With regard to Spain’s debt, there has been a Keynesian policy in place, of ECB monetary expansion and the expansion of government debt, call it what you like. And this policy has allowed Spain to grow at an annual rate of 3% in three years.
Financial institutions, companies and households have continued to adjust the debt accumulated in the first half of the year. In the case of non-financial companies and households, their level of debt is increasingly closer to the European average, against a backdrop of greater economic growth and preference for home ownership.
The US Congress used to bully the White House by threatening to put a lid on public expenditure, forcing the administration to face failure. Mr Trump has turned the rules of the game upside down by menacing that he will do this should Congress fail to fund the Mexican wall.
Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis| Next summer, Greece is due to exit its eight-year programme. Athens and its creditors, who have closely shaped and overseen this long adjustment process, will want to argue that a changed country is emerging. The sorry state of the judicial system currently stands as one of the biggest blots in their copybook. The case against the former head of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), Andreas Georgiou is a case in point.
Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis | A stale parliamentary debate that rarely stayed on topic seemed a good way to wrap up another disappointing political season in Greece. The country has been stuck in a deep, dark hole for almost a decade and now it has a chance for a change in fortune. But its decision makers will have to display much more vision, determination and mastery than was on display in Parliament on Monday.
Telefónica is continuing with its plans for cutting group debt – estimated at 50 billion euros – by divesting stakes in some of its subsidiaries and ruling out any major new acquisitions. On the one hand, the company is still preparing to list a minority stake in its UK mobile subsidiary O2 towards year-end, on the other they are considering to sell Telefonica Argentina.
José Benito de Vega | Moody’s has lifted Repsol’s outlook from negative to stable and confirms long- term debt rating at Baa2. Analysts were expecting this upgrading after Repsol presented a new strategic plan for 2016-2020. In fact, Repsol’s stock price performance has revalued 11%, less than the Ibex, but a lot higher than the Stoxx 600 Oil & Gas (-1%).
Yiannis Mouzakis via Macropolis | Over the period of nine months that it took to complete the second programme review, the role of the International Monetary Fund as Alexis Tsipras’s strongest ally to secure debt relief was one of the many curved balls that the flew past the Greek prime minister.
J.L.M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) | From recent ECB statistics, there would seem to be a recovery in financing in line with the monetary authority’s implict goal when it implemented its extreme measures.
Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis | The stock phrases came thick and fast after Monday’s Eurogroup. “Great progress,” “very close” and “an agreement in a few weeks” were a few of the perennial quotes trotted out again by officials following a failed attempt to settle differences over Greek debt relief.