Alice Hudson

The eurozone economy is now 0.4pc smaller than it was a year ago, whist the region contracted 0.2 pc in the second quarter, eurozone GDP figures released this morning show. Weak household consumption across the region (Germany excepted) and slower investment plans are to blame, according to analysts. In other euro crisis news, there are concerns […]

Global economic data released yesterday and this morning seems  to confirm Europe is inching ever-closer to the financial abyss. The European Central bank cut its predicted growth rate for next year from one per cent to  just 0.6 per cent yesterday, whilst June’s UK trade deficit was confirmed as the largest since records began, £4.3 bn. Trade […]

Markets fell sharply yesterday after the European Central Bank (ECB) disappointed investors, hoping for quick action to contain the region’s ongoing debt crisis. ECB president Mario Draghi, who last week pledged to do whatever it takes to save the euro, said the central bank would gear up to buy bonds on the open market, but […]

Expectation is mounting ahead of Thursday’s key meeting of European Central Bank (ECB) officials, following president Mario Draghi’s promise the institution would do “whatever it takes” to save the euro. The ECB’s options range from buying more bonds of troubled member states like Italy and Spain, to making more cheap cash available to banks, or […]

European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi’s pledge to “do whatever it takes” to save the euro saw markets close well up yesterday. Germany’s central bank views the implication the ECB might start buying Spanish or Italian government bonds, or launch a full-scale quantitative easing package, as “problematic” according to a Dow Jones report. The...

Greece has a 90 per cent chance of leaving the euro within 18 months, according to a statement released today by Citigroup. European Commission president Jose Manuel arrived in Athens today for crucial talks about how to proceed with the country’s bail out programme. Representatives from the European Central  Bank (ECB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were […]

A group of leading, global economists including two advisers to the German government have sounded a dire warning for debt-stricken Europe. “Europe is sleepwalking toward a disaster of incalculable proportions… The sense of a never-ending crisis, with one domino falling after another, must be reversed,” a new report issued by the  Institute for New Economic […]

Antonis Samaras, Greece’s new Prime Minister, this morning described the challenges the Greek government now faces as “Herculean”. In a speech to parliament, Samaras also said the Greek economy may shrink by more than seven per cent this year. It would not return to growth until at least 2014. The economically troubled nation’s central bank had previously forecast...

The value of the euro slumped to a new low today, as investors continued to worry about Spain’s troubled economy – despite news a bail-out plan for Spanish banks had been finalised. It is thought there is still a great chance Spain will need a complete sovereign bail-out. Many of its regions are becoming bankrupt […]

Spain’s much-needing banking system rescue, worth €100 bn, is expected to be ratified by EU finance ministers later today, The deal was yesterday backed by German lawmakers – although chancellor Angela Merkel was forced to rely on opposition votes yet again. Continuing problems in the Eurozone were blamed for higher than expected government borrowing figures in the UK.  Britain...