U.K. Inflation, Biden’s Final Push, Canada Rate Timing: Eco Day

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Welcome to Thursday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

• The European Central Bank is set to reassure consumers facing surging prices and investors wondering about the consequences that it’s just transitory and not about to spiral out of control
• U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak appears to have embraced surging inflation, as he delivered a Johnson-style budget that laid out plans to add 75 billion pounds ($103 billion) of stimulus across the next six years
• The U.K. government hit back at France over its proposed retaliatory measures in a dispute over fishing access, as post-Brexit tensions between the two countries rose further
• Egypt will likely leave interest rates unchanged on Thursday, seeking to shore up overseas appetite for its local debt as the U.S. prepares to taper pandemic stimulus and global inflation surges
• Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa may face early elections after parliament rejected his minority Socialist government’s 2022 budget
• The White House is stepping up pressure on congressional Democrats to finalize a framework on its economic agenda before President Joe Biden leaves Thursday for summits in Europe
• The Bank of Canada ended its bond-buying stimulus program and accelerated the potential timing of future interest rate increases
  • Bloomberg Economics says the shift is difficult to square with downward adjustments made to the GDP forecasts
• The Bank of Japan stood pat on its stimulus while signaling more delays in the economy’s post-pandemic recovery, just days before new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida faces his first national election
• Fewer than half of the 87 countries that received a combined $118 billion in emergency IMF loans pledged to account for their spending
• Bloomberg Economics says U.S. GDP may hint at stagflation, but it’s not a repeat
  • The U.S. is suffering longer delivery delays than other economies because of stronger demand from American consumers, a signal that high inflation is likely to persist
• Brazil’s central bank is poised to deliver its biggest interest rate hike in nearly two decades on plans for a spending surge

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