Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Interest rate hikes in Norway still a long way off The Norges Bank left its key policy rate unchanged after its meeting today and brought the date at which it forecasts raising interest rates forward to autumn 2018. We think that it will wait until... 14th December 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack Denmark weak in Q3, Sweden powered ahead The Nordic and Swiss Q3 GDP data revealed large differences between the best and worst performing economies. A quarterly contraction of 0.6% meant that Denmark underperformed the rest of the pack by a... 12th December 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Focus Will housing bubbles prompt early rate hikes? Macro-prudential policies to cool the housing markets in Switzerland and Norway will allow their central banks to keep monetary policy loose, boosting inflation from its current low rates. By contrast... 12th December 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Norwegian and Danish Consumer Prices (Nov.) Inflation in Norway has probably reached a trough, but it is unlikely to rebound strongly. With house price inflation also slowing very sharply, we suspect that at its meeting on Thursday the Norges... 11th December 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Reviewing 2017 and looking ahead to 2018 In this Watch, we evaluate the performance of Nordic and Swiss economies in 2017 and set out our key calls for next year. 5th December 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Housing market concerns weigh on Swedish markets Concerns about the prospect of a house price correction were felt across Swedish markets in November, with the krona slumping, bond yields declining and equities falling. Most other Nordic and Swiss... 1st December 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Chart Pack Nordic house price inflation slowing House price inflation in several Nordic economies is slowing, and in some cases sharply. In Sweden housing inflation fell to 6.7% in October, its slowest in four years. And in Stockholm, where prices... 16th November 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swe. Consumer Prices (Oct.), Nor. & Fin. GDP (Q3) As October’s drop in Swedish inflation was almost entirely due to energy, we are not convinced that it means QE will be extended in December. Meanwhile, following stronger-than-expected GDP growth in... 14th November 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Norwegian and Danish Consumer Prices (Oct.) The sharp decline in inflation over the past 15 months has largely run its course, but it is unlikely to rebound strongly. We think that core inflation will remain well below the Norges Bank’s 2.5%... 10th November 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Should we worry about a housing crash in Norway? Recent declines in Norwegian house prices have caused some concern, but we think that the worst fears are overblown. After all, prices are falling for the “right” reasons. And we do not expect a wave... 8th November 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Iceland’s election result reduces chance of fiscal boost At least four parties will be required to form a majority government following Iceland’s election, so coalition negotiations are set to take a number of months. As the left-wing parties performed... 1st November 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Manufacturing PMIs (Oct.) October’s Swiss, Swedish and Norwegian manufacturing PMIs are consistent with strong growth in industrial output. But only in Sweden do we expect this to put sustained upward pressure on inflation. 1st November 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Central bank actions push bond yields down In October, a combination of rising bond yields in the US and lower bond yields at home pushed Nordic and Swiss currencies down against the dollar. Weaker exchange rates, as well as decent economic... 30th October 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Divergent outlooks for Riksbank & Norges Bank policy While both the Riksbank and the Norges Bank kept policy unchanged today, the outlooks for monetary policy in the two countries are very different. We think that policy in Sweden will be tightened... 26th October 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economic Outlook Riksbank to move ahead of the pack Economic prospects for the Nordic and Swiss economies are fairly bright. Although Switzerland had a disappointing start to the year in terms of GDP growth, the surveys are universally positive about... 25th October 2017 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Central Bank Watch Housing market risks diminishing The recent slowdown in the housing market suggests that there is scope for monetary policy to be looser over the coming years than the Norges Bank currently anticipates. That said, we don’t expect any... 19th October 2017 · 1 min read