Spend it at home: current account surpluses in the EU

April 2, 2024--EU leadership needs to identify the factors that hold investment back and the incentives that could persuade investors to stay in Europe
The European Union faces huge investment gaps. For the climate and digital transitions alone, EU countries need to find or encourage annual investment of at least €481 billion each year, over and above what is already planned. This amount is much larger if one includes defence spending needs, the reconstruction of Ukraine, and spending to prepare for potential health crises in the future.

And yet, despite these huge investment gaps, the EU continues to send a large part of its savings outside its borders. It has huge savings but prefers to invest these abroad rather than within its own borders. The European Commission forecasts that nine EU countries will have current account imbalances in 2024. Of these, five will have current account surpluses that can be as large as 10% of GDP. The EU overall is forecast to have a surplus exceeding 2.5% of GDP by 2025.

In nominal terms, EU GDP is about €18 trillion. A surplus of 2.5% of GDP thus represents about €450 billion. If the EU could use these excess savings, it would manage to cover its climate and digital investment gaps almost in full. Solving the enormous inconsistency of having big investment gaps while running with large current account surpluses is urgent and complex.

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ESMA publishes latest edition of its newsletter

January 9, 2025-- The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's financial markets regulator and supervisor, has today published its latest edition of the Spotlight on Markets Newsletter.

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Amundi to shut its original 'multi' smart beta ETF

January 8, 2025--The fund made returns of nearly 20% last year but has failed to retain sufficient assets to be 'economically efficient'
Amundi is to close a multi-strategy smart beta exchange traded fund, the product it launched to enter the space a decade ago.

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​ESMA launches selection of the Consolidated Tape Provider for bonds

January 3, 2025-- The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's financial markets regulator and supervisor, is launching the first selection procedure for the Consolidated Tape Provider (CTP) for bonds. Entities interested to apply are encouraged to register and submit their requests to participate in the selection procedure by 7 February 2025.

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ECB-Monetary developments in the euro area: November 2024

January 2, 2025--Annual growth rate of broad monetary aggregate M3 increased to 3.8% in November 2024 from 3.4% in October
Annual growth rate of narrower monetary aggregate M1, comprising currency in circulation and overnight deposits, increased to 1.5% in November from 0.2% in October
Annual growth rate of adjusted loans to households stood at 0.9% in November, compared with 0.8% in October

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