Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Saudi’s credit splurge a slow-burning risk The rapid expansion of commercial bank lending in Saudi Arabia has raised the risk of an increase in non-performing loans and heightened the exposure of the banking sector to both the real estate... 20th August 2024 · 5 mins read
US Economics Update Harris unveils populist economic plan Kamala Harris unveiled her economic plan today and it appears to be focused on mostly small-scale pocket-book populist issues. Our main take-away is that, like her opponent Donald Trump, she has shied... 16th August 2024 · 2 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Reforms on the agenda in the Gulf, Morocco’s budget Reports this week suggest that Kuwait’s government will pursue public finance reforms to diversify revenues away from oil, but the reported measures appear to be small in the grand scheme of things... 15th August 2024 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update Jordan’s tourism sector hit hard by spillovers of war Jordan’s economy has been among the hardest hit from the indirect spillovers of the war in Gaza. While severe balance of payments of strains are likely to be avoided, GDP growth will suffer as the key... 14th August 2024 · 4 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly The global market turmoil and the impact on MENA Financial markets in the Middle East weren’t spared from the global sell-off earlier in the week. There could be a macro impact on the Gulf economies through the fall in oil prices, either via lower... 8th August 2024 · 7 mins read
Africa Economics Update SSA protests will worsen public finance strains Protests that originated in Kenya have spread to neighbouring Uganda and as far afield as Nigeria. The common theme of a weak economic backdrop, endemic corruption and fiscal fears means the region is... 7th August 2024 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Update FX intervention to weaken yen unlikely Japan’s government has intervened in the FX markets to weaken the yen far more often than to strengthen it. But FX interventions have become very rare over the past two decades and our sense is that... 6th August 2024 · 4 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Nigeria ways & means, Ethiopia devaluation, SA PMI Nigeria’s government increased the limit of its Ways and Means facility this week, raising concerns that officials are resorting to their bad old ways of deficit monetisation. If tapped persistently... 2nd August 2024 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Doubting the BoE’s hawkish tilt It may seem odd that we’re still forecasting interest rates to fall from 5.00% now to 4.50% this year and to 3.00% next year when the Bank of England said this week that it doesn't expect to cut rates... 2nd August 2024 · 4 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Geopolitical tensions ratchet up risks for Israel An escalation of the conflict in the Middle East risks delaying Israel’s economic recovery even further, adding to pressure on the country's strained public finances, and pushing up risk premia on... 2nd August 2024 · 10 mins read
China Chart Pack China Chart Pack (Jul. 24) Our China Chart Pack has been updated with the latest data and our analysis of recent developments. China’s economy has slowed recently but we think it will regain some momentum during the second half... 2nd August 2024 · 1 min read
China Economics Weekly Investment still the preferred policy lever to pull We wouldn’t take this week’s pledge from the Politburo to tilt stimulus towards consumption at face value. The only concrete measures along these lines that have been announced recently have been more... 2nd August 2024 · 5 mins read
US Economics Focus Trumponomics: Rhetoric versus reality If implemented in full on day one, Donald Trump’s trade, immigration and fiscal policies would together be stagflationary. We suspect that he will be forced to water down his plans, however, and it... 31st July 2024 · 14 mins read
