The rental growth premium enjoyed by Central London shops has disappeared in the pandemic. And we don’t expect it to reopen, as lower footfall in the capital, the slow recovery in tourist arrivals and higher vacancy rates weigh on rental growth. All …
1st April 2022
The war in Ukraine and high energy prices will keep industrial metal prices elevated for now. But once supply fears ease, the weakness in China’s demand will be exposed and will weigh on prices . Admittedly, all the current focus is on metals supply, but …
The Czech National Bank (CNB) slowed the pace of its tightening cycle for the third consecutive month today with a 50bp rate hike to 5.00%, but hawkish communications after the meeting suggest that the CNB is not finished yet. We now expect a 50bp hike at …
31st March 2022
Fidesz is looking the most likely to retain power in Hungary’s election this weekend, which will pave the way for four more years of tensions with the EU over the rule of law and raise the likelihood that EU fund inflows are withheld. From a macro …
Weakening GDP growth in the euro-zone’s trading partners – and a slump in Russia’s economy – mean that the currency union’s exports look set to grow very slowly this year. The early evidence shows that the war in Ukraine has led to a drop in export …
The strength of Prague industrial performance last year exceeded expectations but also left valuations looking highly stretched. While there are risks stemming from trade links with Russia, we think the expectation of solid rental growth will continue to …
Commodity prices are as volatile as they’ve ever been. We don’t think volatility will ease until the war in Ukraine ends, because only then will we know the true extent of the Russia-related supply shock . Commodity prices are naturally volatile for many …
One issue the IMF seems to be glossing over in its latest deal with Argentina (the 22 nd in the country’s history) is that the currency looks overvalued. But the adjustment needed to improve the external position and foster stronger growth will aggravate …
30th March 2022
The Monetary Policy Report released by Chile’s central bank today, following on from its 150bp rate increase to 7.00%, suggests that its tightening cycle is winding down to a close. However, we think that high inflation alongside Chile’s growing external …
With the Ukraine war and pandemic-related prices pressures still much stronger than anticipated, we think the ECB will not want to wait much longer before beginning to raise interest rates. Our new forecast is for three 25bp rate hikes this year and five …
While buying a home is likely to remain a better option than renting, despite rising mortgage rates, the decision will become more finely balanced. That will mean some prospective first-time buyers rent for a bit longer, helping to cool house price growth …
The tightening of global financial conditions since the onset of the Fed’s hiking cycle and the war in Ukraine has caused sovereign dollar bond spreads to widen significantly in several frontier markets, with default risks in Sri Lanka and Tunisia …
The Bank of Thailand (BoT) left interest rates unchanged at its meeting today and suggested that it would continue to look through a temporary rise in inflation to support the economic recovery. We are sticking with our view that the central bank will …
The latest data from Nigeria suggest that the economy strengthened at the start of this year. But there are growing signs that the central bank’s draconian foreign exchange policies are leading to shortages of goods that are fuelling inflation and likely …
The government looks set to use its 2022 budget next week to outline a further increase in spending. While this will be modest in the context of the stimulus provided during the pandemic, it comes at a time when the economy is already operating at …
29th March 2022
The main long-run economic impact of the Ukrainian refugee crisis will be to boost the workforce of countries where the migrants settle, partially offsetting the unfavourable demographics that many of these areas face. According to the UN, some 10m …
There are already clear signs of spillovers in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) from the war in Ukraine and we think that the overall hit to GDP growth in the region this year will amount to 1.0-1.5%-pts. Our forecasts for growth are generally below those …
With the government facing defeat in May’s election, today’s Budget continued the course of loose fiscal policy that began at the start of the pandemic. As the unemployment rate is set to fall to a 50-year low, this only adds to the pressure on the RBA to …
The experience of the 1970s suggests that the ongoing war in Ukraine and its effects on commodity prices will reshape commodity markets for years to come. Most immediately, elevated prices are likely to lead to some degree of demand destruction. And …
It hasn’t failed yet but the Bank of Japan’s need to return repeatedly this week to defend the ceiling of its yield target suggests that cracks are appearing in the structure of Yield Curve Control. If maintaining it requires large-scale purchases, the …
While we think that the war in Ukraine and Fed tightening will weigh on US corporate earnings, we still expect those earnings to grow in the next two years or so. This underpins our view that US equities will make some further small gains over that time . …
28th March 2022
We expect European steel prices to remain elevated this year given sharply higher production costs and disruption caused by lower imports from Russia and Ukraine. That said, prices should ease back from current highs on the back of subdued demand and some …
With euro-zone inflation set to average around 6% this year, we expect aggregate real household incomes to fall by about 1.5%. The impact on consumption will be cushioned to some extent by fiscal support and, to a greater extent, by a decline in the …
We think that the poor performance of US REITs in 2022 so far – despite rising concerns about inflation – adds to the evidence that REITs are not necessarily a better inflation hedge than ordinary equities. Reflecting a post-lockdown boom in underlying …
25th March 2022
The latest data from the industrial sector were predictably upbeat with strong take-up and dwindling supply driving rapid rental growth. There were also signs of important shifts across UK markets that we think may be significant enough to re-cast our …
