More than ever, the outlook depends on the turn taken by US geopolitical and economic policy. Assumptions about the scale and timing of the measures to be taken by the new administration mean that, in the US, the economy is likely to remain resilient, but there will also be renewed inflation, modest monetary easing and upward pressure on long-term interest rates. Moreover, these measures are only one...

Due to latest political developments and recent soft data (BdF survey, PMIs etc.), we are currently reviewing into details our forecast for France. The final and official version will be published in CASA Eco next ‘World scenario’ that will be published on 20 December. In this paper, we introduce some key preliminary figures that we obtained, the main news is the downward revision of our growth forecast...

Despite a slight slowdown, economic activity continued to grow in France in Q2 2024, up 0.2% after 0.3% in Q1. The mid-year carry-over effect on growth thus stood at 0.9% for 2024. 

Third-quarter growth is expected to be strong, boosted by the Olympic and Paralympic Games, ahead of a negative backlash in the fourth quarter. Growth for full-year 2024 will come out at 1.1%, stable compared with the...

In a still uncertain context, Italy's performance, compared to other countries in the Eurozone, appears rather positive. With a GDP increase of 0.2% in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, the Italian economy is growing at the same pace as the French economy, despite a less favourable carryover (+0.6% in 2024), and is performing better than Germany, where GDP decreased by 0.1% over the...

Our "narrative", based on a recovery driven by domestic demand, and private consumption in particular, is being tested. This scenario was not confirmed by actual developments in the first half of 2024. While the fundamentals of a recovery in household purchasing power remain in place, households continue to increase their savings rate to the detriment of consumption.

In the absence of household spending...

UK economic growth was sluggish in 2023, with a slight recession in H2 2023, as past shocks on producer costs and consumer prices coupled with tight monetary policy weighed on demand. Economic activity grew strongly in H1 2024 on expectations of monetary policy easing (which the Bank of England effectively started in August 2024), but growth is expected to slow going forward to an expected +0.3% QoQ in...

The Spanish economy continued to grow robustly at the beginning of the year despite an array of unfavourable factors, including the weakness of the Eurozone economies, persistently high inflation, and the impact of the rise in interest rates, which were expected to peak in Q1 2024. The strong performance was driven by positive labour-market momentum, persistently dynamic immigration and sound...

Against an extremely tense international backdrop, drawing up an economic and financial scenario is rather fraught task. There are many sources of potential disruption on the short term, including the US election, the Middle East conflict and the war in Ukraine, where tensions are at a peak. In particular, the risk that Middle East tensions will spread is sowing uncertainty on the oil market. Moreover...

The residential real-estate market in France has been severely impacted by the sharp rise in mortgage rates since 2022. While the decline in housing sales was quick to materialize, prices in existing properties adjusted with a lag in transactions. On the new housing market, while sales are at historic lows, price declines have been more contained.

Despite inflationary pressures and high interest rates, Italian growth proved "resilient" in 2023. Growth picked up slightly at the start of 2024, with a 0.3% increase in GDP, leaving an overhang of 0.6% for the year. Lower inflation combined with a stable labour market should support a modest recovery in consumption in the coming quarters, though consumer caution and a high savings rate may prevent a...