India Economics Weekly Debt moratorium extension, shifting geopolitical sands The likely extension of the RBI’s debt moratorium will help smooth near-term cash flow issues for firms and households but, in the absence of additional financial support from the government, this won... 24th July 2020 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Update Will Asia benefit from China’s strong rebound? China’s rapid economic recovery from the Global Financial Crisis did not play as big a role as is commonly assumed in supporting growth in the rest of Asia. We doubt a strong rebound in China from the... 24th July 2020 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update Recovery in business investment will lag the rest of the recovery The coronavirus crisis is a new type of recession, but all the normal reasons why business investment recovers slowly from downturns still apply and the uncertainty about Brexit is an additional drag... 23rd July 2020 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Focus Will the pandemic hurt Japan’s long-run prospects? We do not expect the coronavirus crisis to undermine Japan’s long-term prospects. Capital accumulation will slow but there shouldn’t be a big impact on the supply of labour. And given that the... 23rd July 2020 · 21 mins read
Asia Data Response Korea GDP (Q2, Provisional) Korean GDP shrank sharply in Q2 on the back of the largest drop in exports since 1963, but output probably bottomed out in the middle of the quarter. The recovery, which is already underway, is set to... 23rd July 2020 · 3 mins read
India Chart Pack Rupee could weaken even if risk appetite holds up After hitting an all-time low in April, the rupee has strengthened by 3% against the US dollar as risk appetite has returned to global financial markets. But while we think risky assets generally –... 22nd July 2020 · 9 mins read
Japan Data Response Flash PMIs (Jul.) Both the manufacturing and the services PMI only improved a little bit in July which suggests that the recovery from the pandemic will be more protracted than elsewhere. 22nd July 2020 · 2 mins read
Emerging Europe Data Response Poland Activity Data (Jun.) The rebound in Polish industrial production and retail sales in June suggests that the contraction in GDP in Q2 may be in the order of 4% y/y, much smaller than the 8-9% y/y we had expected. Activity... 21st July 2020 · 3 mins read
Japan Data Response Consumer Prices (Jun.) While headline inflation was unchanged for the third-straight month in June, we expect it to fall much further over the medium-term. We think inflation will turn consistently negative in the second... 21st July 2020 · 2 mins read
Japan Data Response External Trade (Jun.) Export volumes were little changed in June but they should rebound soon as many of Japan’s trading partners are on the mend. By contrast, import volumes never fell much despite the slump in domestic... 20th July 2020 · 2 mins read
China Economics Weekly The upside to China’s wary consumers Household consumption in China remained stubbornly weak in Q2 despite the rapid rebound in GDP. But this isn’t a reason to be overly concerned about the immediate outlook. With fiscal stimulus still... 17th July 2020 · 5 mins read
China Economics Update An uneven recovery, especially within services The detailed breakdown of China’s Q2 GDP data published today raises some questions about the purported speed of the recovery. Generally though, it is consistent with broader evidence of a sharp... 17th July 2020 · 4 mins read
China Data Response GDP (Q2), Activity & Spending (Jun.) After a sharp contraction in Q1, the economy bounced back strongly in Q2, with the level of GDP reaching a new high. What’s more, the monthly activity and spending figures show that growth was still... 16th July 2020 · 3 mins read
Latin America Economics Update Industry weighing on Mexico’s economy The struggles in Mexico’s industrial sector suggests that GDP fell by around 20% q/q in Q2. And the weak prospects for the sector will dampen Mexico’s economic recovery over the coming quarters. 15th July 2020 · 3 mins read
US Data Response Industrial Production (Jun.) The 5.4% rise in industrial production last month was driven by an even stronger 7.2% gain in manufacturing output as producers, particularly in the auto sector, reopened factories to catch up with... 15th July 2020 · 2 mins read
Africa Economics Update Taking stock of Africa’s Covid crisis The number of coronavirus cases has continued to rise sharply in South Africa, making it more likely that the government will tighten containment measures, which would add to reasons to expect a slow... 15th July 2020 · 4 mins read
