Filtered by Topic: Monetary Policy Region: G10 Use setting G10 Use setting Monetary Policy
The economy continues to do well with GDP growing strongly, employment growth solid and core inflation pressures easing again. We are concerned, however, that the Trump administration’s policies will weigh on GDP growth over the course of this year. …
21st January 2025
We aren’t overly worried about the impact of higher bond yields on Japan’s public finances because rising interest rates are a direct consequence of higher inflation. With the effective interest rate on public debt set to rise only slowly, the net impact …
The Bank of Canada’s latest business and consumer surveys support our view that GDP growth will pick-up this quarter and suggest there are some upside risks to our forecast for another 75bp of interest rate cuts this year. That said, given the threat of …
20th January 2025
The Chancellor was able to breathe a sigh of relief this week after favourable CPI inflation prints for December in both the UK (see here ) and the US (see here ) led to a reversal in last week’s leap in gilt yields. In fact, the 28 basis points (bps) …
17th January 2025
The latest data suggest that resilient consumer spending supported GDP growth in the US towards the end of last year, while activity in other advanced economies remained weak. Industry continues to struggle in DMs, while in China it is benefiting from …
Bank wary of triggering another market rout A flurry of communication by the Bank of Japan has resulted in the financial markets pricing in an 80% chance of a rate hike at next week’s meeting. We and two-thirds of economists polled by Reuters agree that a …
Upcoming inflation data will be pivotal Data released this week broadly support our view that the Reserve Bank of Australia won’t be in a rush to start cutting rates. Indeed, yesterday’s blockbuster jobs report only adds to the evidence that the …
Our ANZ Chart Pack has been updated with the latest data and our analysis of recent developments. The Antipodean central banks will tread different paths on policy over the forecast horizon. With the New Zealand economy in dire straits and with inflation …
16th January 2025
The Bank of Japan has signalled that it will raise rates at its January meeting. And with inflation set to remain above the Bank’s 2% target for a while yet, we’re sticking to our forecast that the policy rate will reach an above-consensus 1.25% by the …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Tight labour market bolsters case for RBA to stay put Although we expect the labour market to cool in earnest over the course of this year, risks to our forecast that the …
The ceasefire reportedly agreed between Israel and Hamas is likely to have significant consequences for some countries in the region, notably Israel itself as well as Jordan and Egypt. But the possible disinflationary impact for the rest of the world via …
15th January 2025
If sustained, rising bond yields add to downside risks to economic growth. The potential direct effects on real activity are greatest in the US. But higher yields in other DMs could limit how far borrowing costs in the private sector fall and force the …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Soft surprise boosts February rate cut odds While a lot of the surprisingly large fall in services inflation from 5.0% in November to 4.4% in December (CE forecast 4.8%, BoE …
It’s possible that prolonged weakness in economic activity and a jump in unemployment force the RBA to cut rates more aggressively than we’re anticipating. However, a more likely scenario resulting in below-neutral rates is that a sharper-than-expected …
Our base case is that a stabilisation and eventual fall back in gilt yields will allow the government to muddle through and wait until the next fiscal event on 26 th March before making any decisions on taxes and spending. However, a significant worsening …
14th January 2025
While the economy lost all momentum at the end of last year, we still expect GDP growth to accelerate from 0.8% in 2024 to an above-consensus 1.3% in 2025. Admittedly, activity could be restrained if the increase in the government’s borrowing costs due to …
13th January 2025
This week’s leap in gilt yields creates more problems for the Chancellor and is an extra headwind for the economy. But it is not a crisis. Admittedly, it is always worrying when UK bond yields rise by more than yields elsewhere and the pound weakens. …
10th January 2025
Tight labour market muddies the waters Financial markets are becoming increasingly optimistic that the RBA’s next easing cycle is right around the corner. They are now pricing in a 70% chance that the Bank will hand down a 25bp cut at its meeting in …
Bank will probably wait until March While the Bank of Japan refrained from hiking interest rates at its December meeting, the case for further policy tightening remains intact. For a start, the “Summary of Opinions” of that meeting showed that at least …
With long-dated gilt yields hitting multi-decade highs, we held an online Drop-In session on Wednesday to discuss the outlook for the gilt market and the implications for government policy and the UK macro and housing market outlook. (See a recording here …
9th January 2025
As the president-elect again prepares to take office, our US team held a special briefing to walk clients through what to expect in the opening phase of the second Trump administration. … US Drop-In: Inauguration Day special – Knowns and unknowns around …
The troubling start to 2025 is casting doubt over our key non-consensus forecasts for 2025. But we still think other forecasters are underestimating how fast the economy will grow, how far inflation will fall and how many times the Bank of England will …
Our Japan Chart Pack has been updated with the latest data and our analysis of recent developments. With real household incomes set to fall again this year, the rebound in consumer spending will start to lose momentum in 2025. Even so, with the yen set …
Fed worried by potential impact of Trump policy agenda After Chair Jerome Powell made a big fuss about claiming in last November’s press conference that the Fed wouldn’t speculate about what policies the incoming Trump administration will adopt, the …
8th January 2025
