Economic Growth
In this Special Report, BCA Strategist Ritika Mankar highlights that India may prove to be a sanctuary of safety in what promises to be a volatile 2023. Indian equity outperformance could continue, as India ends up offering relatively high growth at a time when EMs at large must contend with the effects of declining exports, high global interest rates, and exhausted fiscal stimulation capabilities.
In Section I, we explain why we do not see the deceleration in US inflation, the likely near-term pickup in European growth, and the end of China’s dynamic zero-COVID policy as signs of a sustainable rebound in global economic activity over the coming 6-12 months. The key question is not whether inflation will fall back to central bank targets, but rather how quickly this will occur. For now, our indicators point to slower but still elevated inflation this year. In Section II, we explore what it will take for the Fed to cut interest rates, and note that nonrecessionary rate cuts are possible but not especially likely.
Fed Governor Lael Brainard delivered an important speech last week in which she laid out the intellectual justification for the Fed to soon pause its rate hike cycle. This week’s report reviews her arguments and explains how they inform our monetary policy and investment views.
Global investors should sell Chinese assets on strength this year and diversify into other emerging markets. American investors should limit China exposure. Short CNY-USD.
China’s re-opening – powered by the fiscal and monetary stimulus required to achieve at least 5% real GDP growth after flattish 2022 growth – and a weaker USD will catalyze demand growth this year and next, lifting global oil consumption by close to 2mm and 1.7mm b/d in 2023 and 2024. We lowered our Brent forecast slightly for this year to $110/bbl, and expect 2024 prices to average $115/bbl. WTI will trade $4-$6/bbl lower.
In this week’s report, we look at whether global growth conditions remain conducive for a continued decline in the dollar. Our findings are mixed, while there are some economic green shoots, the overall growth picture remains weak. This argues for some consolidation of dollar losses in the near term.
While the housing downturn will be fairly mild in the US, it will be more severe abroad. Continue to favor bonds of countries whose housing fundamentals will limit rate hikes.
This digest version of our Special Report contains its conclusion along with a high-level review of how we reached it. It is structured identically to the full document, but with less than half the word count, so a reader can swiftly absorb the punch line while easily moving between the versions to zoom in on the details most relevant to his/her process.
Workers have a cyclical wind at their backs as labor demand exceeds supply, but a wage-price spiral is no more than a remote possibility. The structural backdrop has turned significantly against them since the last bout of high inflation 40-plus years ago and they are no longer price makers.