Emerging Europe Economics Update Hungary edges closer to an IMF/EU deal Signs that the European Commission (EC) is willing to be more lenient in its discussions with Hungary over a new IMF/EU financing programme suggest that an agreement could be reached more quickly than... 25th April 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Hungarian government still too sanguine on IMF deal Earlier today we attended a meeting with Hungarian Minister of Economy, Zoltan Csefalvay. We left with the impression that, while the government talks a good game on the need for medium-term economic... 18th April 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Euro-zone crisis still the big risk for region’s banks Our latest Banking Heat Map paints a mixed picture: in some countries (notably Hungary and the Baltic States) credit continues to shrink, in others (Turkey) a boom in lending over the past year or so... 17th April 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Core inflation weakens in Eastern Europe Headline inflation remains above-target in most of Emerging Europe. But inflation fell in several countries last month while core price pressures are subdued everywhere apart from Turkey. 13th April 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Evaluating Hungary’s Early FX Repayment Scheme The introduction of Hungary’s early FX mortgage repayment scheme last September was one in a chain of events that severely dented market confidence in local policymaking and sent the economy to the... 5th April 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Region stabilising, but Q1 growth still lacklustre The manufacturing PMIs for March add to recent data suggesting that, while conditions in Emerging Europe are slowly improving, growth in Q1 of this year was still pretty lacklustre. The sharp jump in... 2nd April 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Chart Pack Market rally loses its shine The rally in financial markets since the start of the year has lost some steam in recent weeks. Most stock markets have fallen by around 2-3% since the start of the month and most currencies lost a... 28th March 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey and Hungary hamstrung by the markets Central banks in both Hungary and Turkey kept interest rates unchanged today as the recent increase in market tensions snuffed out any hope of a shift towards looser policy. We expect the bias towards... 27th March 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Still no sign of a recovery in Budapest office rental values 2011 was a record-breaking year for take-up in the Budapest office market. Yet this failed to drive any form of recovery in office rents. Unfortunately, with employment set to fall and occupier... 26th March 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Focus Why Hungary will opt for default We suspect that Hungary will ultimately turn to some form of default as a way out of its current debt problems. The alternative is further austerity – and while we expect Hungary to pursue this path... 23rd March 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Which European office markets are most at risk of oversupply? Within Europe, office markets in the euro-zone’s peripheral region appear to be most at risk of oversupply over the next two years. But less obviously, office markets in Amsterdam and Budapest also... 20th March 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update It’s the levels, stupid! The wide dispersion of growth rates across Emerging Europe masks big differences in the fundamental health of the region’s economies. In this Watch we explain why looking at levels of GDP is a much... 20th March 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Making sense of the latest inflation data February’s inflation data were stronger than expected across Emerging Europe, fuelling concerns that the recent jump in oil prices is feeding into higher headline inflation. But we think this reading... 14th March 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economic Outlook Growth still set to disappoint Tensions in financial markets have eased in recent months, but the outlook for Emerging Europe remains challenging. We expect the region to grow by just 1.3% this year and 3.0% in 2013. This is well... 14th March 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Commercial Property Update Are deal volumes in Emerging Europe property markets set to fall? Investment market activity across Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) in the final stages of 2011 was not as weak as the initial estimates suggested. Even so, because of the weak economic outlook for most... 13th March 2012 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Q4 data show consumption coming off the boil Final GDP data for Central and South Eastern Europe reinforced the view that Q4 was perhaps not as bad as we might have feared – growth accelerated in Poland and Slovakia and even the beleaguered... 9th March 2012 · 1 min read