Despite all the talk of “higher for longer”, we believe that the global monetary policy tightening cycle is drawing to a close. In Q4, any final rate hikes in advanced economies will coincide with a number of cuts in emerging markets. And as we head into …
21st September 2023
The Bank’s job is done The surprise decision by the Bank of England to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25% today probably means that rates are already at their peak. We think rates will stay at this peak of 5.25% for longer than the Fed, the ECB and …
Following today’s rate hikes, the Riksbank and Norges Bank are now at, or close to, the end of their tightening cycles. Both central banks’ new projections suggest that they are more likely than not to raise rates one more time. But whether or not they …
Policy easing pushed back to 2024 Taiwan’s central bank (CBC) today left its policy rate unchanged at 1.875% for a second consecutive month. Despite the poor outlook for growth, lingering concerns about inflation have prompted us to shift the timing of …
Early signs of a recovery Poland’s retail sales and industrial production figures for August suggest that the economy may be at the early stages of a recovery, but we still expect overall GDP growth to be relatively tepid in the near term. We think that …
Norges Bank and Riksbank nearly done with rate hikes Following today’s rate hikes, the Riksbank and Norges Bank are now at, or close to, the end of their tightening cycles. Both central banks’ new projections suggest that they are more likely than not to …
Rupiah key concern for central bank Bank Indonesia (BI) today left its main policy rate unchanged at 5.75%, and made clear that supporting the rupiah would remain its main priority over the coming months. While there is still a good chance the central …
SNB goes for a hawkish pause, but we think rates have peaked. The SNB’s decision to keep rates unchanged at 1.75% was a big surprise, although it left the door open for further hikes. We do not expect any further increases in the policy rate as we expect …
BSP unlikely to resume tightening cycle despite inflation concerns The central bank (BSP) in the Philippines today left its main policy rate unchanged (at 6.25%), but warned that it may need to resume its tightening cycle soon. While we think monetary …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Note: We’ll be discussing September’s Fed, ECB and Bank of England policy decisions in a Drop-In at 3pm BST today. Register here to join. A bit more wiggle room for pre-election …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Strong pickup in growth puts rate hikes back on the table The unexpectedly strong rebound in activity last quarter means that the RBNZ may well judge it has more work to do. All …
20th September 2023
BCB not opening the door to larger cuts The Brazilian central bank’s (BCB’s) 50bp cut in the Selic rate (to 12.75%) and accompanying statement are likely to dash hopes that policymakers will up the pace of the easing cycle, at least in the short term. The …
The Fed doubled down on its mantra that interest rates will remain higher for longer, with its updated projections suggesting that the economy will enjoy the softest of soft landings and core inflation will still take some considerable time to return to …
Fed wants us to believe in “higher for longer” The Fed left its policy rate unchanged at 5.25% to 5.50% and, while the median forecast still shows one more 25bp rate hike this year, the FOMC appears to be more evenly split, with 12 in favour of that hike …
We remain of the view that investors are overestimating how high the federal funds rate will be over the next couple of years, and that Treasury yields will fall as a result. A lot of discussion around the upcoming FOMC decision has focused on the path …
The prevalence of fixed-rate debt suggests the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes will continue to deal less damage to the economy than they might have done in the past. But higher rates are still likely to take a further toll on consumption and business …
Our Emerging Europe Chart Pack has been updated with the latest data and our analysis of recent developments. Russia and Turkey had a strong first half to the year, but large policy tightening is likely to result in a sharp slowdown in 2024. Inflation …
Despite the recent rebound in energy prices, the downward trend in core inflation remains firmly intact. And with a growing number of indicators suggesting the labour market is not much tighter than it was in 2019, we expect wage and price inflation to …
A healthier picture of aluminium supply An increase in year-on-year production growth, coupled with upward revisions to the back data, means that global aluminium supply is much stronger than previously thought. Production reached a record high in August …
The weeks leading up to Taiwan’s presidential election in January could be marked by another rise in tensions with China. The most likely outcome of the vote is another DPP presidency. While Lai Ching-te would be a new pair of hands, his election wouldn’t …
Below you'll find all our key analysis about how above-target inflation has led to Japan's first interest rate hike in over 16 years, and the implications for domestic and global financial markets. … Bank of Japan - An end to easy …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Activity weak even before latest intensification of loadshedding South Africa’s activity data for July was relatively downbeat, and more timely data suggest that the economy is …
It’s a sign of our inflationary times that even the Bank of Japan could soon consider raising interest rates in what would be the first such move in 16 years. But how supportive are conditions for a rate hike, how far could the Bank go to lift rates, and …
The news that UK Prime Minster Sunak is set to further dilute the government’s climate policies demonstrates that when the political going gets tough, climate policies are the first to fall by the wayside. From a macro perspective, the biggest risk is …
