Europe Economics Update Norges Bank rate cuts inching closer Inflation in Norway has fallen more quickly than Norges Bank expected, so at next week’s meeting it is likely to signal that it will cut interest rates sooner than it previously expected, perhaps in... 14th March 2024 · 2 mins read
Europe Commercial Property Update Rents rising but a retail renaissance in 2024 is unlikely The revival of prime retail rental growth in 2023 ended a three-year rental decline for the sector. This likely marks the end of retail’s rental woes and we have nudged up our prime rent forecast for... 14th March 2024 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Update ECB to maintain a bond portfolio indefinitely The ECB’s new operational framework for implementing monetary policy, announced this afternoon, was largely in line with our expectations and has no immediate implications for monetary policy. But it... 13th March 2024 · 3 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Russia Consumer Prices (Feb.) The rise in Russian inflation to 7.7% y/y in February highlights that price pressures in the economy remain strong and we think inflation is likely to increase further in the coming months. We doubt... 13th March 2024 · 2 mins read
Europe Rapid Response Euro-zone Industrial Production (January 2024) Euro-zone industrial production fell in January and is likely to continue contracting in the coming months due to weak demand. 13th March 2024 · 2 mins read
Europe Commercial Property Update Peak in yields is near, but little scope for compression Improved valuations suggest that the price correction in prime property is almost done. However, with little scope for bond yields in continental Europe to fall from here and property-to-bond yield... 13th March 2024 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK GDP (Jan. 2024) The news that the economy expanded by 0.2% m/m in January (consensus and CE forecast 0.2% m/m) suggests the UK economy may already have moved out of recession and implies there is some upside to our... 13th March 2024 · 3 mins read
Europe Chart Pack Europe Chart Pack (Mar. 2024) The timeliest data support our long-held view that the euro-zone economy will remain close to recession in the first half of the year. Beyond that, we think growth will be much lower than the... 12th March 2024 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Three key stories from Turkey's balance of payments Turkey’s balance of payments figures for January showed that the current account deficit continued to narrow, but the drop in capital inflows in recent months is a concern and it appears that this... 12th March 2024 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Focus Why is euro-zone productivity falling? Productivity in the euro-zone has been falling for well over a year. We think this is largely because it was unsustainably high in mid-2022 as many companies struggled to fill vacancies. Since then... 12th March 2024 · 8 mins read
UK Economics Update April’s rise in minimum wage will keep the BoE on alert We doubt the big rise in the minimum wage in April will prevent wage growth from falling faster this year than the Bank of England has forecast. But the clear risk is that it supports wage growth and... 11th March 2024 · 5 mins read
Europe Rapid Response Norway CPI (February 2024) February’s inflation data from Norway strengthen our conviction that Norges Bank will cut interest rates much sooner than its forecasts suggest. 11th March 2024 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Wage data point to June cut; worrying demographics Christine Lagarde’s comments following the ECB meeting and the Q4 wage data released this week support our view that the ECB will start cutting rates in June. Meanwhile, news that EU births fell to a... 8th March 2024 · 7 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly HUF struggles, Russia’s election coming into view The dispute between the Hungarian central bank and the government heated up further this week, which has fuelled a narrative that threats to central bank independence are responsible for the recent... 8th March 2024 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Weekly BoE’s inflation forecast looks like an outlier The Office for Budget Responsibility’s big downward revision to its CPI inflation forecast in this week’s Budget brings it more into line with our forecast for inflation to fall below the 2.0% target... 8th March 2024 · 9 mins read
