Latin America Economics Update Brazil fiscal package: lofty rhetoric, but implementation a risk Brazil’s Finance Minister, Henrique Meirelles, has unveiled the first part of his planned fiscal adjustment. Our initial take is that the plans are lofty in ambition, but so far lacking in detail... 24th May 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Focus Is Europe heading back into crisis? With the recovery in the euro-zone economy set to slow and the peripheral countries still facing a Herculean task to address their fiscal problems, there is a danger that Europe’s debt crisis will... 24th May 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Austrian result offers only brief respite from far-right’s rise The election of pro-immigration and -EU Alexander Van der Bellen as Austria’s next president keeps the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) out of office for now. But the FPÖ remain the top party in general... 24th May 2016 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update Manufacturing PMI points to sharp slowdown in Q2 The fifth straight drop in the manufacturing PMI in May suggests that economic momentum slowed sharply in the second quarter. 24th May 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Treasury’s Brexit recession warning seems overdone We think the Treasury (HMT) report, published today, suggesting that the UK will go into recession if it leaves the EU goes a bit far. Existing trading relationships will remain in place over the two... 23rd May 2016 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Would Brexit really be a game-changer for global markets? The trends in the opinion polls and in bookmakers’ odds suggest that a UK vote to leave the EU (“ Brexit ”) would now be a major surprise. Given this, the initial uncertainty caused by Brexit would... 23rd May 2016 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What would Brexit mean for Eastern Europe? With one month to go to the UK’s referendum on whether to remain in or leave the EU, concerns are growing in some quarters that a “Brexit” vote could harm Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). As things... 23rd May 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Update Brexit Watch: Remain poll surge eases markets’ Brexit jitters This week saw the campaign to remain in the EU surge ahead in opinion polls, helping to ease investors’ Brexit worries. Meanwhile, strong retail sales data suggest that consumers haven’t been as badly... 20th May 2016 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly How long can pensioners keep spending? Population ageing has weighed on the average employee’s disposable income as social security contributions have risen by nearly 50% over the past fifteen years, and will continue rising in future... 20th May 2016 · 1 min read
UK Economics Chart Pack Consumers shrug off Brexit uncertainty The consumer recovery appears to have got back on track, at least as far as the official retail sales figures indicate. Indeed, consumer confidence still seems to be holding up well despite the... 19th May 2016 · 1 min read
Frontier Markets Wrap Frontier market governments push for reform Low commodity prices, slower growth and a string of elections have prompted a move towards reform in a handful of frontier market economies in recent months. But while these governments have made... 19th May 2016 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Argentina: policy tightening underway, but work still to do Argentina’s long-overdue policy tightening – needed to address the country’s entrenched inflation problem – is finally underway, but with the fiscal deficit still large and inflation in excess of 40%... 19th May 2016 · 1 min read
India Economics Update State election results brighten reform outlook Regional parties have dominated the state elections held over the past month, but there has also been an apparent strengthening of support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP at the local level. On... 19th May 2016 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Philippines GDP (Q1) Today’s Q1 GDP data for the Philippines showed that Rodrigo Duterte, the country’s president elect, will be handed an economy that is in very good health. The foundations are in place for growth to... 19th May 2016 · 1 min read
China Economics Update Can China afford to bail out its banks? China’s government has the resources to clean up the bad debts in its financial system. Even if the corporate sector were to default on a quarter of its debt and the government responded by bailing... 19th May 2016 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Will Dutch consumers keep on spending? Despite the recent falls in consumer confidence, there are a number of reasons to be positive about the outlook for household spending in the Netherlands over the coming years. Nevertheless, worries... 18th May 2016 · 1 min read