Inflation rises, but SARB to stand pat tomorrow The small rise in South Africa’s headline inflation rate to 4.8% y/y in August partly reflected a fresh pick-up in core price pressures, but we doubt that this will prompt the SARB to restart its tightening …
India’s economy is showing signs of coming off the boil, and core inflation is moderating. However, a surge in food prices has pushed headline CPI inflation well beyond the upper limit of the RBI’s 2-6% tolerance range. The onset of a severe El Niño and …
A series of recent stumbles by the UK government highlight the inherent mismatch between political goals and climate-related time horizons. They carry important lessons for other governments that are trying to legislate the transition away from fossil …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Easing in services inflation may mean BoE halts rate hikes…after tomorrow Note: We’ll be discussing September’s Fed, ECB and Bank of England policy decisions in a Drop-In on …
Our China Activity Proxy (CAP) suggests that, after a period of stagnation, China’s economy has returned to growth recently, with output finally surpassing its previous high in August. Policy support is being stepped up, which should underpin a further …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Q3 GDP growth to slow sharply Net exports probably won’t support GDP growth in the third quarter, but export volumes should continue to rise over coming quarters. The 0.8% …
The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike action aimed at the Big Three automakers should have only a trivial effect on the broader economy. More generally, despite the tightness of labour market conditions and the recent surge in prices, work stoppages …
19th September 2023
The recent rally in oil prices has had only a limited impact on bond and equity markets so far. And we doubt that this will change anytime soon, given our view that the rally will not last much longer and that other factors will continue to play a bigger …
On Tuesday 19th September, our Energy and Global Economics teams discussed the oil market outlook and its implications for inflation and monetary policy in an online briefing for clients. Watch the recording here . We are not convinced that the increase …
This page has been updated with additional analysis since first publication. Jump in core inflation puts renewed pressure on the Bank The larger rise in core prices in August is bad news for the Bank of Canada although, with high interest rates now …
The rise in oil prices, and upwards revision to our 2024 oil price forecast, will have only a small impact on EM inflation and won’t stop it from falling further. The much bigger upside risks to our inflation and interest rate forecasts stem from core and …
Our forecast that the Bank of England won’t start cutting interest rates until the second half of 2024 means mortgage rates are likely to stay between 5.5% and 6.0% until mid-2024. While transactions volumes have only seen a modest decline so far, we …
Sharp drop in housing starts suggest turning point Housing starts fell sharply across both the single-family and multifamily sectors in August, suggesting that construction has now reached a turning point. We expect this downward trend to continue for the …
The problems of WeWork, which have intensified in recent months, do not look reflective of significant distress in the wider flexible office market. However, flex has yet to see much of a boost from greater hybrid working and may not be immune from …
The wage-setting behaviour of Japanese firms has changed over the last couple of years and to reflect this we’re revising our long-run inflation forecast from 0.5% to 1.0%. However, that would still mean that inflation will settle well below the BoJ’s 2% …
RBA’s pause to continue Although the RBA won’t be dropping its guard in the fight against inflation anytime soon, we still believe its tightening cycle is at an end. The minutes of the RBA’s September meeting showed that the Board did once again discuss …
The latest increase in the 10-year TIPS yield, to a post-Global - Financial-Crisis high of ~2% at one point last week, has barely caused a ripple in the markets. More generally, the influence of “safe” US real government bond yields on other assets has …
18th September 2023
House price inflation turned positive in August, but the smaller monthly price gain combined with signs of easing demand and increasing supply show that the housing market continues to cool. The 0.4% y/y increase in the MLS House Price Index in August was …
Overview – A slower fall in core inflation than in the US or the euro-zone will mean that the Bank of England keeps interest rates on hold at the probable peak of 5.50% for longer than the US Fed or the ECB. But our non-consensus forecast that higher …
We expect that the global cotton market will be finely balanced in 2023/24 as demand picks up and supply falls across key producers. We forecast that the US cotton price will rise gradually from here, but will not revisit the highs of 2022. The cotton …
Sharp rise in lending in August likely to be temporary The $29.0bn monthly rise in real estate debt held by US banks in August, now at $5.48trn outstanding, was the largest m/m increase in six months. However, we expect this spike to be short-lived, as …
Supplies of freshwater are likely to become scarcer over time as the world heats up and precipitation patterns change. While investment into infrastructure and boosting desalination capacity can help to increase supplies, the costs borne by consumers and …
Investor nerves in recent weeks have been tested by two opposing inflation concerns. The first is that China is on the cusp of a deflationary spiral that will pull down the rest of the global economy. The second is that resurgent energy prices will lead …
