NEW YORK | Their outlook remains negative, but there is some brightness in the horizon, the agency reckons. Standard and Poors will not cut Spain’s rating because it believes the country has done its homework, showing a strong commitment to economic and fiscal adjustment. It will continue to receive support from its European partners and the ECB and therefore its debt will remain below 80 percent of GDP beyond 2015….
The euro zone’s doggedness showed up again in the latest quarterly European sector accounts released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. From January to March of 2012, compared with the last three months of 2011, the business investment rate remained nearly stable in the euro area and fell slightly in the wider European Union. Also, the business profit share even rose slightly in the euro area, as wage costs remained…
President François Hollande made as many promises as European politicians accustom to lure their voters with during election campaigns. In one occasion, the French leader vowed to create up to 80,000 jobs in the private sector and hire 60,000 more workers in the education department alone. Right now, this would come handy to tackle the country’s rising unemployment. Last June, the headline number of jobseekers in France jumped significantly for…
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…
The European Commission announced Friday it had temporarily approved a bridge recapitalisation via the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) for Alpha Bank, EFG Eurobank, Piraeus Bank and National Bank of Greece. The injection of public capital will be provided under EU State aid rules to ensure the entities’ financial stability. But, at the same time, the Commission said it had also opened four in-depth investigations to examine whether the measure…
LONDON | Even before the office for national statistics released its estimates of a UK economy in continued slow-motion deterioration, 84 percent of small and medium size companies’ decision makers said they were concerned about the British economic climate, with 38% being very concerned. A new SME Risk Index from global insurer Zurich published Friday showed that the majority in the sector do not feel confident that the economic situation will improve in…
Moody’s investors service said Thursday it had changed to negative the outlooks of 17 German banking groups and several subsidiaries. The decision affected their long-term debt and deposit ratings or their long-term guaranteed debt obligations, whose ratings incorporate support from the German government or several German federal states or municipalities. Moody’s explained the update of outlooks was the consequence of German sovereign and sub-sovereign ratings having been graded to negative from…
By CaixaBank research team, in Barcelona | Although the first half of the year has ended with a negative balance for most international stock markets, the latest months has been characterised by a relative improvement in indices. The reduction in fears that Greece will leave the euro and the euro area’s assistance in recapitalising Spain’s banking system marked a turning point in the trend for investors’ appetite for risk. Although…
At the end of the first quarter of 2012, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area stood at 88.2%, compared with 87.3% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011. Eurostat said that in the EU the ratio increased from 82.5% to 83.4%. Compared with the first quarter of 2011, the government debt to GDP ratio rose in both the euro area (from 86.2%) and the EU (from 80.4%). At…
MADRID | The extensive sell-out on Friday shows the desperate situation Spain is facing. Shattered confidence on the government ability to overcome a looming crash landing, is sending shivers down the spine of investors. People are starting to bet Spain will be forced to bailout one of these days. But, unlike other salvaged countries, its sheer size prevents a rescue package from providing a way out in soothing its woes….