Asia Economics Update Tourism to drag regional growth lower as virus spreads A sharp fall in Chinese tourist arrivals will hit economic growth in Emerging Asia hard this quarter. The impact will be even more severe if the disruption spreads to the region’s industrial sectors. 28th January 2020 · 3 mins read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update A poor end to the decade for Saudi Arabia’s economy Our GDP Tracker suggests that the downturn in Saudi Arabia’s economy deepened at the end of last year as the drag from oil production cuts intensified. A recovery is likely to take hold this year, but... 27th January 2020 · 2 mins read
Europe Economics Weekly Official growth forecasts still too optimistic 24th January 2020 · 9 mins read
UK Data Response IHS Markit/CIPS Flash PMIs (Jan.) The large rebound in January’s flash activity PMIs will probably be enough to prevent the Monetary Policy Committee from cutting interest rates at next Thursday’s meeting. After all, it’s the surest... 24th January 2020 · 3 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Wuhan virus threat, BoJ’s forward guidance The surge in inbound tourism in general and in Chinese tourist arrivals in particular means that the Wuhan coronavirus may knock off around 0.5%-pt from GDP growth in the first quarter. Amid mounting... 24th January 2020 · 6 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA’s wiggle room won’t last The improvement in the labour market in December alongside the surge in retail sales in November should be enough to keep the RBA on the sidelines in February. But we think weak economic activity will... 24th January 2020 · 4 mins read
India Economics Weekly FDI inflows likely to rise further The rise in FDI inflows to India in 2019 reported by UNCTAD this week is a welcome development and we expect inflows to increase further over the coming years. A key risk is the Modi government’s... 24th January 2020 · 3 mins read
Japan Data Response Flash Manufacturing PMI (Jan.) January’s flash manufacturing PMI showed activity in the sector has finally started to rebound. That’s consistent with recent signs of recovery in domestic and global demand. However, we think any... 24th January 2020 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand - Consumer Prices (Q4) The strong rise in headline inflation from 1.5% in Q3 to 1.9% in Q4 should be enough to prevent the RBNZ cutting rates in February. And given that we now expect a strengthening in economic activity to... 23rd January 2020 · 2 mins read
US Economics Focus The impact of a second Trump term on the economy If President Donald Trump were to win a second term, we’d expect both fiscal and monetary policy to remain loose, amid a push to install a more dovish Fed Chair in 2022. There would also be an upside... 23rd January 2020 · 21 mins read
Emerging Europe Data Response Poland Activity Data (Dec.) The batch of Polish activity data for December suggest that GDP growth weakened from 3.9% y/y in Q3 to a three-year low of 3.5% y/y in Q4. The slowdown in growth reinforces our view that the central... 23rd January 2020 · 2 mins read
Asia Data Response Philippines GDP (Q4) GDP growth picked up pace again in the final quarter of last year, but with the big boost from government spending likely to fade this year, we think this will be as good as it gets. 23rd January 2020 · 3 mins read
Japan Data Response External Trade (Dec.) We estimate that net trade boosted GDP growth by around 0.4 percentage points in Q4. However, much of that reflects soft domestic demand following October’s sales tax hike. We expect the external... 23rd January 2020 · 2 mins read
Asia Economics Update Indonesia: reform package key test for Jokowi The legislation that President Joko Widodo has presented to parliament, which includes proposals to cut red tape, lower taxes and free up the labour market, would form the basis of any foreign... 22nd January 2020 · 3 mins read
UK Data Response CBI Industrial Trends (Jan.) & Public Finances (Dec.) The rebound in the main balances of the CBI Industrial Trends Survey in January offers further evidence that sentiment has taken an upward turn after the general election. This should help to convince... 22nd January 2020 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Bank Negara Malaysia likely to cut again this year Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) today cut its policy rate from 3.00% to 2.75%, and with growth set to slow further over the next couple of quarters, we think the central bank will ease policy again later... 22nd January 2020 · 3 mins read
