In this issue of February 6, 2023 : the editorial of William De Vijlder, the credit impulse in the Eurozone, the economic scenario, the market overviews and the calendars.
In the US, financial conditions have eased in recent months and weighed on the effectiveness of the Fed’s policy tightening. Jerome Powell recently gave the impression of not being too concerned, so markets rallied, and financial conditions eased further despite the hawkish message from the FOMC. In the Eurozone, another rate hike by the ECB and the commitment to raise rates again in March caused a huge drop in bond yields because markets expect we’re getting closer to the terminal rate. It reflects a concern of not being invested in the right asset class when the guidance of central banks will change: based on past experience, one would expect that bond and equity markets would rally when central banks signal that the tightening cycle is (almost) over
Banks surveyed by the ECB between 12 December 2022 and 10 January 2023 as part of its Bank Lending Survey (BLS, published on 31 January) report a tightening of the criteria for all loan categories in the fourth quarter of 2022. For companies, tightening is even the most pronounced since the sovereign debt crisis (2011).
Outlook for GDP growth, inflation, interest rates and exchange rates
The latest economic indicators updated on February 6 2023 and the coming calendar
