Emerging Europe Economics Update Sanctions push Russian central bank to tighten The tone of the Russian central bank’s press conference suggests that today’s interest rate hike was a pre-emptive move against an expected tightening of US sanctions, not the start of a cycle. As... 14th September 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Central banks hint at rate hikes, Turkish GDP figures Central banks in both Russia and Turkey created a stir this week by raising the prospect of rate hikes, but we think that the degree of tightening in Turkey will disappoint markets and policymakers in... 7th September 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia CPI (Aug.) The rise in Russian inflation to 3.1% y/y in August, combined with Governor Nabiullina’s hawkish comments yesterday, will add fuel to expectations for an interest rate hike. But with underlying price... 5th September 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russia already slipping on fiscal reforms Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement yesterday that the government will soften a planned rise in the retirement age wasn’t altogether surprising, but it marks part of a broader slippage on... 30th August 2018 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Lower supply to support aluminium prices next year After surging to a seven-year high in mid-April on the back of the US Treasury’s decision to impose sanctions on Russian aluminium producer, Rusal, the price of aluminium has since collapsed. While we... 23rd August 2018 · 1 min read
Metals Data Response Global Aluminium Production (Jul.) Global aluminium output was up by nearly 3% y/y in July, owing to higher production in China and India. We had warned that this could happen as the prospect of China’s anti-pollution winter cuts and... 20th August 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia Activity Data (Jul.) Russian activity for July suggest that the economy continued to grow at a steady pace between Q2 and the start of Q3. Our Tracker is consistent with GDP growth of about 2.5% y/y and, while the Tracker... 17th August 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia GDP (Q2 2018) The pick-up in Russian GDP growth, to 1.8% y/y in Q2, was a bit weaker than we had expected and there is now a downside risk to our growth forecast of 2.3% for the year as a whole. Even so, we think... 10th August 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Sanctions and the importance of balance sheets The fact that the US sanctions (or the threat of) are having a bigger impact on financial markets in Turkey than Russia reflects the latter’s much stronger balance sheets as well as the credibility of... 9th August 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia CPI (Jul.) The small rise in Russian headline inflation, to 2.5% y/y, was driven by higher food inflation, while underlying price pressures still look very soft. We still think the central bank will lower... 6th August 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What impact would sanctions on Russian sovereign debt have? A bill presented in the US Senate yesterday has raised the threat of US sanctions on Russian sovereign debt. Were the bill to pass, we think it might plausibly add a premium of about 50-100bp to the... 3rd August 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russia’s central bank leaves door open to easing The Russian central bank’s post-meeting statement once again sounded hawkish on inflation risks. But it also implied that interest rates could be lowered in 2019, supporting our view that the easing... 27th July 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia Activity Data (Jun.) June’s activity data for Russia were a bit soft, but remain consistent with a pick-up in GDP growth from 1.3% y/y in Q1 to around 2.5% y/y in Q2. 18th July 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia CPI (Jun.) The modest decline in Russian inflation in June, to 2.3% y/y, was mainly a result of a sharp fall in fruit and vegetable inflation. And while headline inflation is still weak, there were some... 6th July 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Jun.) Last month’s manufacturing PMIs made for disappointing reading in most of Emerging Europe. After plunging to a nine-year low in May, the Turkish survey remained weak in June, suggesting that the... 2nd July 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What should we make of Russia’s data revisions? The upwards revisions to Russia’s industrial production figures have raised concerns about the quality of the data but, based on the figures released so far, the new series does seem to reflect... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