Yesterday’s unanimous vote by Mexico’s central bank to raise the policy rate by 50bp, to 6.50%, came as no surprise since it had already been revealed by President López Obrador (Amlo) earlier in the day. While we wouldn’t go as far as to say the central …
We doubt Treasuries would underperform US equities as emphatically as they have in recent weeks if oil prices and inflation surged a lot more. Indeed, they could conceivably outperform – as they did at times in the 1970s – if that fostered expectations of …
Yesterday’s easing of virus restrictions in Singapore exceeded what we had expected, and now means the risks to our above-consensus growth forecast of 4.0% this year are to the upside. The measures are also likely to add to inflationary pressures, further …
The Flash PMIs for March suggest that there has been little impact on growth in advanced economies from the war in Ukraine so far, but there are some warning signs for the future. Supply shortages are building again in Europe, price pressures have …
24th March 2022
The upside inflation risks created by the war in Ukraine and the solid performance of South Africa’s economy prompted the Reserve Bank to push ahead with its tightening cycle today, raising the repo rate by 25bp to 4.25%. We maintain our view that rates …
The reinvestment of oil revenues into US markets probably helped avert a rout in Treasuries during the mid-2000s hiking cycle, but even with oil prices on the rise again we don’t expect so-called “petrodollars” to halt the current slide in Treasuries. …
Ida Wolden Bache kicked off her time in charge at the Norges Bank with a rate hike and prepared the ground for even more aggressive tightening. We now expect 175bps of hikes by end-2023, to 2.50%, and there is good chance that the Bank front-loads the …
The central bank in the Philippines (BSP) left its main policy rate on hold at 2.00% today and will be in little hurry to tighten policy in the months ahead, with supporting the economic recovery set to take priority over combatting inflation. Today’s …
An EU embargo on Russian oil would push up oil prices and exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis facing consumers. However, while there would be logistical challenges, oil supplies would be easier to replace than natural gas and we estimate that the direct …
23rd March 2022
Our proprietary Financial Conditions Indices suggest that global financial conditions have recently been as tight as they were during the China hard landing fears of 2015 and point to GDP growth staying below trend. Our new CE Interactive dashboard …
The potential for around 3 million refugees to settle in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by the middle of this year will present a large fiscal cost, but will also boost the size of the labour force and GDP in the near term. We estimate that the increase …
The spillovers from the war in Ukraine will further drive divergence in economic growth across the Middle East and North Africa. The Gulf economies stand to benefit as oil production is likely to be raised more quickly which, combined with higher oil …
Claims that the war in Ukraine will prove to be a watershed moment that ends the dollar’s position at the heart of the global financial system are wide of the mark. It could accelerate the development of smaller trading blocs that use alternative …
Shifts in commodity prices in response to the war in Ukraine will provide a sizeable boost to current account positions in Angola and (to a lesser extent) Nigeria this year. Elsewhere, however, higher energy import bills will more than offset any increase …
The jump in the spread between mortgage rates and the 10-year Treasury yield primarily reflects a rise in the credit risk premium as investors react to a slowing economy, surging inflation, and the war in Ukraine. As the economic outlook becomes more …
History suggests that for an IMF deal to restore market confidence, a credible shift towards policy tightening which delivers positive economic results, alongside favourable external conditions, is needed. While there are currently tentative steps towards …
This checklist helps clients keep track of the key economic and public finances forecasts announced during the Chancellor’s Spring Statement speech at 12.30pm on Wednesday 23 rd March and to provide some instant context. We will send clients a Rapid …
Sri Lanka has no easy choices left as it looks to dig itself out of its economic mess. Outright default or a financing deal with China remain options, but the government appears to be favouring an agreement with the IMF. The policy tightening and …
Shopping centres were the hardest hit commercial property sector during the pandemic. The latest data hint that the sector may be past the worst. But the outlook remains clouded by the threat of online shopping and weak in-store retail spending. …
New Zealand’s high share of fixed mortgage rates won’t insulate the housing market from RBNZ rate hikes. Indeed, we’re sticking to our view that house prices will fall this year and cause the RBNZ to reverse course next year by cutting interest rates. The …
Our expectation that US Treasury yields will rise further leads us to conclude that the yen will weaken more against the dollar and we have revised up our end-year USD/JPY forecasts for both 2022 and 2023 . The yen has weakened sharply against the dollar …
22nd March 2022
Hungary’s central bank (MNB) stepped up the pace of tightening today with a 100bp increase in its base rate, to 4.40%, and the hawkish communications underline the view that the central bank will respond to the deterioration in the inflation outlook with …
While the parallels with the 1970s have been building, we remain unlikely to see the scale of stagflation witnessed back then. The main difference now is the apparent determination of central banks to prevent high inflation becoming persistent. There is a …
Just as the supply problems facing euro-zone manufacturers showed tentative signs of easing, the war in Ukraine has created new headwinds. It would not be surprising if industrial output fell in the coming quarters. But rising services demand should mean …
In this Update , we roll out our sovereign debt heat map that provides a snapshot of debt risks across Sub-Saharan Africa. The pandemic has increased debt burdens across the continent and, with elections on the horizon in many places, governments are …
21st March 2022
