Japan Data Response Retail Sales (Sep.) The drop in retail sales in September suggests that consumer spending fell yet again in Q3. That’s one reason why we expect GDP to contract in Q3. 29th October 2018 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Weekly The Bolsonaro boost; Amlo, energy and populism The growing optimism in Brazil’s markets about a likely victory for Jair Bolsonaro in the presidential election this Sunday is increasingly difficult to square with events on the ground. In Mexico... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
Frontier Markets Wrap Frontier external risks still a big concern A handful of the more vulnerable Frontier Markets, including Ukraine, Pakistan and Bahrain, have received (or are close to getting) IMF or bilateral funding, but external risks remain a key concern... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB unfazed by weak surveys, Italy in the spotlight Euro-zone surveys published this week painted a pretty gloomy picture of the economy at the start of Q4. Some of that weakness probably reflected temporary factors and the ECB didn’t appear to be too... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
US Economics Weekly Shifting policy mix means it’s all downhill from here The recent slump in stock markets is hard to square with the 3.5% annualised gain in third-quarter GDP that follows an even more impressive 4.2% rise in the second. Looking at the details of that... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
US Data Response GDP (Q3 1st Estimate) At 3.5% annualised, GDP growth remained unusually strong in the third quarter, thanks partly to this year’s fiscal stimulus, but there are signs that higher interest rates are beginning to have a... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
Global Economics Focus Will tighter monetary policy cause the next big downturn? We expect the Fed’s monetary policy tightening cycle, which is now well underway, to contribute to a slowdown in the US economy during 2019-2020. And tighter monetary policy may also trigger downturns... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Weekly Poor election results to prompt Polish fiscal splurge The worse-than-expected performance of the ruling PiS party in Poland’s local elections last weekend is likely to prompt policymakers in Warsaw to ramp up social spending ahead of next year’s... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly No quick fix for Pakistan, Korea slowdown to persist Pakistan this week secured a US$6bn loan from Saudi Arabia and has plans to court Chinese money. These deals may help paper over the cracks, but they won’t solve the economy’s balance of payments... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Regional banks in the spotlight, Abe in China We still think that the solution to the continued fall in regional banks’ capital ratios is a reduction in the number of lenders rather than an increase in the BoJ’s 10-year yield target. Japan’s... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
India Economics Weekly Jump in bank lending growth has further to run Data released this week show that bank lending to the private sector grew at its fastest rate since 2014 in September, and there are good reasons to think that the sustained pick-up since the start of... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Housing matters Falling equity and house prices have both made the news this week. But when it comes to what is going to influence the Australian economy, housing matters much more. The weakening housing market is... 26th October 2018 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Brazil and Argentina: reform hopes rising… for now The sharp rallies in the Argentine peso and Brazilian real reflect growing optimism that economic policymaking will improve in both countries, but markets seem to be looking through the political... 25th October 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Chart Pack Regional growth slowed in Q3 After a strong Q2, growth in Emerging Europe as a whole slowed in Q3, from 3.5% y/y to around 2.8% y/y. In Russia and Poland, this slowdown has been relatively gradual and driven by weakness in... 25th October 2018 · 1 min read
US Data Response Durable Goods & Advance Economic Indicators (Sep.) The September durable goods data confirm that equipment investment growth rebounded in the third quarter, although the recent slowdown in new orders growth suggests that strength won’t be sustained. 25th October 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response German Ifo Survey (Oct.) The further fall in the Ifo Business Climate Indicator (BCI) in October suggests that while the German economy is still growing at a decent pace, we are unlikely to see a return to the rates of growth... 25th October 2018 · 1 min read
