Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Fiscal concerns in Turkey, Hungary’s current account Investors in Turkey will be nervously waiting to see if President Erdogan can persuade President Trump at the G20 to approve Turkey’s purchase of a Russian missile defence system, lifting the threat... 28th June 2019 · 9 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Hungary’s current account deficit to widen further Weak export growth has caused Hungary’s current account balance to swing from a large surplus in 2016 to a small deficit, which is set to widen further. One consequence is that the forint is likely to... 4th June 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Hungarian stimulus, Ukraine & IMF, Turkey’s double-dip The fiscal stimulus package unveiled in Hungary this week adds to reasons to think that the economy will grow more quickly than most anticipate over the course of this year. Meanwhile, positive... 31st May 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What’s behind the strength of Hungarian inflation? The recent pick-up in Hungarian core inflation is partly a result of tax changes but also reflects rapid wage growth, and this is likely to cause underlying price pressures to continue to build. We... 9th May 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Hungary reluctantly hikes interest rates Today’s very small interest rate hike in Hungary was the least that policymakers could do to show their commitment to the inflation target. But so long as key euro-zone export markets don’t weaken... 26th March 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Hungarian outperformance driven by one-off boosts Hungary was one of the fastest-growing EMs in the final quarter of last year. But almost all this was due to temporary factors and we expect that GDP growth will slow sharply this year. 21st February 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly CEE core inflation rising, CBRT considering backdoor easing? Data released this week showing a pick-up in core inflation in Hungary and the Czech Republic support our view that, unless the activity figures take a sharp turn for the worse, central banks in both... 15th February 2019 · 1 min read
Non-Euro Europe Commercial Property Chart Pack Office sector outperforms; retail in the doldrums Occupier markets are seeing diverging fortunes, with occupier demand for office and industrial space extremely strong, but retailers battling a number of headwinds. This is likely to set the tone for... 15th February 2019 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Hungary’s MPC hints that tightening is on its way The statement accompanying today’s Hungarian MPC meeting provided the clearest sign yet that policymakers are shifting towards the start of a tightening cycle. For our part, we think that interest... 18th December 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Hungary courts controversy, Russian economy picking up The creation of a controversial parallel new court system in Hungary – signed into law on Wednesday – will bring the government into further conflict with Brussels, but the economic impact is only... 14th December 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Oil lower, Russia’s response, Polish rates Lower oil prices will benefit most countries in Emerging Europe and, for the major loser, Russia, oil at $60pb is manageable – although we do think that it will agree with Saudi Arabia to cut oil... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Fiscal support will boost Polish & Czech economies Strong budget positions in Poland and the Czech Republic will allow governments to ramp up spending next year. That’s one key reason why we expect that GDP growth in 2019 in these countries will be... 27th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update How will Hungary’s National Bank tighten policy? We’ve argued for a long time that the monetary stance of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) is far too accommodative, and it finally appears that tightening is on the horizon. The complex nature of the... 19th November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Car emission tests not the key driver of CEE Q3 slowdown The net impact of a new vehicle emissions testing procedure on Q3 GDP growth appears to have been minimal in Poland and the Czech Republic, but could have knocked up to 0.4%-pts off quarter-on-quarter... 8th November 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Budapest offices to see one last hurrah in 2019 Delays on development projects mean that demand will comfortably exceed completions next year, driving rental values higher again. Thereafter, annual completions could reach in excess of 300,000 sqm... 2nd November 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Czech & Hungarian CPI (Sep.) We think that the unexpected drop in Czech inflation last month, to 2.3% y/y, will persuade the MPC to pause its tightening cycle at next month’s meeting. Elsewhere, a further rise in inflation in... 9th October 2018 · 1 min read