Carney’s Final Rate Call, Fed’s Shift, China Stimulus: Eco Day

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

• Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s final interest-rate decision has economists and traders split over whether they’ll get the first cut since 2016. Our chart
• U.K. business optimism jumped to a 14-month high in January, providing more evidence of a post-election bounce on the day Bank of England policy makers announce whether they have decided to cut interest rates
• The European Central Bank aims to reach a consensus on the future of its inflation goal in the first half of this year, according to Governing Council member Peter Kazimir
• Emboldened by plunging inflation, Ukraine’s central bank has slashed rates during its past four meetings. It will do so again on Thursday, according to economists, with most predict a reduction to 11% from 13.5%
• The U.S. economic growth last quarter is projected to look decent and little changed from the prior period. But the main figure could mask a misfire in the economy’s chief engine: the consumer
• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that the central bank would pull out the stops to combat a global disinflationary downdraft, foreshadowing a potential shift toward an easier monetary policy over time. Here’s Bloomberg Economics’ analysis of the U.S. central bank’s latest statements
• China is expected to unveil efforts to cushion the economic blow from coronavirus, with the central bank set to keep liquidity ample and the government likely to step up spending. Speaking about the outbreak, Powell said its impact could spill wider although it was too early to judge the impact on the U.S.
• The Bank of Russia should resist pressure to lower its 4% inflation target, even as prices rise more slowly than expected, according to a majority of economists in a Bloomberg survey
• The world’s largest central banks are getting louder about climate change risks, and some of them are even starting to do something about it. Our QuickTake
• Wish Town was once a sought-after destination for India’s aspiring middle classes seeking a slice of the “good days” promised by an ambitious Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he swept to power more than five years ago. Now, it’s a symbol of lost hope
• Finally, don’t miss this week’s episode of the Stephanomics podcast

To contact the reporter on this story: Anirban Nag in Mumbai at anag8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Karthikeyan Sundaram, Devidutta Tripathy

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