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Disinflation gathering momentum The RBA is unlikely to pay much heed to the slight pickup in headline inflation in November. In fact, with underlying price pressures showing …
There are increasing signs that interest rate cuts are feeding through to the real economy. Household consumption grew strongly in the third quarter and activity in the housing market has picked up. We expect consumer spending to continue to support the …
7th January 2025
There was little festive cheer in Australia’s housing market last month, with house prices stagnating across the country’s eight capital cities. Given our view that the RBA has only limited room to cut interest rates over the coming year, prospects for a …
2nd January 2025
Bank unlikely to cut rates before May The minutes of the RBA’s December meeting struck a slightly dovish tone. However, with the labour market still firing on all cylinders, we doubt the Board will risk loosening policy prematurely. Accordingly, we still …
24th December 2024
The latest FOMC meeting suggests the Fed already has its eye on President-elect Donald Trump’s inflationary policy changes. We have therefore revised up our forecast for the terminal fed funds target range, to between 3.75% and 4.00%, with one 25bp cut in …
23rd December 2024
A look back at 2024 reveals that some of our forecasts were good and some were off. We were right to forecast this time last year that Bank Rate would be cut only gradually, from the peak of 5.25% to 4.75%. (See here .) That turned out to be closer than …
20th December 2024
When matters less than how far Governor Ueda delivered two messages in the press conference after yesterday’s policy meeting : first, the Bank of Japan thinks that policy normalisation is still on track and it intends to raise rates further; second, the …
RBA shake up The week began with Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers announcing two new picks for the RBA’s monetary policy committee. To recap, in late November, parliament approved an overhaul of the RBA, in line with the recommendations of a review …
Surge in headline inflation won’t last, but underlying inflation to remain near target November’s surge in inflation wasn’t a surprise – the Bank of Japan will have known it was on the cards when it decided not to hike rates yesterday. But it should add …
19th December 2024
Overview – We expect the incoming Trump administration’s policies to have a mildly stagflationary impact on the economy. Assuming that Trump introduces tariffs and immigration curbs via executive action by the middle of next year, we would expect GDP …
While the Bank of England left interest rates at 4.75% today, it struck a slightly more dovish tone. This supports our view that the next 25 basis points (bps) rate cut will come in February and that the Bank will cut rates further and faster than …
For our more detailed analysis of the Bank's December policy announcement, see here . Dovish hold supports our view that rates will be cut further and faster than market pricing While the Bank of England left interest rates at 4.75% today, it struck a …
The Bank of Japan's decision to leave rates on hold for a third consecutive meeting was not a great surprise. But in the post-meeting press conference Governor Ueda sounded in no hurry at all to resume the tightening cycle and there’s now a good chance …
Bank will bring in the new year with a rate hike Although the Bank of Japan left rates on hold for a third consecutive meeting, we think it will resume its tightening cycle before long. The Bank’s decision to leave the policy rate unchanged at 0.25% was …
The Fed did cut interest rates by an additional 25bp today, as was largely expected, taking the fed funds rate down to between 4.25% and 4.50%. But the vote was not unanimous and, in a hawkish shift, the new median projection now shows only 50bp of …
18th December 2024
Fed delivers a hawkish rate cut The Fed did cut interest rates by an additional 25bp today, as was largely expected, taking the fed funds rate down to between 4.25% and 4.50%. But the vote was not unanimous and, in a hawkish shift, the new median …
Overview – The near-term economic outlook has brightened, with lower interest rates feeding through and consumption benefitting from the recent strong pace of real income growth. That should help to drive quarterly GDP growth above 2% annualised in the …
Fed presented with early Christmas gift Going into this week, it already looked likely that the Fed would cut its policy rate by 25bp at its December meeting (as opposed to leaving it unchanged), and the muted November price data cemented it. Based on the …
13th December 2024
Bank of Canada signals caution The Bank continued its easing cycle this week with another 50bp cut, taking the policy rate down to 3.25%. While that was widely expected, the hawkish tone of the policy statement prompted investors to pare back expectations …
Tight labour market will muddy the waters Although the Reserve Bank of Australia predictably left rates on hold at its meeting on Tuesday, the Board didn’t exactly try to hide the fact that it was in a more dovish mood. Indeed, the Bank stated that it was …
Deterioration in global outlook has increased the downside risks to UK GDP growth… …but Trump’s election win and the UK Budget have boosted the upside risks to UK inflation MPC to keep rates at 4.75% in December and to continue to cut by 25 basis points …
12th December 2024
The latest data have shown that China is benefitting from a pick-up in government spending, the US economy continues to grow at a decent pace, and other advanced economies had a soft start to Q4. Outside China, forward-looking indictors point to weaker …
Overview – Although their recent performance leaves much to be desired, we believe that both Antipodean economies are on the cusp of a cyclical upswing. But while the RBNZ has ample room to support the recovery without stoking inflation risks, the same …
Muddied communication from BoJ makes December meeting a close call On balance, we’re sticking to our forecast of a 25bp rate hike next week With inflation overshooting BoJ’s forecasts, further tightening next year likely The outcome of the Bank’s upcoming …
Although the Bank of Canada cut interest rates by another 50bp today, its communications were more hawkish than might have been expected, with the Bank no longer indicating that further cuts are guaranteed and instead saying it “will be evaluating the …
11th December 2024