Currency War Series

Egypt Devaluation Positive, Economic Challenges Remain 

Mar 21, 2016 09:36 am UTC| Commentary Economy Central Banks

Decisions by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) last week, including a devaluation of the Egyptian pound, are broadly credit positive but the country faces a difficult year of slower growth, high inflation and large financing...

Taiwan’s central bank to lower key interest rates to support economic growth

Mar 21, 2016 08:02 am UTC| Commentary Central Banks

(Edited to properly credit DBS Bank Group Research) On Thursday, Taiwans central bank, CBC, will review its monetary policy, where it is likely to lower its rates by 12.5bps, the third such move since September 2015,...

Bank of Thailand likely to keep rates on hold for rest of 2016

Mar 21, 2016 07:00 am UTC| Commentary Central Banks

Domestic demand in Thailand continues to be weak. Private consumption is weak, while recent data is not encouraging. Thailands monthly private consumption index has also lost the momentum that was seen in 2015. In the...

Currency War Series

CBR left rates unchanged but surprised with a relatively tough rhetoric

Mar 18, 2016 15:31 pm UTC| Commentary Central Banks

Central Bank of Russia left its main lending rate at 11 percent on Friday as widely expected and sent out a relatively hawkish signal about its willingness to persist with moderately tight monetary policy despite signs of...

Implications for the CHF from ECB actions will determine SNB's need to intervene

Mar 18, 2016 14:35 pm UTC| Commentary Central Banks

SNB, as widely expected, left policy rates unchanged at its March policy meeting. The statement released by the central bank and the new inflation projection do not signal that any further easing is imminent. SNB is also...

Negative Rates Series

Czech National Bank’s dilemma about negative interest rates continues

Mar 18, 2016 14:03 pm UTC| Commentary Central Banks

Inflation trends in the CEE markets have been sliding further away from the central banks targets. The European Central Bank has already undertaken measures, while other CEE central banks are changing their policy in...

Currency War Series

Bank of Russia keeps key rate on hold again, does not believe in sustainably strong oil market

Mar 18, 2016 12:58 pm UTC| Commentary Central Banks

The Bank of Russia once again kept its key rate on hold at 11% today, on par with expectations. However, some analyst had expected a cut of 50bp, but the odds were close to 50%. The central bank noted that the...