‘We had to respond’: ECB defends move to splash cash in Eurozone September 16, 2019 European Central Bank (ECB) chief economist Philip Lane has defended the institution’s decision to turn the stimulus taps back on, despite some public opposition from members of its governing council. The bank relaunched its massive bond-buying programme known as quantitive easing (QE) and cut its deposit rate by 0.1 percentage points to minus 0.5 per [...]
Eurozone relapses as manufacturing downturn deepens July 24, 2019 Economic woes have deepened in the Eurozone as the manufacturing downturn hit a three-month low for July, according to a closely-followed measure of the industry’s health. Manufacturing output relapsed to fall to a score of 51.5 this month after two months of growth, IHS Markit’s Flash Eurozone Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) found today. Read more: [...]
MEPs pick Italian as new European parliament president July 3, 2019 The European parliament named an Italian social democrat as its new president today to complete a raft of new appointments to fill the highest-ranking roles in the EU. Read more: Meet the neighbours: Christine Lagarde set to front new-look EU leadership David Sassoli, 63, beat three German, Spanish and Czech candidates to the role, which [...]
Eurozone manufacturing falls to three-month low as downturn drags on July 1, 2019 The Eurozone’s manufacturing downturn continued throughout June as the sector fell to a three-month low, data released today revealed. The IHS Markit had the Eurozone manufacturing below the 50 no-change mark again as it contracted for a fifth-successive month with a PMI of 47.6, down from 47.7 in May. Read more: EU officials fail to [...]
Eurozone manufacturing sector shrinks for fourth straight month June 3, 2019 The Eurozone’s manufacturing downturn continued in May, according to survey data released today, with the sector contracting for the fourth successive month. Read more: Eurozone sees weak growth in May amid stagnant demand Weakness in Germany was once again a major drag on the overall Eurozone’s performance as it registered another marked contraction, today’s IHS [...]
The inflation target is just the start for the next ECB president May 30, 2019 With the EU elections out of the way, the horse-trading over a host of top EU jobs, including who replaces Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank (ECB), will ratchet up. By the European Council meeting on 20-21 June, a successor to Draghi should become clear. The new president’s most urgent task is [...]
ECB warns low growth could see Eurozone asset prices fall and borrowing costs rise May 29, 2019 Weak economic growth could cause euro area asset prices to fall and borrowing costs for indebted countries to rise, the European Central Bank (ECB) has today warned, posing a major threat to the zone’s financial stability. Read more: Eurozone sees weak growth in May amid stagnant demand The ECB’s May financial stability report comes during [...]
As Brexit rages, the European project unravels before our eyes May 28, 2019 While the London foreign policy commentariat obsesses over the pathetic soap opera that is Brexit, it almost entirely misses the obvious and strategically vital point next door: the European project is in irretrievable decline, becoming increasingly peripheral to any serious global geopolitical discussion. The just-concluded European elections, which have underlined the rise of populism and [...]
Sluggish economic growth to continue as demand for lending falls May 28, 2019 The UK economy’s sluggish growth shows no signs of letting up, with all three major lending classes set to grow less than two per cent this year, new figures have revealed. Despite an uptick in real incomes, demand for consumer credit is forecast to grow just 1.6 per cent this year and two per cent [...]
German manufacturing output falls but services push economy to growth May 23, 2019 Germany’s manufacturing output fell for the fourth month in a row in May as new orders fell, according to the latest IHS Markit survey of the country’s private sector. Read more: Eurozone sees weak growth in May amid stagnant demand May saw the third straight monthly decrease in employment in the manufacturing sector, making the overall [...]