Asia Economic Outlook Steady growth ahead Most countries in Emerging Asia should continue to grow at a decent pace over the next couple of years as loose monetary policy helps support demand. The key exception is China, where growth looks set... 13th January 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Argentina: new economic team, same challenges The motives behind the Argentine government’s decision to oust finance minister Alfonso Prat-Gay in December are unclear, but at this stage two key points are worth emphasising. First, despite... 12th January 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone Fiscal Monitor (Dec.) November’s data brought further signs of public finances improving in the euro-zone’s periphery. But the Greek bail-out deal is at risk of collapse, and the Italian banking sector remains in a parlous... 11th January 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Chart Pack Surveys and hard data point to Q4 GDP growth pick-up Recent hard data for the euro-zone have generally been encouraging. Despite falling in November, the level of retail sales remains fairly high after a strong rise in October. And while industrial... 9th January 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Government remains reluctant to spend The budget for the coming fiscal year foresees broadly neutral rather than expansionary fiscal policy. With supplementary spending for the current fiscal year barely larger than last year’s, the... 9th January 2017 · 1 min read
Global Economics Chart Pack World economy entering 2017 with some momentum The world economy is entering 2017 with stronger growth and rising inflation, but prospects for the rest of the year are more mixed. Activity has picked up in unison across the major economies in... 6th January 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack A strong end to 2016 Revisions from the ONS mean that quarterly GDP growth in Q3 is now estimated to have been 0.6% – the same as in Q2. What’s more, business surveys suggest that this pace was maintained in Q4... 6th January 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Romanian tightening cycle to be more aggressive than most expect The accompanying statement to today’s MPC meeting in Romania was less hawkish than we had expected. Nonetheless, with further fiscal stimulus in the pipeline and economic slack now exhausted... 6th January 2017 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi austerity to resume in 2018, but won’t be as harsh as 2015-16 Saudi Arabia’s recent budget suggested that fiscal consolidation will take a breather this year and, while the “Fiscal Balance Program” points to austerity resuming from 2018, it is likely to be less... 5th January 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly What to expect in 2017 We expect Japan’s economy to grow by 1% next year. Given how low potential growth is, this should be enough to drive a further decline in spare capacity and to add to price pressures. The Bank of... 23rd December 2016 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi 2017 Budget: austerity takes a breather Saudi Arabia’s budget suggests that, following a significant improvement in the public finances over the past couple of years, the fiscal stance will be broadly neutral in 2017. This supports our view... 22nd December 2016 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Public Finances (Nov.) The improvement in the public finances in November leaves borrowing on track to meet the OBR’s Autumn Statement forecasts for the current fiscal year. And we think stronger GDP growth will result in a... 21st December 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Update Thailand to keep rates on hold throughout 2017 The Bank of Thailand (BoT) left its policy rate on hold at 1.50% today, and with fiscal policy taking the lead in boosting growth but inflationary pressures benign, the BoT is likely to keep rates... 21st December 2016 · 1 min read
India Chart Pack Reform agenda takes off in 2016 2016 will be remembered as the year that Prime Minister Modi finally began to deliver on promises of much-needed economic reform. However, with a number of state elections due to take place over the... 21st December 2016 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update What to look out for in Saudi Arabia’s 2017 budget Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan, will deliver his maiden budget later this month, which is likely to reinforce the government’s commitment to tighter fiscal policy in order to... 19th December 2016 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus Balancing the budget will be more painful The ratings agencies have shown that they are full of Christmas cheer by maintaining Australia’s AAA credit rating even though the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook revealed that the budget deficit... 19th December 2016 · 1 min read
