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    • Bank of Finland

2019

  • 20 Dec 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 51/2019

    • Bank of Russia cuts key rate again

    • Recovery in Russian fixed investment remains slow

    • Survey paints dreary picture of Russian business conditions

    • Preliminary deal in US-China trade talks avoids tariff hikes

    • China’s Central Economic Work Conference wraps up with little to show

    • More mixed messages about the Chinese economy

  • 13 Dec 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 50/2019

    • OPEC and Russia agree on further cuts in oil production

    • While Russian officials wish for public spending to spur economic growth, experts remain sceptical

    • Russia and China rise in World Bank rankings; unchanged in WEF rankings

    • China’s foreign trade remains weak

    • Companies in China find it increasingly difficult to service their debts

    • Chinese teens romp in 2018 PISA scores

  • 5 Dec 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 49/2019

    • Russia commences pipeline transmission of natural gas to China

    • First highway bridge across the Amur river joining Russia and China is finally ready

    • Small recovery in Finnish exports to Russia

    • New NBS census data confirms growing importance of China’s service sector

    • After long hiatus, Chinese government again issues euro-denominated bonds

    • Finland’s trade deficit with China rises

  • 29 Nov 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 48/2019

    • Russian economic growth remained moderate in October

    • Russian gas giant Gazprom share package to unknown buyer

    • Global energy market trends not expected to cause big changes for Russia in near term

    • Increased risks to financial system worry China’s central bank

    • China’s central bank plans to issue its own digital currency in the future; details still sketchy

    • PBoC tightens control of bitcoin and other cryptoasset services

    • Capital outflows from China continued in the third quarter

  • 22 Nov 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 47/2019

    • Growth in Russian government sector spending accelerates

    • Capital amnesty law put to a test in Russia

    • Russia brings in a hearty harvest

    • Growth of Chinese retail sales and industrial output slowed in October

    • China enjoys good grain harvests; declining meat production boosts imports

    • Lower growth in Chinese real wages

  • 15 Nov 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 46/2019

    • Russian economic growth accelerated

    • Russian stock exchange on the upswing

    • Russian foreign trade development remains muted

    • Russia prepares new measures to support firms subject to Western sanctions

    • Rising inflation limits monetary easing in China

    • Chinese imports continued to contract in October

    • China and 14 other Asia-Pacific nations prepare to sign RCEP trade pact next year

  • 8 Nov 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 45/2019

    • Final construction permit issued for Nord Stream 2 pipeline

    • CBR issues monetary policy guidelines for 2020−2022

    • Russia hosts African leaders at first Russia-Africa summit

    • China’s key policy meeting offered no answers to the country’s economic challenges

    • Profitability and solidity of China’s largest banks stable even as credit risk grows

    • Hong Kong enters recession

  • 1 Nov 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 44/2019

    • Central Bank of Russia lowers key rate

    • Russia’s foreign debt increased slightly this year

    • New information about Russia’s military-industrial complex and its bank debts

    • Chinese housing prices are rising, but huge regional differences persist

    • IMF reports risk exposure of China’s financial sector remains large

    • No major changes in the yuan’s exchange rate since August

  • 25 Oct 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 43/2019

    • Russian economy enjoys growth spurt

    • Russia’s large federal budget surplus begins to shrink

    • Modest development in Russian incomes continues this year

    • China’s economic growth continued to slow in the third quarter

    • China finally changes rules to allow wider operating scope for foreign banks and insurers

    • Growth in real incomes slows in China; huge income disparities persist

  • 18 Oct 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 42/2019

    • IMF lowers growth forecast for global economy

    • Russian imports on the rise; modest capital flows

    • Report finds that one in three Russian workers involved in informal employment

    • Negligible results in latest round of China-US trade talks

    • China’s sluggish foreign trade trend continued in September

    • Pork prices drive up consumer price inflation in China; decline in producer prices accelerates

    • China eases rules for foreign firms operating in the financial markets

  • 11 Oct 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 41/2019

    • Russia’s foreign currency reserves swell to highest level in years

    • Russia and Turkey want to increase bilateral use of their currencies

    • Russia ratifies Caspian Sea accord

    • Monitoring of partially completed fixed investments in Russia is difficult

    • Contraction in capital flows in China’s balance-of-payments reporting

    • China establishes six new free-trade zones

    • Growth in the number of new Chinese industrial robot installations halted in 2018

  • 4 Oct 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 40/2019

    • BOFIT’s latest forecast sees Russian economic growth falling to 1 % this year

    • Stimulus included in Russia’s 2020−2022 government sector budget framework

    • BOFIT forecast sees Chinese growth slowing at about one percentage point a year from 2019 to 2021

