Europe Economics Update Riksbank will ignore “Beyoncé theory” and raise rates Some observers have suggested that the strength of Swedish inflation in May reflected buoyant demand driven by Beyoncé’s Stockholm concerts but the Riksbank is more likely to view it as evidence that... 22nd June 2023 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update SNB hikes by 25bp and signals more to come The 25bp rate hike announced by the SNB this morning was smaller than the 50bp hike we had predicted. But the accompanying statement and upward revision to inflation forecasts for 2024 and 2025... 22nd June 2023 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update Norges Bank steps up the pace, more hikes to come Today’s 50bp rate hike by the Norges Bank, taking its policy rate to 3.75%, was accompanied by new hawkish guidance and projections. As a result, we have revised up our already above-consensus... 22nd June 2023 · 3 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Poland Activity Data (May) May’s industrial production and retail sales data out of Poland were weaker than expected and are consistent with our forecast that GDP growth remained negative in year-on-year terms in Q2. Over 2023... 22nd June 2023 · 2 mins read
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