Finland and Holland move to block bond-buying plans, casting the
first doubts on last week's summit deal, as figures show a slide in Spain,
Greece and Italy's manufacturing activity and a rise in unemployment across the
eurozone....A little more detail on this German court hearing. Germany's
parliament last week approved the ESM, but President Joachim Gauck said he will
not sign it into law until the powerful constitutional court has given its
go-ahead. Several critics have already filed complaints against the ESM with the
court, who will hear these complaints on Tuesday 10 July - one day after the
fund is supposed to take effect. Over in Greece, ministers are
deep in talks over how to ease the punishing terms of its bailout before a
review by the country's lenders. Antonis Samaras, the country's prime minister,
wants more time to meet targets and to dilute austerity measures. Reuters
reports that ministers from the conservative-led coalition were huddled in talks
on Monday to work out the plan before "troika" inspectors from the EU, ECB and
IMF begin their review of Greece's faltering progress in fiscal adjustment and
reforms.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, was asked about this today. She said
we must accept decisions of other states and there is no need to make decisions
now... Confusion still reigns, it would appear, over whether direct
overcapitalization of banks by the eurozone's permanent rescue fund would
require a treaty change. Yesterday, the European Commission said no legislative
changes were needed in the treaty governing the European Stability Mechanism.
But the Dutch government said today it was uncertain if a direct
overcapitalization of banks by the euro zone's permanent rescue fund would
require a treaty change. For now, however, it was assuming that no treaty change
would be needed and, when appropriate, the cabinet would propose that parliament
approve the addition to the ESM's mandate.
France's finance minister has said that the country's
revised budget, due to go before the cabinet on Wednesday, will rein the
government's deficit to a targeted 4.5pc of GDP. ...
Reuters reports that Pierre Moscovici said that without
budget amendments the deficit would hit 5.0pc of GDP this year - implying the
government needed some €10bn in new deficit cutting measures.
8 comments:
There has always been a suspicion that France defies gravity with unaffordable social services and a superb medical system that was too good to afford and many other improbable, suspect and well protected European based income streams. In spite of their vast gains from the CAP and other manipulated and biased income gains from a Europe that they had built with a French/German bias has given their economy the appearance of calm prosperity and high quality of life for its citizens.
It is about time that their chickens came home to roost. I wish them well but it is now time to pay the piper.
I hope they enjoy the tune.
Microsoft Web Woes
To Wipe Out Profit
Microsoft is booking a $6.2 billion charge for its money-losing Internet division, an admission that a business anchored by the Bing search engine has failed to live up to expectations.
MarketBeat: Microsoft Lost Precious Time, Too
Blue Chips Climb 72 Points
U.S. stocks rose in a shortened preholiday session as surging oil prices bolstered energy shares and factory orders rebounded more than expected.
Wall Street Strategists Turn Bearish
Goldman Bit by Short Call
Markets to Fed: More Cowbell Please
Subscriber Content Read Preview
ECB Tightens Lending Rules
The European Central Bank tightened its lending conditions in what seems a foretaste of the more active role it will soon have as regulator and supervisor for the euro-zone banking system.
Irish Auction Marks Progress
Ireland will make a tentative step toward regaining the trust of bond investors Thursday when it sells €500 million of Treasury bills, marking its first auction since it was locked out of international capital markets in September 2010.
Producer-Price Inflation Slows
Euro-zone producer-price inflation slowed to its weakest rate in more than two years in May, pointing to a slowdown in consumer prices that would give the European Central Bank more room to cut its key interest rate.
Subscriber Content Read Preview
U.S. May Factory Orders Rose
Orders for U.S. factory goods rose more than expected in May, after declines the prior two months, but headwinds appear to persist for sector.
Police have carried out searches of the home and offices of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy as part of a campaign financing probe.
A law firm in which Mr Sarkozy owns shares was also searched, reports say.
The investigation is related to allegations that Mr Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election campaign received illegal donations from France's richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt.
Mr Sarkozy has previously denied all wrongdoing.
He is currently in Canada with his family, his lawyer, Thierry Herzog, told the AFP news agency.
In presidential elections in May, Mr Sarkozy lost to Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, and his presidential immunity from prosecution ended on 16 June.
Tens of thousands of euros were allegedly funnelled to Mr Sarkozy's campaign by Ms Bettencourt's office.
Individual campaign contributions in France are limited to 4,600 euros ($5,800).
Spanish High Court has opened a case against former Bankia chairman Rodrigo Rato and 32 top executives, Reuters reports, citing a legal source. Shareholders, who lost most of their money after investing in an initial public offering last year, had started legal claims against the bank.
Bankia was nationalised in May and Rato stepped down as chairman as it became clear the lender could not deal with growing capital shortfall from a 2008 real estate crash.
Germany and the UK both sold five-year bonds without any problem this morning, as the two AAA-rated countries continues to find plenty of buyers for their debt.
The Bundesbank raised almost €3.3bn though its sale of bunds maturing in 2017, at yields of just 0.52%. Bond traders said the auction was very strong.
Britain's Debt Management Agency sold £4.5bn of five-year gilts at an average yield of 0.942%, and received orders for another £2.25bn of bonds.
Low borrowing costs do reflect concern that the wider economy is in weak shape, as well as the risk that other countries could default. In the case of Britain, yields have also been pulled down by the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme*
Germany and the UK both sold five-year bonds without any problem this morning, as the two AAA-rated countries continues to find plenty of buyers for their debt.
The Bundesbank raised almost €3.3bn though its sale of bunds maturing in 2017, at yields of just 0.52%. Bond traders said the auction was very strong.
Britain's Debt Management Agency sold £4.5bn of five-year gilts at an average yield of 0.942%, and received orders for another £2.25bn of bonds.
Low borrowing costs do reflect concern that the wider economy is in weak shape, as well as the risk that other countries could default. In the case of Britain, yields have also been pulled down by the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme*
Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mark Hoban says the new system of regulation being introduced by the Government must ensure banks cannot "privatise gain and socialise loss".
Financial Secretary to the Treasury Mark Hoban says the new system of regulation being introduced by the Government must ensure banks cannot "privatise gain and socialise loss".
Post a Comment