Canada Data Response International Merchandise Trade (Mar.) The widening of the merchandise trade deficit in March to C$3.0bn, from C$2.2bn, mostly reflected a decline in the terms of trade, whereas export and import volumes rebounded by a similar margin. For... 5th May 2015 · 1 min read
US Data Response International Trade (Mar.) The surge in the trade deficit to a massive $51.4bn in March, from $35.9bn, means that the economy contracted slightly in the first quarter. Nevertheless, the enormous 7.7% m/m jump in imports is... 5th May 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Chart Pack Recovery falters The recovery that was seemingly underway in most parts of Latin America towards the end of last year appears to have faltered in recent months. Indeed, our proprietary GDP Tracker suggests that the... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Focus Is Ireland’s economic recovery a statistical illusion? The strength of Ireland’s recovery has been overstated due to a number of statistical distortions to GDP. But the economy does still seem to be on the mend. And the conditions are in place for Ireland... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly How fragile is Malaysia? Given that Malaysia is Emerging Asia’s largest net energy exporter it is no surprise that the ringgit has been the region’s worst performing currency over the last nine months. Now that oil prices... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
India Economics Update Investment activity tentatively bouncing back The government’s plans to boost capital expenditure, along with looser monetary policy, should help to support the recent pick-up in investment activity over the coming months. But continued... 30th April 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Chart Pack Slow out of the blocks Emerging Asia has made a weak start to the year. The headlines have been grabbed by China's slowdown but, a few positive signs from India aside, there has been little cause for cheer around the rest... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Data Response EC Business & Consumer Survey (Apr.) The European Commission’s monthly Business and Consumer survey for April echoed the message from some other recent surveys that the crisis in Greece might be starting to constrain the euro-zone... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
Global Markets Update What’s been driving up the MSCI EM Asia Index? Net foreign purchases of equities are published on a daily basis in five of the eight countries in the MSCI Emerging Markets Asia Index – India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand... 28th April 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Chart Pack Russia’s economy slumps, growth weakens in Turkey The region’s two largest economies – Russia and Turkey – have continued to struggle over the past month. Russia’s economy appears to have contracted sharply by around 3% y/y in Q1. Meanwhile, we... 27th April 2015 · 1 min read
Asia Economics Weekly A manufacturing migration? Rapid wage growth, rising land costs and the appreciation of the renminbi have all helped to make China a less attractive place for low-end manufacturers to operate. Recent trends in foreign direct... 24th April 2015 · 1 min read
Global Trade Monitor Slowdown in world trade growth is structural Over the past four years the volume of world trade has grown at a much slower pace than prior to the financial crisis. Recent downward revisions to WTO forecasts show that the international... 23rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Chart Pack Region’s politics take another twist The conflict in Yemen and an outline nuclear agreement between Iran and the West has thrust the region’s politics back into the spotlight. Although it looks like problems in Yemen are likely to drag... 23rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Chart Pack EM growth sinks as BRICs woes deepen EM growth appears to have sunk to a post-crisis low of around 4% y/y in the first quarter of this year, driven in large part by a deepening downturn in the BRICs. China has grabbed most of the... 23rd April 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Economics Update What explains the plunge in import volumes last month? The plunge in import volumes in March likely reflects seasonal distortions rather than a sudden collapse in domestic demand. The upshot is that imports should rebound in April and the trade balance... 22nd April 2015 · 1 min read
Japan Data Response External trade (Mar.) Even though the trade balance returned into the black for the first time since 2011 last month, net trade likely turned into a drag on GDP growth last quarter. 22nd April 2015 · 1 min read