    • China’s fiscal revenues reduced by tax cuts

  • 27 Sep 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 39/2019

    • Russia announces ratification of the Paris climate accord

    • Russia discusses how to invest government reserve fund assets

    • Chinese premier talks up trade during his Russia visit

    • European firms demand the elimination of preferential treatment of Chinese state-owned enterprises

    • China gets rid of quotas on securities investments under QFII programmes

    • Despite yuan promotion policies, international use of the currency remains modest

  • 20 Sep 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 38/2019

    • Lower growth in Russian construction activity

    • Russian competition bureau has plenty on its plate

    • Russia and Belarus discuss deeper economic integration

    • Despite China’s economy slowing, African swine fever causes inflation to accelerate

    • China lowers bank reserve requirements

    • Declining exports of foreign firms operating in China

  • 13 Sep 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 37/2019

    • Russia’s central bank lowers key rate and revises forecasts downwards

    • Ruble rate and oil prices weaker after strong performance early in the year

    • Russian and Indian leaders meet to discuss economic relations

    • IMF sees rapid decay in China’s government finances

    • After strong growth from 2009 to 2015, the shadow banking sector now appears to be shrinking

  • 6 Sep 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 36/2019

    • Russia streamlines visa rules

    • Russian fixed investment developments vary across sectors

    • Finnish-Russian trade remains sluggish

    • Corporate social credit system presents new challenges to firms operating in China

    • Strong performance in Finnish goods exports to China in recent months

  • 30 Aug 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 35/2019

    • Implementation of Russia’s national projects plods ahead

    • UNCTAD’s estimate of ultimate sources of foreign direct investment emphasises Western investment in China and Russia

    • China’s first-half 2019 current account surplus reached 106 billion dollars

    • Expanding US-China trade war complicates already difficult situation

    • China cuts subsidies on rail freight shipments to Europe

  • 23 Aug 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 34/2019

    • Russia’s economic growth remained slow

    • Russia’s goods trade stays rather flat

    • Moderate rise in Russian government spending

    • Chinese economic growth continues to slow

    • United States postpones September tariff hikes on some Chinese goods until December

    • China introduces new reference rate for pricing bank loans

  • 16 Aug 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 33/2019

    • US imposes new sanctions on Russia

    • Kremlin imposes strict economic targets on regional leaders

    • IMF Article IV consultation reiterates calls for Russia to maintain economic stability and move on reforms

    • Third Chinese bank rescue of the summer gets underway

    • China wants to speed up transfer assets of state-owned enterprises to pension funds

    • China’s goods imports continued to fall in July

  • 9 Aug 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 32/2019

    • Russia moves its large excess oil tax revenues from 2018 into the reserve fund

    • Russia continues to accumulate foreign currency reserves

    • Recent studies examine transport projects in Central Asia

    • Impasse as China-US economic relations take a turn for the worse

    • More cases of Chinese firms cooking their books

    • Hong Kong protests start to hit the economy

  • 2 Aug 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 31/2019

    • CBR again lowers key rate and forecasts moderate inflation

    • Russia tries to promote the ruble by easing the repatriation requirement for export earnings

    • Russia has a large, but relatively poor, middle class

    • Brief China-US trade talks end without much to show, Trump announces new tariffs

    • SAFE releases for the first time ever information on the structure of China’s forex reserves

    • Record FDI flows into China in the first half of 2019, but China’s FDI outflows continue to dwindle

  • 26 Jul 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 30/2019

    • International Monetary Fund lowers growth forecast for Russia

    • Russia posts tepid first-half growth

    • Significant economic differences across Russia’s cities with populations of more than one million

    • Most forecasts see China’s GDP growth in line with official growth target

    • Shanghai stock exchange’s new technology board launches

    • Yuan exchange rate has been stable for months

  • 19 Jul 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 29/2019

    • Russian federal budget produces strong first half surplus

    • Druzhba pipeline again operating at full capacity since July

    • Russia’s contribution to global oil, gas and coal production held steady last year

    • Slowdown in China’s economic growth continued in the second quarter

    • Alternative measures point to lower Chinese GDP growth than official figures suggest

    • China’s imports fell in the first half

  • 12 Jul 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 28/2019

    • Russian economic growth driven almost exclusively by private consumption

    • Russian foreign trade contracts slightly

    • Increase in outflows of private capital from Russia

    • India set to surpass China as the world’s most populous country around 2027

    • Coal continues to dominate China’s energy palette, even as its relative contribution declines

  • 5 Jul 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 27/2019

    • Russia’s population declines, greys and increasingly packs into cities

    • OPEC+ keeps production ceilings in place

    • Trade talks with the US continue; China promises to speed opening of its markets

