On a hopeful note, the UK completed a light calendar week, as January GDP published a modest gain of 0.3%, above the calculation of 0.1%, following a -0.5% reading in December. The UK managed to avoid a slump in 2022, but there is uncertainty about whether the economy can stay above water this year. Today’s GDP has delivered a bit of positiveness, and the pound has reacted with gains of 0.50%.
The Bank of England will be satisfied with the progress in GDP as policymakers grapple with stubbornly high inflation of 10.1%. The BoE has been bold in its battle to tussle inflation lower, raising the cash rate to 4.00%. The results have yet to impress, with inflation motionless in double digits. The BoE holds its next session on March 23 and is widely anticipated to raise rates. The demands have been priced at a prime speed of 5%, but there are calls for the prominent bank to reduce its tightening. Swati Dhingra, one of nine components of the Monetary Policy Committee, said on Wednesday that additional tightening was extreme as inflation is falling rapidly and that more rate hikes threatened to damage the fragile UK economy.
The US fires nonfarm payrolls for February later today. The blowout January assignment of 517,000 is widely seen as a one-time blip, although the labor market stays surprisingly strong, despite the bite of rising interest rates. The assessment for the February newsstands at 205,000, and a comprehensive miss of this figure on either flank will probably result in volatility from the US dollar. A weak task would fuel the assumption of a Fed pivot and weigh on the US dollar, while an influential figure would support the Fed’s hawkish view and should be bullish for the greenback.
The Fed and the markets will also be monitoring wage growth. Average hourly wages are expected to rise to 4.7% y/y in February, up from 4.4% y/y in January. If wages continue to increase, it will complicate the Fed’s battle to tame inflation and pressure the Fed to ramp up the rate of its rate gains.
As of 2021, Luxembourg would remain at the top in GDP per capita, ranking in nominal and PPP terms. Luxembourg would stay at the top spot of insignificant ranking for the next few years as it is ahead of 2nd ranked occupier Ireland by a massive margin of $28,908. In the PPP per capita, Luxembourg is ahead of 2nd ranked occupier Ireland by a good margin of Int—$ 15,209.
Ireland will overtake Singapore to become the 2nd most prosperous economy in the nominal ranking, and Iceland will overtake Denmark and Singapore. Among the top 50, Oman’s rank would increase by six positions and enter the top 50 lists. Canada will move up by five classes, and Hong Kong SAR will move down by five parts.
In the PPP ranking, Ireland will overtake Singapore and Qatar to become the 2nd most prosperous economy. Macao SAR will climb from 17th in 2020 to 9th in 2021. Among the top 50, Aruba will climb five spots. Kuwait (-4) will be the worst loser, followed by The Bahamas (-3) and Iceland (-3).
Ireland has the fastest-growing thrift among the top 10 wealthiest economies, with 13.04%. Among the full 50 thrifts having the highest GDP per capita, Macao SAR is the fastest-growing economy with a growth rate of a massive 20.44%, pursued by Ireland. Only Puerto Rico will bear a negative growth rate of -0.6%, followed by Kuwait (0.95%).
