Emerging Europe Economic Outlook Turning a corner, but a difficult road ahead Downturns in activity are bottoming out in Emerging Europe, current account deficits are narrowing and disinflation has taken hold across the region. But the road ahead still looks challenging. We... 21st June 2023 · 3 mins read
Europe Economic Outlook Stagflation to drag on, rates near peak We expect the mild recession in the euro-zone to drag on for the rest of the year. The drop-back in energy prices will provide some relief for households and companies but will be partly offset by... 21st June 2023 · 32 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Czech Interest Rate Announcement (June) The Czech National Bank (CNB) left its main policy rate on hold again today, at 7.00%, and the hawkish nature of the post-meeting communications has prompted us to push back the timing at which we... 21st June 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response Bank of England Meeting (Forecast Change) In response to May’s inflation data, released earlier today, we now expect the MPC to raise interest rates by 50bps to 5.00% at tomorrow’s meeting. 21st June 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Consumer Prices (May 2023) The news that CPI inflation stayed at 8.7% in April (consensus 8.4%, BoE 8.3%) and that core CPI inflation rose again, from 6.8% to a new 31-year high of 7.1% (consensus 6.8%), will have been seen in... 21st June 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Public Finances (May 2023) May’s poor public finances figures cast further doubt on the Chancellor’s ability to unveil big pre-election tax cuts while still meeting his fiscal rules. 21st June 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Focus What will be the damage from 6% mortgage rates? A return to mortgage rates of around 6% for the first time since 2007 guarantees a renewed slump in mortgage lending and a further leg down in house prices. Were mortgage rates to be sustained at that... 20th June 2023 · 15 mins read
Asset Allocation Update European equities: no AI, no party? Since bottoming out late last year, European and US equities have fared comparably in local-currency terms, and European stocks have even outperformed in dollar terms. Looking ahead, however, we think... 20th June 2023 · 4 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Hungary Interest Rate Announcement (June) 20th June 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Economic Outlook Stagflation nation As the UK’s recent problem of higher inflation and slower economic growth than elsewhere is largely due to the lingering effects of the pandemic and Brexit, we think the UK will probably look like the... 19th June 2023 · 20 mins read
Europe Commercial Property Update Will there be a reckoning for European offices? The latest MSCI data indicate that values in western European office markets have held up better since the start of the pandemic when compared with the US and UK. But given these cities face similar... 16th June 2023 · 4 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Poland’s minimum wage hike and FX mortgage ruling The Polish government’s proposal this week to increase the national minimum wage by another eye-watering 20% or so in 2024 means that wage and inflation pressures could prove even more sticky than we... 16th June 2023 · 9 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Growing pains in the gilt, mortgage and rental markets The surge in gilt yields above the level reached after the Truss/Kwarteng mini-budget last September has pushed mortgage rates even higher and illustrates that most of the drag on real activity and... 16th June 2023 · 10 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Hawkish ECB, weak economy The ECB’s messaging this week was hawkish and suggests that the risks are skewed towards the ECB’s deposit rate rising above our forecast to a peak of 3.75%. Recent data support the Bank’s view that... 16th June 2023 · 6 mins read
Global Markets Update Investors may be underestimating eventual rate cuts How low Fed and ECB policy rates will go, when they are eventually normalised, is at least as important for financial markets as the precise timings of the ends of tightening cycles, in our view. We... 16th June 2023 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Inflation falling but SNB set to hike rates further Policymakers are likely to raise the policy rate by 50bp to 2% next Thursday, despite inflation falling sharply this year. And SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan’s view that Switzerland’s neutral interest... 15th June 2023 · 4 mins read