As June PMIs point to continuing recovery, has the Eurozone finally turned the corner? June 23, 2015 Anna Stupnytska is global economist at Fidelity Solutions. @AnnaStupnytska, says Yes The Eurozone recovery is becoming well-entrenched, with Flash Purchasing Managers’ Indices for June pointing to further acceleration in the second quarter. Labour market healing continues and inflation is out of deflationary territory. Crucially, this improvement has been broad-based across the Eurozone. Four main tailwinds [...]
Eurozone inflation rises 0.3 per cent in May June 17, 2015 Eurozone inflation rose 0.3 per cent in the year to May a second estimate released today by statistics agency Eurostat has shown, in line with economists' expectations, and up from zero in April. The largest prices increases came from vegetables which rose 0.09 per cent, restaurants and cafes which increased 0.08 per cent and tobacco [...]
All eyes are on Greece but rebounding inflation is Europe’s next big challenge June 16, 2015 The markets are on edge and, as Mario Draghi conceded several weeks ago, there is not much the European Central Bank (ECB) can really do to help. At the moment, all eyes are on Greece – a statement that could have been written on numerous occasions over the last five years. It’s “déjà vu all [...]
UK inflation: 33 charts showing how UK inflation rate compares to every inflation rate in every EU country June 16, 2015 The UK exited deflation in May, according to the ONS. In April consumer prices went on a brief foray into negative territory, but returned to meagre growth of 0.1 per cent for the year to May. Read more: The UK shrugs off deflation The Eurozone is beginning to get to grips with its own disinflation [...]
Can a currency save an economy? What the UK example teaches us June 2, 2015 Much has been said of global currency wars in the past few years. If there has been such a war, then arguably the UK fired the opening shot with a trade-weighted depreciation in the value of the pound of nearly 30 per cent between the summer of 2007 and the end of 2008. This was [...]
Eurozone prices bounce back as deflation ends May 19, 2015 The Eurozone has escaped deflation, officials figures yesterday confirmed. Annual inflation in the Eurozone was zero per cent in April, according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office. It means that prices of goods and services typically consumed by households were the same price in April as a year earlier. The data, which is in line with [...]
Deflation, no demand: Global economies struggling to up inflation and stagnation is on the rise May 18, 2015 We are now well into the second phase of post-financial crisis recovery. The first, terrifying phase was the period when central banks had to cut interest rates to zero and then develop and deploy new, unconventional weapons, including QE. The European Central Bank (ECB) had to be more imaginative than others, as it tried [...]
Four charts that sum up the week: Sterling rallies, UK growth forecast cut, London house prices rise and Europe beats Britain May 15, 2015 London house prices ended seven months of decline, the Bank of England said it was feeling less optimistic about the UK economy and the French economy sped ahead of Britain and Germany in the first quarter, this week. Here are four charts that sum up what happened. 1. London house prices are on the up again, [...]
Mario Draghi: Beware risks from surge in money printing May 14, 2015 Printing money can cause turbulence in financial markets, and could cause wealth inequalities to rise, European Central Bank (ECB) boss Mario Draghi warned yesterday. But the ECB President said that failing to act could be even more dangerous, and promised to carry on with ultra-low interest rates and quantitative easing “as long as needed for [...]
Eurozone economic growth beat the UK in the first quarter of 2015 May 13, 2015 The Eurozone economy grew at a faster rate than the UK's during the first quarter of this year, topping off a stream of recent data suggesting the bloc is emerging from a long period of stagnation. Official statistics agency Eurostat said GDP rose 0.4 per cent across the euro area, towards the bottom of analyst estimates, [...]