Europe Economics Weekly ECB might need a bigger bazooka The ECB is now buying assets at a record pace. But it is still struggling to keep a lid on bond yields, so there is a good chance that it has to step up its purchases even further. Meanwhile, new... 17th April 2020 · 8 mins read
India Economics Update RBI steps up virus response, further loosening likely The RBI has taken further steps to help banks and borrowers weather the collapse in economic activity from the coronavirus and containment measures in another emergency announcement today. The central... 17th April 2020 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Philippines: Emergency rate cut unlikely to be the last The central bank in the Philippines (BSP) today cut its policy rate by 50bp at an emergence meeting, and with economic activity in the country collapsing, we doubt this will be the last move from the... 16th April 2020 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update Bank of France floats a version of helicopter money The Bank of France floated the idea recently that the ECB could use “helicopter money” to channel funds to companies after the worst of the current crisis has abated. While this idea has some... 15th April 2020 · 4 mins read
China Economics Update PBOC ramps up easing but more still to come The People’s Bank (PBOC) has taken yet another step to help banks and borrowers weather the ongoing economic weakness and is preparing to lower interest rates further in the coming months. 15th April 2020 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia to resume easing cycle if rupiah holds up Bank Indonesia (BI) today left interest rates unchanged at 4.5%, but the cut to the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) and dovish comments in the press conference suggest that further rate cuts are... 14th April 2020 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update Are the Bank’s helicopter blades starting to turn? We won’t know until the future whether or not the Bank of England has launched helicopter money as it depends if the rise in the money supply is temporary or permanent. But more important is whether... 9th April 2020 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Weekly Lifeline for Bank Indonesia, more stimulus on the way With the rupiah recovering strongly over the past week, we think Bank Indonesia will lower interest rates at its meeting on Tuesday. Meanwhile, more countries have unveiled fiscal stimulus and support... 9th April 2020 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Update Korea: QE won’t negate need for more fiscal stimulus The Bank of Korea’ (BoK) left rates on hold at 0.75% today and announced plans to purchase government bonds. There is scope for quantitative easing to have an impact, but there are limits to how... 9th April 2020 · 3 mins read
Latin America Economics Update What more can Chile’s central bank do? With the Central Bank of Chile’s policy rate at its effective lower bound, we think that its next easing measure would be a quantitative easing programme aimed at flattening the long end of the yield... 8th April 2020 · 4 mins read
Capital Daily ECB more important than Eurogroup for E-Z bond yields The overall small market reaction to yesterday’s inconclusive Eurogroup meeting supports our view that ECB policy, rather than the outlook for public finances, will be the main driver of euro-zone... 8th April 2020 · 7 mins read
Europe Economics Update ECB using balance sheet more aggressively than ever The ECB is using its balance sheet aggressively to provide cheap funding to banks and support peripheral government bond markets. But there is no guarantee that banks will maintain their volume of... 8th April 2020 · 4 mins read
Next big announcement could be Poloz’s successor The Bank of Canada could announce next week that it is adding corporate bonds to its asset purchases but, if there are only tweaks to the existing programs, then the focus will be on the Bank’s new... 8th April 2020 · 7 mins read
Global Central Bank Watch Monetary policy pushing new limits What a difference a month makes. At the time of our last Global Central Bank Watch, monetary policymakers in advanced economies had taken a cautious but relatively sanguine attitude to the coronavirus... 8th April 2020 · 11 mins read
Japan Economic Outlook Output to fall more than during global financial crisis Lockdowns will soon be imposed across much of Japan, triggering a decline of more than 10% in economic activity this quarter. The government’s latest fiscal package is intended to help firms stay... 8th April 2020 · 19 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Australia - RBA may yet have to launch negative rates The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) didn’t announce additional measures at today’s meeting and given the easing in tensions on financial markets we think it won’t adjust policy settings over the... 7th April 2020 · 3 mins read