Europe Rapid Response Euro-zone GDP (2nd est.) & Employment (Q4 2023) Data released this morning confirm that the euro-zone economy stagnated in Q4 and we expect this to continue in the first half of the year. 14th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Central & Eastern Europe GDP (Q4 2023) Q4 GDP figures out of Central and Eastern Europe showed that the region ended last year on a weak note, but the outlook for 2024 looks brighter. While soft external demand is likely to remain a drag... 14th February 2024 · 3 mins read
Global Economics Focus Have we reached the end of the housing correction? Housing markets in developed economies have perplexed forecasters since 2019. The boom in prices in 2020-22 was not anticipated, and the fall in prices since has been smaller than expected. In this... 14th February 2024 · 17 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Consumer Prices (Jan. 2024) By staying at 4.0% in January rather than rising as widely expected (BoE 4.1%, CE 4.1%, consensus 4.2%), January’s UK CPI inflation figures are better than expected and do not mimic yesterday’s... 14th February 2024 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Focus What does the election mean for the UK economy? The next general election won’t be as pivotal for the economy or the markets as the elections in 2017 and 2019. Moreover, whoever wins will be constrained by interest rates having risen relative to... 13th February 2024 · 31 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Romania Interest Rate Announcement (Feb.) The National Bank of Romania (NBR) left its policy rate on hold at 7.00% again today and, while interest rate cuts are likely to start around mid-year, we think that monetary easing will be less... 13th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Europe Economics Update SNB to use FX interventions more sparingly Chairman Thomas Jordan’s recent comments about the franc raise questions over whether the SNB might use FX interventions to loosen monetary conditions. But we think policymakers will use the policy... 13th February 2024 · 4 mins read
Europe Rapid Response Swiss CPI (January) The large decrease in headline inflation in Switzerland in January means the inflation rate looks sure to undershoot the SNB’s Q1 forecast of 1.8%. Along with the fall in core inflation, we think this... 13th February 2024 · 2 mins read
UK Economics Rapid Response UK Labour Market (Dec. 2023) While wage growth fell further in December, evidence that the labour market may not be loosening much suggests wage growth may not fall as fast as we expect. 13th February 2024 · 3 mins read
Europe Commercial Property Update Stronger supply cuts Madrid office outperformance A robust labour market will support Spanish office occupier demand to a greater extent than elsewhere in the euro-zone in the next few years. As a result, we think prime office rent growth will... 12th February 2024 · 4 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Czech euro adoption, Glapinski turns hawkish The Czech government’s debate on adopting the euro took another step forward this week, although we think that the potential benefits of joining the single currency union would be outweighed by the... 9th February 2024 · 9 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Bad news coming, but better times ahead We’d recommend ignoring any reports on the back of next week’s data releases that the UK economy is heading in the wrong direction on inflation and activity. It may only be a few months before... 9th February 2024 · 11 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB policymakers view patience as a virtue ECB policymakers have continued to push back against the prospect of rate cuts this spring. But they won't feel bound by that guidance if their assessment of the inflation outlook changes. So we still... 9th February 2024 · 7 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Focus CEE: rapid labour cost growth eroding competitiveness The surge in labour costs across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in recent years has led to a sharp loss of competitiveness and raised concern about the impact on the region. We remain relatively... 9th February 2024 · 19 mins read
Europe Rapid Response Norway CPI (Jan. 2024) January’s continued fall in core inflation in Norway, and renewed fall in the headline rate, support our view that price pressures will ease more quickly this year than Norges Bank is forecasting. We... 9th February 2024 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Rapid Response Czech Interest Rate Announcement (Feb.) The Czech National Bank accelerated the pace of its monetary easing cycle today with a 50bp interest rate cut, to 6.25%, and the post-meeting communications support our view that an even larger... 8th February 2024 · 2 mins read
