Economy of Europe | GlobalPost

Britain warns on currency of independent Scotland

Agence France-PresseApril 23, 2013 07:16

British finance minister George Osborne warned Tuesday that an independent Scotland would sacrifice control over much of its economy if it stayed in a currency zone using the pound. Launching a Treasury paper on currency options ahead of a September 2014 referendum, Osborne said there was also no guarantee the rest of the United Kingdom would accept such an arrangement. Osborne told an audience in Glasgow that Scotland could otherwise end up like Panama and Montenegro, which use the US dollar and the euro respectively but with no control over policy.

France supports Latvia joining eurozone next year

Agence France-PresseApril 19, 2013 17:16

President Francois Hollande said Friday that France supports Latvia adopting the euro in January to become the currency bloc's 18th member. "If the reports confirm Latvia's capacity to join the eurozone, and I don't doubt they will, I support the 2014 date," Hollande said in a joint appearance with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis. Latvia submitted last month its formal request to join the eurozone on January 1, 2014, and the European Commission and European Central Bank are expected within weeks to render their verdicts whether the Baltic state is ready.

Dollar lower on weak economic data

Agence France-PresseApril 18, 2013 20:16

The dollar dropped against the euro Thursday after a series of weak US economic reports. At 2300 GMT, the euro was trading at $1.3050, up from $1.3028 Wednesday night. The dollar also weakened against the British pound and the Swiss franc. But the dollar gained on the yen, trading at 98.23 compared with 97.98 the night earlier. The euro traded at 128.21 yen, up from 127.66.

European banking union on track - Austrian watchdog FMA

Thomson ReutersApril 18, 2013 06:30

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria's FMA markets watchdog expects the main pillars of the new European banking union to take effect as scheduled despite German reservations, senior FMA officials told reporters. Banking union aims to shore up the euro zone by breaking the "doom loop" between ailing banks and state finances. As a first step, the European Central Bank is to start supervising euro zone banks next year. Financial Market Authority co-head Helmut Ettl said plans were on track to have the ECB take on that role.

Euro drops on Bundesbank rate cut comments

Agence France-PresseApril 17, 2013 18:45

The euro dropped against the dollar Wednesday, reversing Tuesday's gains after Bundesbank comments on a possible eurozone interes rate cut and speculation swirled over a possible German rating downgrade. The euro dropped to $1.3033, at 2200 GMT, down from $1.3174 late Tuesday. The euro fell to 127.97 yen, from 128.52, while the dollar rose to 99.19 yen from 97.51. Comments from Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann that the European Central Bank could cut interest rates below their current record lows if necessary sent the euro tumbling.

Weidmann says ECB may cut rates if economy weakens - WSJ

Thomson ReutersApril 17, 2013 11:45

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank could reduce interest rates further if economic data warrants it, ECB Governing Council member Jens Weidmann was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying on Wednesday, sending the euro sharply lower. The ECB decided to leave interest rates on hold at its April policy meeting, but ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank would "monitor very closely" all data and stand "ready to act" to boost the recession-hit euro zone.

Euro jumps 1% as markets, gold rebound

Agence France-PresseApril 16, 2013 19:01

The euro jumped one percent against the dollar, reaching its best level since February, on Tuesday and the yen fell as buyers returned to share markets and gold rebounded following Monday's rout. Safe-haven currencies the yen and dollar suffered from the return to risk, with the euro trading at $1.3180 at 2200 GMT, up from $1.3036 late Monday. The yen fell, with the dollar buying 97.79 yen compared to 96.72 Monday, and the euro pushing to 128.86 yen from 126.05 yen.

Draghi urges governments to solve debt crisis, says ECB cannot

Thomson ReutersApril 15, 2013 09:45

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Monday put pressure on governments to push ahead with plans for closer European integration to address the euro zone crisis' core problems. He said that was not something the central bank could do. The ECB bought euro zone governments time to bring down debt levels and boost competitiveness with a new bond purchase programme it launched in September, but plans for closer European integration have hit difficulties.

Sweden lowers growth forecast for 2014

Agence France-PresseApril 15, 2013 06:15

The sluggish global economy will impact Swedish growth more than expected next year, the government said Monday as it revised downwards its 2014 growth forecast from 3.0 percent to just 2.2 percent. Finance Minister Anders Borg, presenting the supplementary spring budget to parliament, said he expected growth for this year to tick in at 1.2 percent, up a notch from the 1.1 percent forecast last autumn. "There is a strong headwind from the global economy which is holding back the recovery in Sweden," Borg said in a statement.

Swiss government has emergency plan to stabilise exchange rate

Thomson ReutersApril 13, 2013 06:30

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss government has a confidential emergency plan to stabilise the Swiss franc exchange rate in case the euro zone crisis worsens and the Swiss National Bank alone is no longer able to guarantee the rate, Swiss parliament's finance delegation said in a report. The SNB capped the soaring Swiss franc at 1.20 francs per euro in September 2011 to fend off deflation and a recession and has repeated ever since that it was ready to buy foreign currency in unlimited quantity for this purpose.