India Data Response GDP (Q2) The record y/y rise in Indian GDP in Q2 (Q1 of FY21/22) was due entirely to base effects. We estimate that the economy shrank by 12% in q/q terms as India struggled with its Delta outbreak. Timely... 31st August 2021 · 3 mins read
Europe Economics Focus Getting a handle on euro-zone wage data Euro-zone wage data are published only quarterly, and with a long lag, and have been distorted by pandemic-related effects. So it will be another six months before we get a clearer idea of the... 31st August 2021 · 14 mins read
China Chart Pack Party soon to target property and healthcare costs A WeChat post by a prominent blogger voicing support for Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” campaign has been widely re-published by state media, giving it a rare seal of Party approval. The post argues... 31st August 2021 · 13 mins read
UK Economics Money & Credit (Jul.) The latest money and credit figures do little to ease mounting concerns that the resurgence in virus cases in July and so-called “pingdemic” brought the consumer recovery to a halt. 31st August 2021 · 3 mins read
China Data Response China Official PMIs (Aug.) The latest surveys suggest that China’s economy contracted last month as virus disruptions weighed heavily on services activity. Industry also continued to come off the boil as supply chain... 31st August 2021 · 2 mins read
Japan Data Response Labour Market & Industrial Production (Jul. 2021) While the Delta wave may reverse some of July’s jump in employment, we think vaccines will allow employment to surpass its pre-virus level by the end of this year. Meanwhile, the fall in industrial... 31st August 2021 · 3 mins read
Japan Data Response Japan Retail Sales (Jul. 2021) While retail sales recovered further in July, the high frequency data point to a renewed fall in August as the Delta wave intensified and we’ve pencilled in a 0.8% drop in private consumption in Q3. 30th August 2021 · 2 mins read
Latin America Economics Weekly Brazil at breaking point, Argentina’s SDRs, Chile pensions Brazil’s institutional crisis took a turn for the worse this week, and points to an environment in which fiscal risks will grow and the economic reform agenda will be put on the backburner. Elsewhere... 27th August 2021 · 7 mins read
Africa Economics Weekly Rising political risks in Ethiopia, SA GDP revision’s pros? An internal political conflict in Ethiopia is escalating with an all-out civil war no longer a remote prospect. Strains in the country’s already fragile balance sheet are growing and a messy sovereign... 27th August 2021 · 5 mins read
US Economics Weekly Delta spreads; consumption slows; Powell stalls The Delta-variant linked surge in coronavirus cases continues and has now spread well beyond just one or two southern states. Moreover, even in those southern states, particularly Florida, new case... 27th August 2021 · 7 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Housing proposals unlikely to amount to much Housing has emerged as one of the key issues in the federal election campaign but, even if some of the latest proposals are implemented, we doubt that they would have much impact on house prices. 27th August 2021 · 6 mins read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Russia’s giveaways, NBP’s hawkishness, Turkey and SDRs Russia's government this week unveiled new lump-sum payments to pensioners and military personnel ahead of September's election, strengthening our above-consensus views on inflation and interest rates... 27th August 2021 · 7 mins read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Weekly Survey synchronisation; NOK resurgence The sharp fall in the forward-looking Swiss investor sentiment indicator in August mirrored the pattern seen in the German Ifo. While sentiment was bound to soften sooner or later and Switzerland has... 27th August 2021 · 6 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Business surveys point to continued recovery The business surveys for August published this week provided some reassurance that the euro-zone economy is continuing to grow at a decent pace. And the decline in the forward-looking components is... 27th August 2021 · 8 mins read
UK Economics Weekly Shortages threatening to stifle the recovery The list of anecdotal reports of labour and product shortages has grown ever longer in the past week and pose two major risks to the economy. First, that the near-term recovery will be slower than we... 27th August 2021 · 4 mins read
Africa Chart Pack Economic damage report from latest virus waves The evidence from the latest COVID-19 waves sweeping through Sub-Saharan Africa point to a smaller economic blow compared to previous waves. Of course, there is a considerable degree of divergence... 27th August 2021 · 13 mins read