Filtered by Topic: Monetary Policy Region: G10 Use setting G10 Use setting Monetary Policy
We don’t think that the below-potential GDP growth implied by the recent activity data is a cause for concern yet, particularly while the labour market appears healthy. That will keep the Fed squarely focused on the inflation side of its mandate at its …
7th June 2024
Regular earnings growth hits 30-year high At first glance, the jump in regular earnings growth to a 30-year high of 2.3% in April is a clear sign that the strong pay hikes agreed in this year’s spring wage negotiations (Shunto) are filtering through. …
Just as fixed mortgage rates have shielded homeowners from rising interest rates, they will prevent households’ interest costs from falling rapidly when interest rates are cut. While borrowers on tracker and two-year fixed rate deals will soon see their …
6th June 2024
Bank may reduce its bond purchases next week, though we think it will wait until July. Next rate hike should happen in July as BoJ increasingly worried about weaker yen. However, sharp slowdown in underlying inflation will forestall a series of rate …
Today’s interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada will be the first of many, and the dovish tone of the accompanying communications suggests another rate cut in July is nailed on. As Governor Tiff Macklem shrugged off any potential concerns about exchange …
5th June 2024
One down, many more to come Today’s interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada will be the first of many, and the dovish tone of the accompanying communications suggests that another rate cut in July is already nailed on. For now, our forecast is that …
Disinflationary trend gradually reasserting itself Economy and labour market losing momentum New projections should still show one or two rate cuts this year With no prospect of the Fed adjusting policy next week, the focus of the FOMC meeting will be the …
The European Central Bank is likely to become the first major advanced economy central bank to cut rates since the end of the pandemic when it meets this Thursday – easing policy ahead of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. It’s a move that’s …
2nd June 2024
The weaker-than-expected first-quarter GDP data and downward revision to fourth-quarter growth caused markets to price in a higher chance that the Bank of Canada will cut interest rates next week. With consumption growth strong, however, we still think …
31st May 2024
Pieces almost in place for the Bank of Canada to cut But economic and labour market resilience means Bank can wait to be 100% sure Rates to be cut by 25 bp at each meeting from July, faster than markets pricing in The rapid easing in core inflation …
29th May 2024
The stickiness of inflation in April has led us to shift back our forecast for the timing of the first interest rate cut from 5.25% from June to August. Even so, our view that CPI inflation will fall from 2.3% in April to below 1.5% by the end of this …
The further fall in headline inflation in April, to a three-year low of 2.6%, means the 2% target could be achieved as soon as August. Whether the Bank of Canada cuts interest rates in a couple of weeks or waits until July, our key message is that the …
24th May 2024
Fed in wait-and-see mode Fed to proceed with caution The minutes of the Fed’s early May policy meeting were, not surprisingly given the backdrop of data releases ahead of that meeting, somewhat hawkish. The resilience of economic growth and employment, …
Inflation rapidly losing momentum The economic data released over the last couple of weeks hardly suggest that the Bank of Japan should tighten monetary policy any further. After all, GDP plunged by 0.5% q/q in Q1 and the April inflation data released …
Households seem keen on saving more The minutes of the RBA’s May meeting confirmed that the Bank discussed a rate hike in response to the upside surprises in inflation and the labour market, but ultimately decided against it. One reason was that the …
The latest flash PMIs suggest that GDP growth in advanced economies has continued to gain momentum in Q2. And central banks may take comfort in the fact that services price pressures seem to be easing. Our estimate of the flash DM composite output PMI …
23rd May 2024
We still think inflation will fall faster than the Bank of England is expecting, but in the light of April’s CPI release we now expect the downward trend to be slower and smaller. As a result, we have shifted back our forecast for the timing of the first …
Survey provides support for summer rate cut Today’s May flash PMI survey will have provided the Bank of England with some comfort after yesterday’s stronger-than-expected inflation data for April. Crucially, the further fall in the services output prices …
FOMC stresses higher for longer The minutes of the Fed’s early May policy meeting are, not surprisingly given the backdrop of data releases ahead of that meeting, somewhat hawkish. The resilience of economic growth and employment, and particularly the …
22nd May 2024
Although it left rates unchanged at its meeting today, the RBNZ indicated that interest rates may have to stay higher for longer. However, we think the Bank is overstating the upside risks to the inflation outlook. Accordingly, we still think there’s a …
RBNZ signals rate cuts may have to wait Although the RBNZ suggested that there was a high bar for further policy tightening, the Committee stated that interest rates may have to remain at their current restrictive level well into 2025. In our view, the …
The slight easing of inflationary pressures in April and softer activity data are consistent with the Fed cutting interest rates in September. Although it is taking a little longer than expected, we believe that core inflation is on course to fall back to …
21st May 2024
RBA is done tightening policy The RBA continued to tout the line that all options are on the table as far as its next move is concerned. However, we still expect the Bank’s next move to be down, not up. The minutes of the RBA’s May meeting confirmed that …
While the economy has only narrowly avoided a recession, activity should rebound over coming quarters as real household incomes recover. Indeed, with inflation set to remain above the Bank’s 2% target this year and wage growth accelerating, we expect the …