    • China holds back on additional stimulus measures

    • No big changes expected in China’s monetary policy

  • 28 Jun 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 26/2019

    • Russian first-quarter growth supported by extractive sector and certain service-sector branches

    • Russia tries to strengthen import substitution policy

    • Russia suspends flights to Georgia after July 8

    • WTO warns of rising protectionism ahead of G20 summit

    • London-Shanghai Stock Connect launches

  • 20 Jun 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 25/2019

    • Central Bank of Russia lowers key rate

    • Rapid expansion of Russian consumer borrowing raises concerns

    • Russia’s labour force shrinks along with unemployment

    • Chinese May industrial output growth low by historical standards

    • China suspended its market economy status challenge at WTO

    • Hong Kong rocked economically and politically by mainland moves

  • 14 Jun 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 24/2019

    • Statistical reforms provide improved picture of Russian household spending

    • Chinese and Russian presidents extol good economic relations at St. Petersburg economic forum

    • Kazakhstan’s acting president Tokayev wins presidential election

    • China’s falling import figures signal weak domestic demand and shifts in global production chains

    • More Chinese working in service jobs

    • Chinese inflation accelerates slightly on higher food prices

  • 7 Jun 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 23/2019

    • Russian share prices up this year; substantial growth in bond markets

    • Fewer sectors in Russia targeted for direct investment from abroad

    • Intra-elite competition increasingly reflected in institutional behaviour in Russia and the economy more broadly

    • China intensifies anti-US rhetoric

    • Another troubled Chinese bank hits the headlines

    • The structure of Chinese GDP changes only slowly

  • 31 May 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 22/2019

    • Russian industrial output growth accelerated in April

    • Changes in the country structure of Russian inward and outward foreign direct investment

    • Russian expenditure on travel services abroad grew slightly last year

    • Officials take over troubled Chinese bank

    • China’s monetary policy not particularly loose this year

  • 24 May 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 21/2019

    • Russian first-quarter economic growth well below expectations

    • Tainted oil fouls Druzhba oil pipeline

    • Russia’s hydrocarbon-centric energy security doctrine stresses import substitution

    • European companies want to see meaningful changes in China’s business conditions

    • China’s current account surplus soared in the first quarter

    • Conflicting price data for China’s housing markets

  • 17 May 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 20/2019

    • Sluggish growth in Russian foreign trade

    • Dollar remains the dominant billing currency in Russian foreign trade

    • Difficult to form a full picture of Russia’s sizeable public sector procurements

    • China-US trade war heats up with latest round of tariff hikes

    • China’s April economic figures weaker than expected

    • Yuan drops as trade war between China and the US heats up

  • 10 May 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 19/2019

    • Russian defence spending large, even after declines

    • Russian services trade grew last year

    • Progress in two natural gas transhipment terminals in Russia’s Arctic and Pacific coasts

    • Trump announcement of more tariff hikes threatens to derail US-China trade talks

    • China’s goods imports revive in April

    • China presents new measures to help open up its financial markets

  • 3 May 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 18/2019

    • Russian budget surplus expected to shrink in the next few years

    • Little progress in reducing poverty, even as Russian living conditions generally improve

    • Russian president tours East Asia

    • China tries to calm critics of Belt and Road Initiative

    • China’s bourses claw back last year’s losses

  • 26 Apr 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 17/2019

    • Steady rise in Russian industrial output

    • Russia’s foreign debt up slightly in the first quarter

    • Recent restrictions on Russian trade add to challenges facing Ukraine’s new leadership

    • China moves slowly to dismantle hukou household registration system

    • IMF still sees elevated risk for China’s financial sector

    • Last year saw fewer new apartments built for the Chinese market than in previous years

  • 18 Apr 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 16/2019

    • Direct investment outflows from Russia remain significantly larger than FDI inflows

    • Revenue boom of Russian federal budget begins to normalise

    • Russian spending on private insurance increases

    • Despite monthly fluctuations, China’s official GDP growth numbers remain remarkably steady

    • China’s exports revived in March, while imports continued to contract

    • China’s capital flows were nearly in balance last year

  • 12 Apr 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 15/2019

    • Russian export earnings rather flat; recovery in imports continues to stall

    • Russian growth in the past couple of years driven largely by extractive sector, trade and public administration

    • Russia’s car manufacturing industry continues to recover

    • EU gets reform commitments from China that benefit European firms

    • Special audit reveals big problems in China’s small rural banks

    • Russia strengthens its position as China’s biggest oil supplier

  • 5 Apr 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 14/2019

    • New data on last year’s improved performance of Russian economy

    • Russia’s national ecology project addresses a range of environmental issues

    • New bridges across Amur River are set to open soon

    • China’s public sector budget deficit unchanged; revenue-side a major concern

    • Bloomberg Barclays index to include Chinese government and policy bank debt securities

