Africa Economics Weekly Nigeria and Ghana’s contrasting hikes, Niger’s coup We expect Nigeria’s central bank to follow up its underwhelming 25bp interest rate hike this week, with more aggressive action at the next meeting as inflation should have risen sharply. Still, a... 28th July 2023 · 5 mins read
Latin America Economics Weekly Brazil’s debt upgrade, Argentina-IMF, easing cycles Fitch’s decision to upgrade Brazil’s sovereign debt rating this week provides another sign that fiscal concerns in the country are easing, but we remain sceptical that the government will be able to... 28th July 2023 · 9 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Turkey’s Erkan in the spotlight, Israel’s pivotal week Turkey's new central bank governor presented a much more realistic set of inflation forecasts and delivered a convincing message at her first Inflation Report briefing this week. The priority is... 28th July 2023 · 10 mins read
India Economics Weekly BJP faces no-confidence vote, July inflation surge The no-confidence vote that has been triggered against Prime Minister Modi's BJP is highly unlikely to lead to the fall of the government given the BJP's sizeable parliamentary majority. But it may... 28th July 2023 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi sporting focus, Egypt dollar draw, Tunisia loan Saudi Arabia’s Pro League went from the back pages to the front pages this week after Al-Hilal record bid for PSG’s Kylian Mbappé. While the news has put renewed attention on the Kingdom’s sporting... 27th July 2023 · 8 mins read
Latin America Economics Update How can Argentina get out of its crisis? Recently-announced measures by Argentina’s government are merely stopgap solutions and appear to be aimed at staving off a disorderly devaluation ahead of upcoming elections rather than stabilising... 26th July 2023 · 3 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Israel’s judicial reforms present key downside risks The Israeli government’s decision to press ahead with its controversial judicial reforms won’t necessarily cause foreign investment into Israel to dry up, but the direction of policymaking threatens... 25th July 2023 · 4 mins read
China Rapid Response Politburo Meeting (Jul. 23) The readout of the Politburo’s quarterly meeting on economic affairs has just been published by state media. It struck a dovish tone but fell short of delivering any major new announcements. 24th July 2023 · 3 mins read
Europe Rapid Response Spain election result The People’s Party won the most seats at yesterday’s general election but, even together with the far-right VOX, they achieved only 169 seats which leaves them seven short of a majority. With the... 24th July 2023 · 2 mins read
China Economics Weekly Reviving private investment and hiring won’t be easy After making life more difficult for many private firms in recent years, China’s leadership is shifting course and has made high-level pledges to improve the business environment. But although parts... 21st July 2023 · 5 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Weekly Saudi-UAE relations, Saudi inflation, Egyptian LNG A recent report in the Wall Street Journal suggests that tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE have increased. This may raise the threat of the UAE leaving OPEC+, which would result in global oil... 20th July 2023 · 6 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Focus How can Egypt unlock its economic potential? Egyptian policymakers’ commitment (or lack of) to economic orthodoxy continues to provide cause for concern and, while we don’t share the view that sovereign default is a serious risk, the near-term... 20th July 2023 · 19 mins read
Latin America Economics Update A primer on Argentina’s primary election The latest polls ahead of next month’s primaries in Argentina suggest that the country could buck the regional trend by electing a more market-friendly government. In this Update we assess the... 19th July 2023 · 6 mins read
Latin America Economics Weekly Public finance risks in Colombia, boom in Mexico? The concerns about Colombia’s public finances that flared up this week are warranted in our view. We think that the public debt burden will remain well above its pre-pandemic level and higher than in... 14th July 2023 · 5 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Loadshedding in SA, Kenya protests, Nigeria policy shift Cold weather in South Africa prompted officials to return to Stage 6 loadshedding this week, threatening a fresh blow to the economy. We doubt that concerns about the inflationary impact of power cuts... 14th July 2023 · 7 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Focus Sanctions, war and Russia's economy: what next? Russia’s economy has adapted to Western sanctions better than had been expected so far, but maintaining macroeconomic stability is now becoming more challenging and depends in large part on the... 13th July 2023 · 26 mins read