Top Stories

ECB

No Picture

World economy 27th July 2012

“Eurozone’s institutional failure does not allow it to deal with financial crises”

Economist Ricardo R. Reis expects “better policymaking from the European authorities now.” Originally from Portugal, Reis teaches at Columbia University, he is a former graduate from the London School of Economics and Harvard Ph.D and has worked extensively on inflation dynamics and monetary and fiscal policy, including evaluation of fiscal stimulus programs. He gives his take on the current economic turmoil for our readers in the first of a summer…

Mariano Rajoy 014

Spanish economy 25th July 2012

Europe goes on summer break leaving Spain stranded

MADRID | Irritation is high in Madrid for partners’ lack of support in enforcing a curfew, let alone a truce, in the raging battle it holds against overwhelming market forces. As leaders go on holiday they leave Spanish assets exposed to utter onslaught. The massive sell-out of sovereigns, securities and shares cannot continue for long without throttling any chance of survival by the time Brussels returns to normal business. Desperate attempts…

No Picture

Spanish economy 23rd July 2012

Where’s the ECB when Spain needs it?

MADRID | The financial City of Madrid was coming Monday to the conclusion that a rapid intervention from the European Central Bank would be the only effective barrier to support Spanish sovereign bonds in the markets. The alternative of using the assistance programmes of rescue funds European Financial Stability Facility and European Stability Mechanism to buy debt in the primary and secondary markets had pushed aside the ECB recourse. This…

No Picture

Spanish economy 16th July 2012

One-off cuts in Spain will fail to impress markets

MADRID | One-off cuts and further squeezing measures have been taken in a desperate attempt to avoid budgetary discomfiture. By mid-term central government deficit had already attained its full year target, not to mention a regional and local performance no one knows for sure where it stands. A drastic brake to such blatant slippery became an unavoidable option. The markets and Brussels have done the rest. Free-running risk premium has not…

posid

Markets 12th July 2012

Myths and legends of TARGET 2

Luis Martí, in Madrid | It stands for Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross Settlement Express Transfer. TARGET2 is a key payment mechanism to European monetary union because it allows all transactions denominated in the common currency to be implemented as easily between member countries as within one country. Otherwise, it would be difficult to talk about common currency. Since the effects and implications of this mechanism are the subject of heated controversy,…

No Picture

In Europe 9th July 2012

Monday’s chart: it’s the lending, Eurocrats!

how can i get my ex girlfriend back LONDON | Will the trick of cutting the European Central Bank's deposit rate pay off? Everyone had noticed the extremely high levels of cash European banks left with the central entity for a mild profit in exchange of, well, nothing from their part. Particularly after the ECB made liquidity available, via its long-term refinancing operations, it was clear that the European banks…

lskd1

In Europe 9th July 2012

Is Ms Merkel commitment on the euro serious enough?

how can i get my ex girlfriend back MADRID | The more Ms Merkel claims shoring up the euro to be her paramount goal, the less credible that pledge sounds. Real commitments should embody themselves into facts, words amounting to a rather futile substitute. Failing to address the current raging crisis casts serious doubts on how serious her voiced concern on keeping the common currency alive is. One has the impression…

No Picture

Markets 9th July 2012

Renta 4’s Francisco Jorro: “Ibex should recover after summer”

From valenciaplaza.com | Francisco Jorro, director in Valencia at Renta 4 Banco, said in a conversation with valenciaplaza.com that the ECB's rate cut had already been anticipated by the markets, but the move could still help growth plans in the euro area. What did you think of the ECB's decision? The truth is that a quarter down of a point was already discounted by the markes. Hence, not only the Ibex…

No Picture

In Europe 6th July 2012

Oops, Draghi did it again

From valenciaplaza.com | The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, fulfilled one more time what has become an uninspiring habit in relation to European equity markets and particularly in regard to the Spanish Ibex 35. Madrid closed Thursday with sharp declines again after the words of the Italian banker in the press conference that followed the meeting of the governing council of the central bank. In fact, the Spanish…

draghi 2268405b

In Europe 6th July 2012

The ECB drifts away from the euro summit package

MADRID | The European Central Bank has entrenched itself in its own territory, delivering a conventional rate cut to address a downsize risk in economic perspectives. Output hovering around zero growth in Europe will drive inflation below targets, thus triggering the need to introduce some potential stimulus. But Draghi watered down Thursday’s rate decision, warning on the limited scope of lower rates when financial markets are so fragmented, risk perception…