Europe Economics Update Greece on the brink Crunch time appears to be rapidly approaching for Greece. While an additional bail-out package may stave off near-term disaster, a major debt restructuring seems inevitable at some point and Greece’s... 17th June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update SNB strikes a dovish tone As expected, the Swiss National Bank left its interest rate target unchanged at today’s meeting. With the Bank striking a slightly more downbeat tone in its statement and the Swiss franc’s strength... 17th June 2011 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update SNB strikes a dovish tone As expected, the Swiss National Bank left its interest rate target unchanged at today’s meeting. With the Bank striking a slightly more downbeat tone in its statement and the Swiss franc’s strength... 16th June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro's unwanted strength heightens break-up dangers Our expectation that the euro would fall against the US dollar as the fiscal crisis deepened has not been borne out and we now expect the euro to stay higher for longer. But this unwanted strength... 16th June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Where would a second bail-out leave Greece? European policymakers will hope that a second bail-out package will provide Greece with more time to show that its fiscal and structural reforms are working. But we are far from convinced and still... 15th June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update How far is Spain from a tipping point? Recent developments suggest that Spain may have started to recouple with the likes of Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Over the coming months, Spain is likely to face a number of tricky hurdles and could... 14th June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB signals July rate hike & stands firm on Greek default ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet struck a hard line on the euro-zone’s debt crisis today by both signalling an interest rate hike in July and again ruling out a debt restructuring for Greece. But on... 10th June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update ECB trying to hold back the tide The European Central Bank’s continued opposition to any form of sovereign debt restructuring in the euro-zone remains a major short-term obstacle to plans for a Greek debt “rollover”. But the ECB... 8th June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Economic clouds still hanging over Iceland The dust clouds may have cleared but economic gloom continues to hang over Iceland. While the economy returned to growth in Q1, conditions for consumers remain grim and large risks remain over plans... 8th June 2011 · 1 min read
Nordic & Swiss Economics Update Economic clouds still hanging over Iceland The dust clouds may have cleared but economic gloom continues to hang over Iceland. While the economy returned to growth in Q1, conditions for consumers remain grim and large risks remain over plans... 8th June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Greek bail-out 2 will merely delay the inevitable A second Greek bail-out package, perhaps involving some form of voluntary debt rescheduling, won’t address Greece’s fundamental problems and won’t prevent a major restructuring in the future. 1st June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone Fiscal Monitor (May) While Spain has made good progress in reducing its central government budget deficit this year, its growing regional deficits are a cause for concern. Meanwhile, the Greek and Irish deficits are still... 1st June 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Euro-zone Monetary Indicators Monitor (May) The latest data show that euro-zone money and credit growth remain subdued. Of course, with headline inflation well above target, this won’t stop the ECB from raising interest rates again over the... 27th May 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Would banks cope with a Greek debt "reprofiling"? Some form of Greek debt rescheduling would certainly have rather less severe implications for the euro-zone’s banks than a “hard” default. Nonetheless, were the process badly handled, it could still... 26th May 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Will the domino effect hit Belgium? With fears that Spain’s “decoupling” from Greece, Ireland and Portugal may prove temporary, markets may become less sanguine about Belgium than they have recently been. With the political situation... 24th May 2011 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Update Will Ireland also need a second bail-out? Ireland appears to be under no imminent pressure to follow Greece and seek a bigger bail-out package. Nonetheless, we still think that it may eventually need to gain additional financial support from... 19th May 2011 · 1 min read
