by surprise, but was in line with our forecast. That said, the Bank gave a strong signal that it has now reached the end of string of rate cuts, and we now …
While the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) left its interest rate and quantitative easing (QE) policies unchanged this morning, it implied that an expansion of QE is imminent. This leaves our existing call that the MPC would expand QE by around £100bn at …
The Brazilian central bank’s 75bp cut in the Selic rate last night and the dovish tone of the accompanying statement has prompted us to pencil in a further 50bp of cuts (to 2.50%) in the coming months. Elsewhere, the Chilean central bank gave little away …
