China: improvement is expected for the second half of the year
Trade records disappointed, with exports growing just 1%. But expansionary policies continue to boost growth, note analysts at CaixaBank.
World economy
Brussels uncertainty is killing the chance of a Spanish recovery
BARCELONA | While macroeconomic estimates are revised downwards in Madrid and elsewhere, CaixaBank analysts point the blame finger at the seeming inability of euro zone big deciders to come to terms with the urgent fiscal and banking union.
Liquidity demand and the inflation horror
The Federal Reserve is hoarding Treasuries, interest rates in the US have plummeted and the inflation menace overhangs like a large knife above the American economy. Not at all, points out economist Luis Arroyo.
Economic hazards of a moral French Budget
Why would president Hollande place such tax burden on the rich and corporate? He said France’s 2013 Budget was meant to demonstrate the euro zone that austerity and fairness can walk together the way out of the crisis. It looks as he’d rather protect a bloated state, though.
Pants on fire: a Spanish inflation graph
Revealed: the VAT rise in Spain fell mostly on customers’ shoulders. Afi analysts and national statistics show inflation in September has jumped by 0.8 percentage points.
The ECB came to the fore, the European Union must now follow
The ECB reduced official interest rates by 0.25%, but the interest rate spread for loans to firms and households has widened. Credit conditions vary from one country to another in the euro area. The European governments have to fulfil their duties if the euro is to stabilise.
Hopeful but viable: Spain’s 2013 Budget
JLM Campuzano, analyst at Citigroup, treads through some of the figures in the Spanish general budget for next year. He finds effort, risk, savings, some uncertainties and a lot of unavoidable pain.
The current deficit of the European Union continues to improve
The euro area’s current balanced reached a 0.5% surplus of GDP in the second quarter of 2012. The correction in peripheral economies should be taken note of, CaixaBank analysts highlight.
What the Bank of Spain also said but you didn’t hear
Did you know non-resident tourist spending grew by 8.9 percent in July year on year? Analyst at Barclays Spain Alberto Vigil collected today some positive data the Bank of Spain released in its latest bulletin.
Prices in the EU: still stable
Inflation in the euro area remains anchored at 2.4 percent, although differentials between countries are growing. Analysts at CaixaBank warn governments about raising VAT rates to increase income.