Which countries are easing and tightening monetary policy?

The big question hanging over markets right now is the Federal Reserve.

Will the Fed raise interest rates in September? October? December? Never?

But for all of the hand-wringing about when the Fed’s first move comes, monetary policy around the world is still very, very easy. Take, for example, Mario Draghi’s comments last Thursday that the European Central Bank is ready to act if Europe’s economy falters.

In a note to clients, Morgan Stanley wrote that, “despite some differentiation in the direction of policy decisions both across and within regions, global monetary policy should remain very expansionary as central banks continue to provide support for the prevailing trend of weak aggregate demand.”

And so while the Fed, as well as the Bank of England, appears closer to tightening rather than loosening monetary policy, Morgan Stanley says that on balance, policy around the world will likely skew towards easier policy as inflation and growth remains subdued.

This article is published in collaboration with Business Insider. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: Myles Udland is Business Insider’s markets editor.

Image: A man looks at a stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo May 11, 2012. REUTERS/Toru Hanai.