Brussels ups the ante over Italy budget November 5, 2018 Eurozone finance ministers stood their ground against the Italian government tonight, as it urged policymakers in Rome to revise its draft budget to align with European rules. The European Commission rejected Italy’s free-spending draft budget plan last month and ordered the government to submit a revised budget by 13 November. The EU’s economic and financial [...]
Sorry Angela Merkel, it’s not that easy to choreograph your own legacy November 1, 2018 There definitely comes a time where a fresh pair of eyes and fresh leadership would be good.” Those are the wise words of David Cameron, when asked whether he’d be running for a third term as Prime Minister just before the 2015 election. Now into her fourth term as German Chancellor, it has taken Angela [...]
DEBATE: Has the EU overstepped the mark by rejecting Italy’s budget? October 25, 2018 Has the EU overstepped the mark by rejecting Italy’s budget? Matthew Elliott, senior political adviser to Shore Capital, says YES. From the moment Britain’s Brexit referendum was announced in 2013, the EU started to moderate its most overt interventionist instincts, minimising Eurozone problems through quantitative easing, and restricting its tendency to meddle in the affairs [...]
Italy claims its budget plans won’t hurt the EU’s financial wellbeing October 22, 2018 Italy’s expansionary budget will not risk the EU’s financial health, the country claimed today as it seeks to counter Brussels’ criticism of its latest spending plans. Economy minister Giovanni Tria wrote to the European Commission to say that the public spending outlined in Italy’s budget are crucial in order to kick start economic growth in [...]
EU seeks to lessen tensions with Italy as the eurozone economy posts halting growth for third quarter October 19, 2018 The EU hopes to reduce tensions with Italy over its inflammatory 2019 budget, according to European economics commissioner Pierre Moscovici. Saying no decision had yet been made about whether or not Italy's budget would pass muster with the European Commission, Moscovici told a news conference today that he wanted to “reduce tensions and maintain a [...]
Italy’s stock market sell-off could force its populist politicians to change course October 9, 2018 The start of this week witnessed yet another spike in Italian bond yields, as the country’s coalition government continued to grapple with the details of its 2019 budget. Political leaders also struggled to deliver a consistent message to investors, who have grown increasingly concerned about the state’s future spending and borrowing plans. The depth of [...]
Italy fears subside as government reportedly plans to cut debt October 3, 2018 Fears over Italy’s cost of borrowing eased this morning on reports that the country plans to slash debt by two per cent in 2021. The Italian government has estimated a budget deficit of 2.4 per cent of GDP for 2019, before cutting it to 2.2 per cent for 2020, according to publication Corriere della Sera. [...]
Italian borrowing costs rise to four-year high as Rome-Brussels confrontation looms October 2, 2018 The cost of borrowing for the Italian sovereign rose to its highest since 2014 today amid investor fears of a face-off with the EU over the size of the deficit under the populist government’s spending plans. The yield on a 10-year sovereign bond, which moves inversely to prices, surged by more than 20 basis points [...]
What crisis? Eurozone growth revised up to 0.4 per cent in second quarter September 8, 2015 Things didn't get quite as bad during the Greek crisis as everyone thought, it turns out, after Eurozone growth for the second quarter was revised upwards. Official statistics published this morning showed the bloc grew 0.4 per cent between April and June, up from the 0.3 per cent originally thought. At the time of the [...]
Blame lack of reform for Eurozone unemployment remaining so high September 3, 2015 We received good news on European unemployment this week. The total number unemployed in the Eurozone and across the EU has continued to fall. The Eurozone unemployment rate has dropped below 11 per cent for the first time since early 2012. And the overall EU jobless rate is down to 9.5 per cent, its [...]