The ECB's Bank Lending Survey is due for release. The latest report from January showed that loan growth continued to be supported by increasing demand across all loan categories, while credit standards (i.e. banks' internal guidelines or loan approval criteria) for loans to enterprises tightened somewhat in net terms due to banks' lower willingness to tolerate risk.
Rate decision in Hungary. We expect the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) to keep its base rate unchanged at 0.9% today. The inflation rate rose to 2.9% y/y in February, near the central bank target of 3%. However, the rise in inflation so far is driven mainly by a base effect of energy prices, and thus no imminent pressure for higher interest rates.
In the US, Conference Board for April is due. The indicator is at very high levels and although we do not expect to see a significant decline, we would also not be surprised to see a small decline given the historically high levels. In general, we have seen a divergence between 'hard' and 'soft' data in recent months, when soft data has been strong and hard data weak. Soft data indicates growth in the region of 1.5-2.0%, while the Fed Atlanta GDP nowcast shows growth in Q1 of 0.5% q/q AR.
In Sweden, unemployment figures are due. For more on the Scandi region, see page 2.
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