As Obama makes historic visit, is Cuba ready for change?
Mar 21, 2016 14:27 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy Law
President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to visit Cuba in nearly 90 years as he set off on a three-day trip to the island nation on Sunday, the latest step in a thaw in relations that began in...

China to press ahead with structural reforms
Mar 21, 2016 13:40 pm UTC| Commentary Economy Politics
Peoples Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan over the weekend sounded a warning over the countrys rising debt levels, saying corporate lending as a ratio to gross domestic product had become too high and the country must...
Global reflation series: TIPS in demand
Mar 21, 2016 10:15 am UTC| Commentary Economy Central Banks
Yet another sign that some investors have started pricing reflation. We think FED is likely to reach its inflation target and this time around a bit more. Last week, 10 year treasury inflation protected securities returned...
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...

Renminbi series: Chinese property market, recovering or overheating?
Mar 21, 2016 08:59 am UTC| Commentary Real Estate Economy
Since mid-last year, property prices in China is going through steady rise in prices. According to latest data overall property prices are up 3.6% in February. This price rise has been steady since mid of last year and...
Explainer: how company versus personal tax cuts boost the economy
Mar 21, 2016 04:21 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy
Suppose the government had about A$10 billion a year to fund lower income tax. It could reduce personal income tax by about 6%, or lower each marginal rate by about 1.5 percentage points. Alternatively it could reduce...
Wage pressures remain very weak in the Eurozone
Mar 18, 2016 15:08 pm UTC| Commentary Economy
Data released from Eurostat showed on Friday that Eurozones labor costs growth increased modestly to 1.3% y/y in the fourth quarter of 2015 after easing in the previous two quarters. The 0.2 percentage point improvement...