ECB

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Where are all those rumors about Spain’s bailout coming from?

NEW YORK | IMF managing director Christine Lagarde has denied it. So have U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Spanish government: there is no plan or request for a Spanish bailout. However, stocks pared losses Thursday after the Dow Jones agency published a report that the IMF had started contingency plans on a possible rescue loan for Spain. The reporter quoted “people involved in the handling of the Spanish crisis”….


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Greece is in a league of its own

Morgan Stanley brought up on Friday a clear graph on banking cross assets funded at the European Central Bank liquidity facility or the emergency liquidity assistance tools. One of the conclusions, analysts said, is that “only Greece has experienced a strong bank deposit outflow this year, although it is wo relationship advice rth noting that in Spain and Italy internal capital flows occur, too, towards the soundest and biggest banks.”…


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We are not short of arguments in Spain, yet delivery fails

MADRID | We have a case for demanding some support in resisting the current run on us, our most solid argument being that something nasty might happen to the euro should we fall in the abyss. The one based on the merits of performing our homework seems less convincing. For all the reforms undertaken, we still have a long way to go in redressing a dismal record. Sheer lack of money…


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Draghi demands a schedule towards the United States of Europe

By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | The very logical answer from the European Central Bank’s president Mario Draghi to the Spanish claim for that institution intervening was a rejection. Instead, Draghi demanded Thursday that European leaders make up their minds on how the euro will be in a year’s time. Draghi also argued in favour of a “banking union”. News agency Europa Press reported his declarations. “Can the ECB fill the…


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A bank managed by politicians is an economic aberration

VALENCIAPLAZA.COM | Víctor Alvargonzález is executive director at financial advisor firm Profim. Alvargonzález points at the root of all Bankia’s problems: in his opinion, a bank managed was destined to become a systemic disaster waiting to happen. He believes Spain’s finances hurt more from lack of credibility than soundness, though. Is it time to avoid the Ibex for a while? We have been sort of avoiding the Spanish market for over…


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Thursday’s charts: dumb bets

Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Greece was in free fall mode when at the European Central Bank they had the funny idea of pushing the country …downwards. The ECB said it had frozen all operations with Greek banks, which already are suffering a killing capital drain: “Central bank head George Provopoulos told Papoulias that Greeks have withdrawn as much as €700 million ($891 million) and the situation could worsen, according to the transcript…


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What is the European Central Bank waiting for?

MADRID | Risk premium is attaining no-return levels. But this time any prospect of bailing out either Spain or Italy seems utterly out of reach. The EU rescue fund simply lacks enough muscle. Its depleted coffers are unable to provide any sustainable respite to the on-going crisis. Even if it had the money, it is highly questionable it would thwart the current wild burst of uncertainty now raging on uncontrollably across…


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SVB’s Mantellán: “Cutting waste in the Spanish public sector will help growth”

By Tania Suárez, in Madrid | The director of strategy and macroeconomics at Inverseguros SVB, Alberto Matellán, believes that austerity and growth are not only compatible but should be applied together. Mantellán thinks the European Central Bank could put again in use its monetary policy tools, such as the Securities Market Programme (SMP) or the Long-Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO). Should the ECB lower again interest rates for the euro zone? The…


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The European Investment Bank could be the answer to austerity exhaustation

LONDON | Were the tide changing within the shaken frontiers of the European Monetary Union, austerity-driven core euro nations could do worse than open the European Investment Bank’s window to let some fresh capital aid in. Barclays analysts said Friday in a note to investors that using the EIB to complement budget constrictions would be a feasible option and the probability of this happening is growing: this time it is…


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Central banks in a position of wait-and-see

La Caixa research team, in Barcelona | The role played recently by central banks in the current scenario is being decisive. Since 2008, they have demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to take decisions and act in response to the financial shocks occurring. Thanks to this sustained commitment they are achieving, at least in part, their desired goals of relaxing tension in the capital markets and boosting economic activity. As is usual, the…