Emerging Europe Economics Update Russian MPC more dovish, but rate cuts still some way off The statement by the Russian central bank following its decision to leave the one-week repo rate on hold today was dovish, but less so than what the markets seem to have expected. The Council’s... 29th April 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russia’s central bank can ride the wave of surplus liquidity The Russian government’s use of its oil funds to finance the budget deficit will cause the monetary base to expand and is likely to push the banking sector from having a deficit of liquidity to a... 21st April 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia Activity Data (Mar.) Russia’s activity data for March were weaker than in February, as expected, but the broad trend is still that the slump in the economy is easing. GDP probably contracted by around 2.0% y/y over Q1 as... 19th April 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia GDP (Q4) The release of Russian Q4 GDP data today provides further evidence that the worst of the recession is now behind us. And monthly activity data suggest that the slump in activity continued to ease in... 1st April 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Ruble rebound leads market rally in Emerging Europe Financial markets across Emerging Europe have recouped some of their earlier losses this month. The Russian ruble has been the region’s star performer, posting the largest gains among all EM... 29th March 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What’s behind the slowdown in capital outflows from Russia? Capital outflows from Russia have slowed markedly in recent quarters and the nature of these outflows has changed too – they are now driven by Russian companies repaying their external debts, rather... 22nd March 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia Activity Data (Feb.) The improvement in last month’s Russian activity data was flattered by working day effects due to the leap year. But even so, the figures provide further evidence that the economy has passed the worst... 21st March 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russian central bank continues to strike cautious note The statement by Russia’s central bank following its decision to leave its one-week repo rate unchanged earlier today was decidedly cautious and reinforces our view that any policy easing is only... 18th March 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Why Russia’s industry unlikely to reap benefit of weak ruble In theory, at least, Russian manufacturing should be among the biggest beneficiaries from a weaker ruble. However, a weak currency alone is unlikely to trigger an industrial turnaround in Russia... 4th March 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia Activity Data (Jan.) The usual raft of activity data for January showed that, following an awful December, conditions in the Russian economy improved at the start of this year. Encouragingly, there are early signs that... 18th February 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Winners and losers from a weaker ruble The sharp fall in the ruble over the past year or so has eased some of the pressure on Russia’s government finances but we suspect that structural problems will prevent the wider economy from fully... 16th February 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia CPI (Jan.) The sharp fall in Russian inflation in January can be explained by the fact that the effects of the collapse in the ruble at the end of 2014 and start of 2015 fell out of the annual comparison... 5th February 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russia to spend another year in recession The recent run of weak data, coupled with the latest fall in oil prices, has prompted us to revise our forecasts for Russia. We now expect the economy to contract by 1.3% this year and grow by just 0... 3rd February 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What to make of Russia’s privatisation plans The recent talk of a new wave of privatisation in Russia has attracted much attention, but we suspect that there is less to the proposed plans than meets the eye. While these may temporarily improve... 2nd February 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Russian MPC takes a hawkish view as ruble falls The Russian central bank kept its benchmark one-week repo rate on hold at 11.00% earlier today, but the markedly more hawkish tone of the accompanying statement makes it clear that rate cuts – which... 29th January 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Russia GDP (2015) & Activity Data (Dec.) Preliminary Russian GDP data, which showed that the economy contracted by 3.7% over 2015 as a whole, are consistent with a drop in GDP of around 3.5% y/y in Q4. Worryingly, December’s activity figures... 25th January 2016 · 1 min read
