France’s coming bond crisis is a test for Europe’s double standards Opinion As Greek government bonds yield lower interest than France’s, the Eurozone faces a critical test over whether European institutions will enforce fiscal rules consistently or protect politically influential member states, says Tim Focas If someone had told investors during the eurozone debt crisis of 2012 that Greece would one day borrow more cheaply than France, [...]
Bond sell-off rocks Europe after France imposes curfew to contain riots Markets European bond and equity markets were hit by a fresh sell-off on Monday as the French government rolled out curfews to contain explosive riots that have spread across the country. The 10-year yield on French bonds – a direct reflection of the government’s cost to borrow – spiked around 13 basis points to 4.9 per [...]
Old fault lines are threatening to rock the Eurozone Opinion After years in which central-bank backstops encouraged Eurozone investors to look the other way, the bond market has finally started to notice.
Germany’s politics have become unsustainable September 22, 2026 German Chancellor Merz and the CDU face a severe political crisis following disastrous state election results and plunging approval ratings, says Helen Thomas “It was a disaster” said German Chancellor Merz after the results of two key German elections. If anything, that was an understatement. The CDU suffered the humiliation of falling below the five [...]
‘Very clever’ – Mandelson shared sensitive advice with Epstein at height of Eurozone drama February 3, 2026 Peter Mandelson sent Jeffrey Epstein sensitive advice concerning the liquidity of the UK financial system and the stability of the euro that had been shared with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. In the exchange, which took place in May 2010 at the height of the Eurozone debt crisis and in the turbulent political aftermath of the [...]
Analysis: A US-EU trade deal looks unlikely. What does that mean for the UK? July 7, 2025 The clock is ticking on the EU-US trade deal set to expire on 9 July. The European Union is pushing for immediate relief from tariffs, but the bloc expects even a best-case deal to include a degree of asymmetry. While the UK is not at the negotiating table, Britain may find itself absorbing collateral damage [...]
Global growth to brake to ‘slowest pace’ since financial crash, World Bank says June 10, 2025 The world economy is heading for its worst year since the 2008 financial crash, the World Bank has predicted, as most major economies suffered a growth downgrade due to trade tensions sparked by President Trump’s tariffs. The UN-backed financial institution has predicted that global growth will come down to 2.3 per cent this year as [...]
Eurozone inflation unexpectedly rises as Trump trade war fears mount February 3, 2025 The headline rate of inflation picked up to 2.5 per cent in January, according to preliminary estimates from Eurostat.
ECB cuts interest rates for fifth time after growth underwhelms January 30, 2025 The decision to cut rates by 25 basis points was widely expected by investors, and means the benchmark interest rate stands at 2.75 per cent.
Eurozone inflation increases amid debate over pace of interest rate cuts January 7, 2025 'Flash' figures from Eurostat show that the headline rate of inflation increased to 2.4 per cent last month, up from 2.2 per cent the month before.