India Chart Pack State election victories strengthen BJP’s hand The state election victories for Prime Minister Modi’s BJP in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh ensure that the ruling party remains firmly on track to secure a majority in the Rajya Sabha (upper... 19th December 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Piñera prevails but reform agenda will meet resistance Sebastián Piñera won the second round of Chile’s presidential election, but difficulties in Congress may make it hard to implement parts of his market-friendly reform agenda, including cuts to the... 18th December 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Chart Pack Nearing full employment Japan’s economy will expand the most this year since 2013. Yet the unemployment rate hasn’t fallen any further since the start of the year. This isn’t due to a surge in productivity that has reduced... 18th December 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Sufficient progress paves way for transition agreement The EU Council’s decision to sign off “sufficient progress” opens the door to agreeing a transition period, which would see the UK remain in the Customs Union and Single Market until 2021, early next... 15th December 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly What to expect in 2018 We expect Japan’s GDP growth to slow next year as the economy is now operating above capacity. Price and wage pressures should strengthen somewhat but inflation will remain well below the Bank of... 15th December 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Tankan (Q4) Today’s Tankan survey showed that business conditions didn’t improve much further this quarter which suggests that growth is now slowing. Nonetheless, capacity and staff shortages continue to... 15th December 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Machinery Orders (Oct.) The rebound in machinery orders left them no higher than their Q3 average, but we’ve still pencilled in another rise in business investment this quarter. 13th December 2017 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Focus Saudi politics emerges as key economic risk Saudi politics has been a staid affair for decades, but Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s launch of an anti-corruption crackdown and his ratcheting up of tensions with Iran herald a period of greater... 12th December 2017 · 1 min read
India Economics Focus Are India’s banks in the clear? The recapitalisation package recently announced by the government is the most significant measure yet to tidy up India’s beleaguered banking system and should all but enable India’s banks to meet... 11th December 2017 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly European Monetary Fund is no silver bullet The European Commission’s (EC) latest proposals for euro-zone reform and integration centred on the transformation of the European Stability Mechanism into a European Monetary Fund (EMF). The EC plans... 8th December 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update EU to give green light for phase two of negotiations With the European Commission satisfied that “sufficient progress” has been made on the first phase of the Brexit negotiations, an important milestone on the road to Brexit has been reached. There are... 8th December 2017 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update What would an AMLO presidency mean for Mexico? Mexico’s presidential election race is starting to take shape, with Finance Minister José Antonio Meade this month stepping down from his post in order to run on the ticket of the ruling PRI party... 7th December 2017 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Focus Will the Bank of Japan follow the Fed and the ECB? A long period of sustained economic growth has helped drive unemployment in Japan to its lowest level in nearly a quarter of a century. Nonetheless, inflation and wage growth are both barely positive... 7th December 2017 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update A guide to elections in 2018 In this note we publish a guide to elections that are scheduled across the emerging world in 2018. The calendar is busier than it was in 2017 but, whereas elections this year boosted the prospects for... 6th December 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Economy maintaining its momentum in Q4 The Office for National Statistics confirmed that GDP grew by 0.4% in Q3 and the economy appears to have maintained its recent momentum so far in the fourth quarter. Indeed, November’s Markit/CIPS... 5th December 2017 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Brexit bill breakthrough is a positive step forward While the UK Government’s revised offer on the financial settlement with the EU is a positive step forwards, it is not sufficient alone to progress negotiations to the next phase. Meanwhile, if... 1st December 2017 · 1 min read