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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
MADRID | Have you noticed that since the Libor fraud has the dubious honour to receive full front page coverage, the euro zone troubles have been dumped into inside pages? No one raises doubts on the fragile agreement reached in the last Summit, thus providing some respite to the badly mauled Southern Europe countries. It would be quite unfair to imply there is some kind of Anglo-Saxon conspiracy against the common…
MADRID | The Summit has just avoided the worst from happening. Super-Mario and an unexpectedly bold Mariano Rajoy achieved a coup d’état toppling Ms Merkel from her undisputed pedestal. Hollande’s support was vital in depriving her of her hitherto boundless power. Yet one has the impression we assisted to a rehearsed show meant to provide an excuse for Germany to cave in to pressure. Everyone was afraid of having to confront the…