20th May 2024
BoJ starting to scale back bond purchases The 0.5% q/q fall in Q1 GDP was the second fall over the last three quarters. With GDP unchanged in Q4, Japan barely escaped a recession. What’s more, with real consumption falling for four consecutive quarters, …
17th May 2024
Budget leaves much to be desired The headlines this week were dominated entirely by the contentious 2024/25 Federal Budget , which some commentators have described as “smoke and mirrors”. We certainly sympathise with those who take umbrage at Treasurer …
An interactive guide to r* in the post-pandemic economy, including our forecasts for the major advanced economies out to 2030. This dashboard was last updated on 17th October 2023. If you have subscriber access to the data underlying this dashboard, you …
Financial conditions have loosened somewhat in advanced economies this year, suggesting that the peak drag from monetary tightening is behind us. However, outside Japan, they remain tight by past standards and are likely to contribute to below-trend …
16th May 2024
Global Economics Chart Pack (May 2024) …
15th May 2024
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has sought to present the 2024/25 Budget as one that strikes a balance between providing support to an ailing economy and keeping pressure off inflation. In our view, that’s disingenuous: the combination of increased government …
We think the Bank of England will decide to start cutting rates at its next meeting, but there’s a series of crucial data releases between now and that policy decision on 20th June – not least the April CPI report due Wednesday, 22nd May . Our UK team …
14th May 2024
We think the ECB’s June meeting will mark the start of a more aggressive rate cutting cycle than markets are currently pricing. How far and how fast will the Governing Council go to ease policy? And what will lower rates mean for the euro-zone economy and …
We expect the RBNZ to leave policy settings unchanged at its meeting next week. Although the domestic economic backdrop is clearly weak, lingering risks around inflation persistence means policy loosening is unlikely to come onto the agenda before Q4. …
While we expect government bond yields in most developed markets to fall back, we think that those in Japan will stabilise around their current levels. In turn, we anticipate that interest rate differentials will provide support to the yen. The yield of …
13th May 2024
The strength of the April labour market data means we now expect the Bank of Canada to begin its loosening cycle in July, rather than June. Nonetheless, the sharp growth in labour supply and moderation in wage growth means we remain confident in our view …
10th May 2024
With the Bank of England hinting on Thursday that it is close to cutting interest rates and that rates may need to fall further than investors expect, we have become a bit more confident in our view that, due to low inflation, rates will be cut from 5.25% …
Production shutdowns now over If we’re right and the GDP data due next week show a 0.6% q/q drop in output, that would mark the second fall in just three quarters. The recent weakness largely reflects a slump in industrial output at the start of the …
A tricky balancing act At its meeting this Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia continued to leave rates on hold, contrary to our expectations that the Bank would feel compelled to take out some additional insurance in the form of a 25bp hike. To be …
We’ll be discussing the outlook for Bank of England policy in a 20-minute online briefing at 3pm today. (Register here .) While leaving interest rates at 5.25% today as widely expected, the Bank of England gave the impression that it is close to cutting …
9th May 2024
Canada Chart Pack (May 2024) …
For more detailed and up-to-date analysis see here . Rapid falls in inflation may prompt BoE to cut rates in June The Bank of England left interest rates at 5.25% today as widely expected, but it gave the impression it’s getting closer to cutting rates. …
All signs are that unit labour cost growth in New Zealand will plummet in the coming quarters. Coupled with subdued domestic demand, that should feed through to lower non-tradables inflation in short order. The upshot is that the RBNZ’s forthcoming easing …
While regular private sector wage growth in February and services CPI inflation in March were both a bit higher than the Bank of England had expected, we still think that the flatlining of the economy over the past two years will dampen price pressures …
8th May 2024
The RBA’s decision to leave rates on hold at its meeting today suggests that there is a high bar for any further tightening of monetary policy. Indeed, the Board seems keen on minimising the collateral damage to the economy from its war on inflation. On …
7th May 2024
RBA content to stay put for a while The RBA’s decision to leave rates unchanged at 4.35%, despite the material upside surprise in the CPI data last quarter, suggests that the bar for a resumption of rate hikes is high. However, the other side of that coin …
We’ll be discussing the outlook for Bank of England policy in a 20-minute online briefing at 3pm BST on Thursday 9th May. (Register here .) OECD too downbeat We think the OECD’s new forecast that the UK will grow at a slower rate in 2025 (of 1.0%) than …
3rd May 2024
Inflation in Norway has been falling faster than Norges Bank expected for some time, but with the core rate still a long way above target, today’s communications show that policymakers are not counting their chickens. While they now seem to envisage …
Government intervenes in FX market yet again As Japanese markets were closed due to Sh ō wa day, the yen surpassed 160 against the dollar in thin trading on Monday, the weakest it has been since the mid-1980s. While the Ministry of Finance refused to …
RBNZ caught between a rock and a hard place We learnt this week that New Zealand’s labour market deteriorated further last quarter. On the back of unexpected job shedding, the unemployment rate rose from 4.0% to 4.3% in Q1, above the RBNZ’s forecast of …
Our forecast that the Bank of Canada will cut interest rates earlier and more aggressively than the Federal Reserve means that the loonie is likely to depreciate, but we doubt the move will be large enough to push up imported goods inflation …
2nd May 2024
