Embattled Europe hit by credit rating warning
November 29, 2011--Moody's warned Monday that every member of the European Union could have its credit rating downgraded without firm action to stem the eurozone crisis as the IMF denied it was in talks to bail out Italy.
Ahead of a new OECD growth forecast likely to deepen the gloom within the eurozone, Moody's said there was a real danger of "multiple defaults" by debt-ridden countries and raised the spectre of the single currency's break-up.
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Source: EUbusiness
Euro Zone Leaders Weigh New Budget Rules
November 27, 2011--Euro zone leaders are discussing a deal among themselves to institute strict new budget rules for their countries, rather than go through the long, complicated process of amending European Union treaties. By acting more quickly, they hope to reassure skeptical financial markets and encourage the European Central Bank to do more to fight the deepening sovereign debt crisis on the Continent.
Investors clearly are not persuaded by the intermittent efforts that Europe has made to protect major countries like Italy and Spain from the crisis, which started in smaller, more fragile economies like those of Greece and Ireland. The leaders of Germany, the mainstay of the euro zone, want a new treaty that would stop euro nations from posing a threat by running large deficits or amassing crushing debts, but France, the zone’s second-largest economy, believes that amending treaties would take too long to help now.
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Source: New York Times
ECB Monetary developments in the euro area-October 2011
November 27, 2011--The annual growth rate of the broad monetary aggregate M3 decreased to 2.6% in October 2011, from
3.0% in September 2011.1
The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 in the period from
August 2011 to October 2011 increased to 2.8%, from 2.6% in the period from July 2011 to September
2011.
M3 components
Regarding the main components of M3, the annual growth rate of M1 decreased to 1.7% in October 2011,
from 2.0% in September. The annual growth rate of short-term deposits other than overnight deposits
(M2-M1) decreased to 2.2% in October, from 3.1% in the previous month.
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Source: ECB
Bunds get caught in stampede for the exit
November 25, 2011--The dominance of an overarching ‘risk trade’ has been perhaps the most prominent feature of capital markets ever since the debt crisis moved from being a banking problem to one of sovereign debt.
On one side there are things like equity and the euro. They’re highly correlated and charge higher on the increasingly rare days when investors have some hope for the future. German government bonds have been part of a select group of assets on the other side of the trade: in demand when investors want low-risk parking slots for their money.
The group includes U.S. Treasurys, U.K. gilts, the yen, Swiss franc and gold. Risk aversion took both yen and franc to such heights that their central banks are busily attempting to keep financial refugees away with the threat of vast selling. Now Wednesday’s shocking bund auction has raised the odd doubt about German debt’s membership of the club.
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Source: Wall Street Journal
Europeans more fearful of debt crisis than terrorism
November 25, 2011--Europeans see the economic crisis as a bigger threat to their security than terrorism or organised crime, an EU-wide poll showed on Friday.
When asked "what are the most important challenges to the security of EU citizens at the moment?", 34 percent cited the economic and financial crises, 33 percent named terrorism and 21 percent said organised crime.
The economy is an even bigger worry in eurozone nations that have been bailed out or are under pressure from the markets: 61 percent in Ireland see the crisis as the biggest security challenge to their country, 57 percent in Spain, 56 percent in Greece, 44 percent in Italy and 41 percent in Portugal.
view the Special Eurobarometer 371 INTERNAL SECURITY report
Source: EUbusiness
Euro warning as Italy borrowing costs soar to record highs
November 24, 2011--Italy had to pay record rates to raise 10-billion euros ($13.2-billion) on Friday after France and Germany warned that a blow-out in its giant debt mountain would signal "the end of the euro."
The EU's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn meanwhile ratcheted up the pressure further on Prime Minister Mario Monti's new government, calling for "an ambitious timeline" on economic reforms.
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Source: EUbusiness
UK banks must plan for disorderly euro zone break-up
Bailey says UK banks must plan for the worst
Says banks resilience has improved since 2007-2009 crisis
Banks don't have large exposures to vulnerable euro zone
Welcomes moves by banks to ditch non-core assets
November 24, 2011--Britain's banks are drawing up contingency plans in case there is a disorderly break-up of the euro zone or exit of some countries from the single currency as the sovereign debt crisis rages on, a top UK regulator said on Thursday.
Andrew Bailey, deputy head of the Prudential Business Unit at the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA), said UK banks do not have large exposures to the euro zone, but must plan for the worst.
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Source: Reuters
European Commisson-An agenda for growth
November 23, 2011--Package of economic and budgetary recommendations sets priorities for 2012 and includes new measures to reinforce eurozone financial governance and stability.
Governments need to put public finances in order and make structural reforms to boost growth and jobs, says the Commission in its 2012 growth survey .
The survey marks the start of the second “European semester”, an annual 6-month cycle during which governments benefit from the input of their EU peers as they formulate national budgetary and economic policies.
It calls on governments to focus on 5 priorities and related measures. These include:
implementing growth-friendly budget policies – tailor public investment and tax approaches to each country’s needs restoring loan activity to pre-crisis levels – ease banks’ access to funding, support small businesses' access to finance and develop a new European venture capital regime
view the PROGRESS REPORT ON THE EUROPE 2020 STRATEGY
Source: European Commission
Eurozone already in recession: banking group
November 23, 2011--The eurozone has sunk into recession, a leading international banking organization said Wednesday, adding that conditions in the 17-nation bloc had deteriorated swiftly.
"The situation in the euro area has taken a serious turn for the worse in the past month," the Institute of International Finance said in global outlook report.
"The economy has tipped into what we believe to be a recession, which will only serve to widen budget deficits and weaken bank asset quality further," the IIF said.
Incoming economic data for the just-ended third quarter and the early fourth quarter have been weaker than expected, the Washington-based trade group said.
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Source: EUbusiness
Euro withstands debt doubts
November 22, 2011--The euro bounced as investors appeared more willing to take on risk following several sessions of retrenchment on equity markets.
The single currency climbed 0.1 per cent to $1.3512 against the dollar and was up 0.2 per cent to Y103.98
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Source: FT,com
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