Eurozone investor confidence slides - The political mess in Italy has alarmed investors, whose growing confidence over the euro area has taken a knock this month.
The monthly eurozone investor confidence index, conducted by Sentix, has dropped to -10.6, down from -3.6 in February. That shows that investors across the eurozone have grown more nervous, reversing a six-month trend.
Sentix blamed the Italy election results: The reason for this setback is obvious: it is the outcome of the election in Italy which has caused uncertainty over the country's future development to skyrocket....This has had a negative impact on the whole euro zone.
Latvia has taken the plunge and decided to apply to join the eurozone....Finance minister Andris Vilks told reporters this morning that the application will arrive in Brussels tomorrow, adding:This is a day that will enter Latvia's history.It's caused a bit of a buzz in Brussels, where eurocrats see it as a sign that the euro project is still on the road.Our Europe editor, Ian Traynor, told us all two weeks ago that the application would come in March. That article is well worth a read, with prime minister, Algirdas Butkevicius, explaining exactly why Latvia still wants to join the euro club. It's all about the security: "We see it as a kind of insurance mechanism," said Dombrovskis. "We don't expect to go back into a crisis. We're sticking with prudent fiscal policies and we don't expect to overheat our economy again. "And whatever happens to the euro happens to us anyway. Our economy is completely euro-ised: 80% of borrowing, households and businesses, is in euros. This will help financial and economic stability."
2 comments:
Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, has died in a military hospital after a long battle against cancer, the vice-president has announced, prompting a wave of mourning in the country he ruled since 1999 with a globally distinctive and influential style of leadership.
The symbol of Latin American socialism succumbed to a respiratory infection on Tuesday evening, 21 months after he first revealed he had a tumour. He had not been seen in public for three months since undergoing emergency surgery in Cuba on 11 December.
He will be given a state funeral in Caracas, likely to be attended by millions of supporters and leftwing leaders from across the globe who have been inspired by Chávez's doctrine of "Bolivarian 21st-century socialism", grateful for the subsidised energy he provided or simply impressed by his charisma.
His death will also trigger a presidential election, which must be held within 30 days, to decide who controls the world's greatest untapped reserves of oil. Chávez's designated successor is the vice-president, Nicolás Maduro, who is likely to face Henrique Capriles, the losing opposition candidate in the most recent presidential election. Until then, according to the constitution, the interim president should be the head of the national assembly, Diosdado Cabello.
But officials acknowledged that Chávez suffered multiple complications after his surgery including respiratory infections and bleeding. He had to undergo more chemotherapy and drug treatments and could only breathe through a tracheal tube.
He returned from Cuba on 18 February at his own request, said officials. Since then he has been treated at Carlos Arvelo military hospital in Caracas.
Hopes for a recovery dimmed on Monday, when minister of communications, Ernesto Villegas, said the president's condition had declined due to a "new and serious respiratory infection."
Constitutional questions have been raised by his long hospitalisation and absence from public life, which he formerly dominated with dynamic and provocative appearances on his weekly television address, "Hello Mr President." When he failed to attend his scheduled inauguration on 10 January, the opposition asked who is running the country. The ruling party responded with a rally of more than 100,000 supporters, many carrying banners declaring "We are Chávez."
Post a Comment