Eurozone confidence takes a surprise upturn but is still low October 30, 2014 Confidence in the Eurozone edged up slightly in October after four months of not growing. The Economic Sentiment Indicator published by the European Commission yesterday picked up by 0.8 points to 100.7. Despite the rise the figure is much lower than it was earlier in the year. It was propped up by increased confidence in [...]
As confidence rises in October, has economic malaise in the Eurozone been exaggerated? October 30, 2014 Christian Schulz, senior economist at Berenberg, says Yes. Germany is experiencing a rough patch. Yet it’s not the Eurozone dragging down Germany. Spain, Portugal and Ireland have solid recoveries, which have broadened from exports to investment. Unemployment is falling, helped by labour market reforms at the height of the crisis. Even Greece is showing tentative [...]
Eurozone’s latest bond buying gambit gets off to a slow start October 27, 2014 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) bought €1.7bn (£1.34bn) worth of bonds last week as it began its new purchase programme, data published yesterday reveals. The rate of purchases is slow. It would take at least six years for the ECB’s balance sheet to reach the size it was during 2012 – a target ECB president Mario [...]
Eurozone lenders need to find billions for safeguards October 27, 2014 Ancient Italian bank Monte dei Paschi failed the European stress tests by far and away the biggest margin, the authorities said yesterday, highlighting the dire state of the country’s financial sector. Under the European Banking Authority’s (EBA) stress tests, its capital buffer fell to minus 0.1 per cent. Even after plugging a portion of the [...]
Poor data suggests Eurozone is on brink of triple-dip recession October 23, 2014 Pressure is mounting on Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president, to increase stimulus efforts after a swathe of poor data revealed the Eurozone was on the verge of a triple-dip recession. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) released yesterday reveal that France scored a 48.1 for October, which is below 50, and signifies a decline [...]
In charts: Eurozone debt grows to 92.7 per cent of GDP October 23, 2014 Figures released by the European statistics authority today show government debt in the Eurozone grew to 92.7 per cent of GDP in the second quarter of 2014, a jump of 0.8 percentage points. In the European Union the level rose to 87 per cent of GDP, a rise of 1.9 percentage points. So how much [...]
German spending spree would not be enough to save Eurozone October 22, 2014 GERMAN fiscal stimulus would have a minimal impact on Eurozone growth, ratings agency Standard and Poors (S&P) have said. Top figures, including Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank boss, and Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund have called on the Eurozone’s largest economy to boost spending. With a balanced budget and low [...]
Bank of England’s MPC still split 2-7 on interest rate rise as eurozone and China pressures take their toll October 22, 2014 Minutes of September's meeting of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) show its members have become more pessimistic about the chances of raising interest rates early, as the impact of wobbles in China and the eurozone began to be felt in the UK. Policymakers said headwinds facing the economy – such as weak [...]
Worries escalate over recession in the Eurozone as currency bloc slips further towards deflation October 16, 2014 Eurozone inflation hit a five-year low in September as weak spending continues to plague hopes of an economic recovery. Prices rose just 0.3 per cent year-on-year in September according to figures published yesterday by official data house Eurostat. The figure was down from 0.4 per cent in August and continues the single currency area’s apparent [...]
IMF: Seven in 10 Eurozone banks are still too weak October 16, 2014 Most Eurozone banks are too weak to give out loans and support any economic recovery, a top International Monetary Fund (IMF) official warned yesterday. The banking sector in the euro area is only just getting to grips with bad debts and inefficiencies, according to Jose Vinals, the director of the monetary and capital markets department [...]