  • 29 Mar 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 13/2019

    • Large disparities in Russian regional economic development

    • President of Kazakhstan resigns

    • Russia actively engages in trade with its neighbours

    • Foreign direct investment flows from China declined again last year; EU investment also down

    • Chinese international patent activity almost on par with the US

  • 22 Mar 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 12/2019

    • BOFIT forecast sees lower growth of Russian economy ahead

    • Growth in Russian industrial output revived in February

    • Rapid growth in use of payment cards in Russia

    • BOFIT Forecast for China: uncertainty casts shadow on Chinese growth outlook

    • January-February figures show slowing Chinese economy

    • NPC rushes through a new investment law

  • 15 Mar 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 11/2019

    • Recovery in Russian fixed investment continued in 2018

    • Finnish exports to Russia slackened last year

    • EU seeks more reciprocity and balance in its China relations

    • China’s foreign trade contracted in January-February

    • Growth in Chinese and Russian arms exports lags growth of other major arms suppliers

  • 8 Mar 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 10/2019

    • Russian government sector finances improved further last year

    • Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction continues; EU reaches preliminary agreement on gas directive changes

    • China’s National People’s Congress starts with warnings on economy, but new growth targets still ambitious

    • Chinese tourism abroad continues to soar

    • Healthy increase in Finnish exports to China last year

  • 1 Mar 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 09/2019

    • Credit rating agency Moody’s upgrades Russian sovereign debt

    • Russian population declines slightly in 2018 as immigration flows drop considerably

    • Corruption dies hard in Russia

    • Trump extends time frame for US-China trade negotiations

    • Chinese local government aluminium producer defaulted on off-shore bond payments

    • Hong Kong economy hit by slowing growth in mainland China and trade war

  • 22 Feb 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 08/2019

    • Russian government releases new guidelines for national projects

    • Russia last year produced and exported more gas and oil than before

    • Russian retail sales up overall, but growth has slowed in recent months

    • China’s current account surplus nearly evaporated last year

    • Chinese bank lending breaks records in January

    • US-China trade talks continue

    • EU intensifies monitoring of Chinese investment

  • 15 Feb 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 07/2019

    • Russian inflation accelerates slightly in January

    • Growth in Russian household borrowing accelerated in 2018

    • Russia’s goods trade surplus last year was larger than before

    • China’s urbanising, greying and soon-to-be-shrinking population

    • GDP growth in some Chinese provinces was well below target last year

    • Only minor changes in value of China’s currency reserves since 2016

  • 8 Feb 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 06/2019

    • Russian economy’s growth rate accelerated in 2018

    • Higher oil prices boost surplus of Russian federal budget

    • Russian real disposable income still well below 2014 level

    • Even as China opens its financial markets to the world, strict controls on capital exports remain in place

    • China allows new debt instruments to boost bank capital adequacy and spur lending

  • 1 Feb 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 05/2019

    • United States Treasury lifts sanctions on Russian aluminium giant Rusal

    • Russian industrial output grew at a moderate pace last year

    • Central Bank of Russia resumes forex-buying mandated by fiscal rule

    • Corporate bond issues in China up again last year

    • China’s markets open up to international credit ratings agencies

    • Venezuela causes headaches for China and Russia

  • 25 Jan 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 04/2019

    • Russian export earnings up significantly in 2018

    • Russian foreign debt declined last year

    • Topics at Moscow Gaidar Forum feature future economic growth and national projects

    • China’s economy continues to slow

    • China’s ratio of bank credit to GDP continues to rise

    • Apartment prices in China’s big cities in decline at the end of 2018

  • 18 Jan 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 03/2019

    • Russian oil fund shrank in 2018, but central bank foreign currency reserves grew

    • Consumer price inflation accelerated in Russia

    • China’s export and import growth turned negative in December

    • Signs of deteriorating employment conditions in China

    • Chinese consumer price inflation held steady at around 2 % last year

  • 11 Jan 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 02/2019

    • Rosstat released revised figures for GDP and domestic demand in 2016 and 2017

    • United States moves ahead on dismantling sanctions on aluminium giant Rusal

    • In Russian corporate debt increases have occurred in interfirm trade credits

    • Glimmers of hope in China-US trade talks

    • China eases monetary stance

    • China implements fiscal stimulus measures

  • 4 Jan 2019  

    ​BOFIT Weekly Review 01/2019

    • Continued low growth forecast for Russian economy this year

    • State banks dominate Russian banking sector

    • Moscow stock exchange’s dollar-denominated RTS index declined 8 % last year

    • China starts to the year with darkened outlook

    • China’s economic work conference produces no big changes in economic policies

    • Slowdown in China’s economic growth expected to continue in 2019

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