In Europe, the German-French proposal of a 500bn fund issued by the Commission and distributed as grants, marks a U-turn for Germany, as its public opinion appears to be more favourable to supporting other EU countries. It also looks like a response to its Constitutional Court recent ruling, which was critical of the ECB asset...
The last of the largest EU countries to release its activity data, Germany'statistics showed the economy shrinked by 2,2%qoq in Q1. Though Germany is now offically in recession, after a downward revision in Q4 GDP, the decline in Q1 was less dramatic than in France (-5.8 %), Spain (-5.2%) and Italy (-4.7%). This may reflect...
In Europe, the German Constitutional Court ruled that the ECB will have to provide additional information on PSPP programme, which was launched during the previous debt crisis, to support Member States with large debts, otherwise it will force the Bundesbank to retreat from that programme. The Court ruled that the ECB programme did not amount...
GDP data showed the extent of the corona-virus led recession, whith sharp falls in Europe and in the US. In the Euro Area GDP was down 3.8% in Q1 relative to the previous quarter, while estimates for France, Italy and Spain, three of countries most deeply affected by this crisis, showed drops of 5.8%, 4.7%...
The EU Council met this week, with mixed results. While no exact details were agreed on, Germany helped move closer to a consensus on a EU Commission debt emmission to fund financial support due to the coronavírus. The question remains whether those funds will be distributed through loans (which require repayment) or loans (which result...
As economic data releases show the extent of the unparalled recession which results from the lockdown, many countries are now preparing for a gradual reopening of the economy, varying in speed and sectors. What seems to be clear is that restoring normality will take longer than expected. In Europe, talks about a recovery fund continued,...
On the economic front, the Eurogroup announced three common European instruments to deal with the crisis: EU Commission's plan for employment polices worth EUR100bn, a reinforcement of EIB funding to SMEs worth EUR200bn and the activation of the ESM precuatiorany credit line worth EUR260bn, for coronovirus health related spending. This is a first step towards...
On the economic front, unemployment data surged this week at a speed that few economists predicted. In the US, 10 million americans claimed for unemployment benefits in the second half of March. In Europe, the first numbers for March are equally dismal. Spain recorded a 300 thousand rise in registered unemployment but but job losses...
COVID19 infections accelerated around the world this week, as the US surpassed China in total coronavirus cases, reporting 81943 infections. In Europe, Italy and Spain registered record numbers of deaths caused by the new coronavírus, at 919 and 832 respectively. As Europe remains mostly in lockdown and the economic effects begin to be felt on companies...
As COVID19 infection rates soared across the world, several more states and countries introduced additional restrictions to activity and lockdowns. Perhaps the more significant was the u-turn by the UK Government on its previous policy of controlled infection, once they realised that the potential fatalities resulting from that policy would be in the hundred thousands. Due...
