Francesco Saraceno | The crisis is supposedly over, as the European economy started growing again. But this matters little to those who, as soon as things got slightly better, turned to their old obsession: Debt. Bear in mind, not private debt, that seems to have disappeared from the radars. No, what seems to keep policy makers and pundits awake at night is ugly public debt, the source of all troubles (past, present and future).
Since Portugal emerged from the crisis in 2014, its real estate sector has undergone a remarkable recovery. Caixabank Research points that the evolution of house prices, after a fall of 16.3% in nominal terms between 2007-13, have risen by an average of 5.3% per year and are now back at pre-crisis levels.
For the time being, Spain’s economy is maintaining its cruising speed and GDP will grow 3.1% this year, according to estimates. But Catalonia’s progress is visibly slowing, with figures continually being downgraded.
Yiannis Mouzakis via Macropolis | In an interview over the weekend, the head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling aside from the optimism on the progress of the current review hinted of one of the options that eurozone lenders might be willing to consider for the debt relief that Greece is due to receive by the end of the programme.
Standard & Poor’s has announced an upward revision in its long-term credit rating for Repsol from BBB- to BBB. It has also improved its short-term rating from A-3 to A-2, with both ratings assigned a stable outlook. S&P had already improved its outlook for the Spanish oil major from “stable” to “positive” in July, leaving the door open for a ratings upgrade.
Could the yuan substitute the dollar and become the predominant currency? I would ask the following question: if you had some dollars, would you change them for yuan? No you wouldn’t, would you? We would like to demonstrate that the yuan is in no way a substitute for the dollar.
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.