Europe goes shopping as prices keep dropping, but confidence may be short-lived April 5, 2016 The Eurozone was treated to a rare piece of good economic news this morning, as official figures showed households are buying 2.4 per cent more retail products than this time last year, though economists were pessimistic about how the long the feel-good factor would stick around. According to Eurostat, the EU’s official number crunchers, bumper [...]
Services sector struggles for momentum, as purchasing managers’ index points to GDP slowdown April 5, 2016 The fragility of Britain’s reliance on its mammoth services industry was laid bare this morning by the latest Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which showed growth in the sector will not be enough to translate into confidence about the wider economy. Services scored 53.7 on the bellwether index, where scores above 50 indicate expansion, rebounding from a [...]
IMF chief Christine Lagarde: Yes, global recovery is shaky – but don’t panic April 5, 2016 Christine Lagarde has warned that she is “on alert” over the shaky foundations underpinning the global economic recovery and called on politicians and central banks to make sure they are doing everything they can to promote sustainable growth. In an address to Goethe University, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said the [...]
Oil price hits one month low as production freeze deal begins to show cracks April 4, 2016 The price of oil has dropped to its lowest in a month as investors fret over the increasingly shaky looking deal between Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to freeze production at January levels and clear a global supply glut. In mid afternoon trading a barrel of international benchmark Brent crude was going for [...]
These are the four things which have the ECB’s top economist worried April 4, 2016 Eyebrows may well have been raised at the European Central Bank (ECB) this morning after its chief economist said the organisation was in danger of losing credibility. Peter Praet, who also sits on the ECB’s six-strong executive board with the Bank’s president, Mario Draghi, said that low inflation was bringing into question the ECB’s remit [...]
The European Central Bank is losing credibility, according to one of its board members April 4, 2016 Low inflation and defunct monetary policy risk threatening the European Central Bank’s (ECB) reputation as an effective organisation, according to one of its top economists, Peter Praet, who sits on the ECB’s executive board alongside its president, Mario Draghi. Praet warned that if the ECB fails in its efforts to save Europe from a period [...]
Double-digit unemployment leaves Eurozone residents twice as likely to be out of work compared to those living in Britain April 4, 2016 The unemployment rate across the Eurozone edged down to 10.3 per cent in February 2016, its lowest rate since August 2011, according to official figures out this morning, though economists warned the pace of job creation could be slowing down. The share of people out of work in the single currency bloc has fallen to [...]
UK’s finance chiefs rally behind the vote to keep Britain in the EU, as uncertainty curbs appetite for risk April 4, 2016 The majority of the UK's finance chiefs are so nervous of a vote for a Brexit this summer that it's stopping them from taking on other risks, a report out today has found. According to the survey by Deloitte of over 100 finance chiefs, three out of four (75 per cent) are now in favour of [...]
Iranian minister rebuffs Saudi oil demands, throwing a spanner in the Opec and Russia production freeze talks April 3, 2016 Plans for a deal to clear the global oil supply glut with a production freeze have hit a hurdle after the Iranian oil minister refused demands from Saudi Arabia to throttle its production. Iran’s Bijan Zanganeh told the country’s Mehr News Agency today Iran still intends to increase its output to four million barrels a day, [...]
Markit PMI: British manufacturing edges up but quarterly growth remains weak April 1, 2016 While British manufacturing ticked up last month from its weakest level in nearly three years, quarterly growth remained disappointing. It comes as the business secretary, Sajid Javid, visits Port Talbot to meet workers and management affected by Tata's decision to sell its UK assets. Read more: The travel industry must love Sajid Javid The Markit/CIPS manufacturing Purchasing Managers' [...]
