UK Economics Update Household Borrowing Monitor (May) Housing market activity, and therefore mortgage lending, remains subdued. But growth in unsecured household borrowing maintained its pace in May. And still-solid consumer confidence suggests that it... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
UK Data Response Quarterly National Accounts (Q1) Despite the upward revision to Q1 GDP growth, the breakdown left the economy looking a little more fragile than before. But there are still reasons to be optimistic about the growth outlook. 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Weekly Teflon Abe is back, labour market tightening rapidly Japan has looked to be at full employment for some time but the latest releases have called that assumption into question and raised the possibility that wage growth – and the Bank of Japan’s hopes of... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Weekly S. Africa employment, Nigeria targets imports again This week’s South African employment figures were less positive than they appear at first glance. Elsewhere, official economic growth slowed in Ghana in Q1. New poverty estimates caused a storm in... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
UK Data Response GfK/NOP Consumer Confidence (Jun.) June’s GfK/NOP survey showed that consumer confidence dipped at the end of Q2. But with real wages set to rise more strongly towards the end of the year, sentiment and consumer spending growth should... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Data Response Swiss KOF (June) & Danish GDP (Q1, 2nd est.) The small rise in the KOF Economic Barometer in June suggests that the Swiss economy will continue to grow at a decent pace. But with still little sign that this is generating inflationary pressures... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Economics Update What should we make of Russia’s data revisions? The upwards revisions to Russia’s industrial production figures have raised concerns about the quality of the data but, based on the figures released so far, the new series does seem to reflect... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Data Response Vietnam GDP (Q2) Vietnam’s economy recorded another quarter of strong growth in the second quarter of the year. While growth should remain robust in the near term, helped by continued solid export demand and loose... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Labour Market & Ind. Prod. (May) & Tokyo CPI (Jun.) While industrial output fell slightly in May, the economy should have returned to growth in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the labour market continues to tighten and there are signs that this is now... 29th June 2018 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Asian markets take a beating on trade war fears Rising US-China trade tensions, fears over the outlook for China’s domestic economy and the uncertain outlook over US monetary policy have all weighed heavily on the region’s financial markets over... 28th June 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Chart Pack Hawkish shift across the region Central banks across Emerging Europe have become increasingly hawkish in the past few weeks, supporting our view that policy in the region will (in most places) be tighter than most expect over the... 28th June 2018 · 1 min read
Africa Economics Update CEMAC: Recovery will not be sustained After a painful adjustment, growth in the Central African franc zone will pick up in 2018 and 2019. The region’s longer-term outlook, however, is poor. Indeed, tensions between Cameroon and its more... 28th June 2018 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response EC Business & Consumer Survey (June) After falling only marginally in June, the EC’s measure of economic sentiment provides further evidence that the softness in activity recorded in Q1 does not mark the start of a sharp downturn. 28th June 2018 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Economic Sentiment Indicators (Jun.) At a regional level, Economic Sentiment Indicators for Central and Eastern Europe were weaker in Q2 than in Q1, supporting our view that regional GDP growth peaked in Q3 2017. 28th June 2018 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response Retail Sales (May) Despite the fall in retail sales in May, consumer spending should still return to growth in the current quarter. 28th June 2018 · 1 min read
US Data Response Durable Goods (May) The decline in both headline and core durable goods orders in May indicates that growth in business equipment investment remained close to 5% annualised in the second quarter, much weaker than the... 27th June 2018 · 1 min read