Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkish central bank hikes, elections key to rate outlook The Turkish central bank’s decision to hike its one-week repo rate by 125bp, to 17.75%, is a tentative sign that it is shifting its focus away from simply shoring up the lira and towards tackling high... 7th June 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Turkey CPI (May) Despite the sharp rise in Turkish inflation in May, to 12.1% y/y, the rally in lira over the past week or so means that we think that the central bank will decide to stand pat at its MPC meeting on... 4th June 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What next for the Turkish lira? Last week’s emergency rate hike by Turkey’s central bank has caused a rebound in the lira and past experience suggests that the rally may have a bit further to run over the coming weeks. But there are... 31st May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Activity Monitor EM GDP growth stabilises before the sell-off Our EM GDP Tracker suggests that growth stabilised in Q1 and early signs point to growth having picked up at the start of Q2. The recent market stress is likely to push a handful of economies (notably... 29th May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey: more to monetary policy shift than meets the eye The decision by Turkey’s central bank to begin using the one-week repo rate as its key policy tool looks less like an effort to simplify its monetary policy framework (as has been suggested by some)... 29th May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey: tighter financial conditions point to sharp slowdown The plunge in the Turkish lira and dislocation in local markets in recent weeks has resulted in a severe tightening of broader financial conditions. Past experience suggests that a tightening on the... 25th May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Lira collapse to trigger rate hikes The plunge in the Turkish lira over the past few days has been steeper than that which triggered abrupt monetary tightening in 2014 and 2017. We expect the MPC to hold an interim meeting over the... 23rd May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkey: coalescing risks to trigger emergency rate hike Market sentiment towards Turkey is quickly evaporating as fears mount over the build-up of external vulnerabilities, high and rising inflation, and growing concerns that the central bank’s... 16th May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update After Argentina, who might be next? Argentina’s currency crisis and turn to the IMF for financial support have raised questions about how much ammunition EMs’ foreign exchange reserves provide. On the broadest measure of external... 15th May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What does the Turkish lira’s latest fall mean for inflation? The Turkish lira’s decline in recent weeks will keep headline inflation elevated, prompting the central bank to shrug off political pressure and hike interest rates in the coming months. The big risk... 15th May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update The drivers of Turkey’s widening current account deficit The deterioration in Turkey’s current account position since mid-2017 has been driven by a surge in gold imports, a rising energy import bill and strong domestic demand feeding through into imports of... 14th May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What does the fall in the lira mean for Turkey’s FX debts? The latest fall in the Turkish lira doesn’t appear to have resulted in widespread balance sheet strains, but there are significant vulnerabilities in the corporate and banking sectors. This adds to... 8th May 2018 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update Further EM currency weakness likely to be limited Emerging market (EM) currencies have remained under pressure this week, and we expect most to soften further against the dollar. But, with the exceptions of the Turkish lira and Argentine peso, the... 3rd May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Turkey CPI (Apr.) Today’s stronger-than-expected Turkish inflation data will add to fears that the economy is overheating and strengthens the case for the MPC to hike interest rates further over the coming months. 3rd May 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Turkish rate hike brings only temporary relief for the lira The move by the Turkish MPC to hike its late liquidity rate by 75bp today only brought temporary relief for the lira and suggests that markets are unconvinced about policymakers’ willingness to shore... 25th April 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update Lira slump likely to trigger rate hikes Mounting concerns about Turkey’s current account deficit as well as debt problems in the corporate sector are likely to keep the lira under pressure over the coming weeks. As a result, we now expect... 11th April 2018 · 1 min read