Italy requests a fiscal time-out to boost growth
Following a meeting with the President-elect of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Italian premier Minister Giuseppe Conte asked for fiscal space to restart the Italian economy.
Addressing the press, Conte said that the...
Rome’s new government faces old fiscal deadlocks in Brussels
The second Giuseppe Conte government in Italy retains ambitious spending plans that may be in conflict with Brussel’s demands to reign over the public deficit.
Ahead of submitting the 2020 budget, Conte’s administration intends to...
Swedish central bank goes against the tide to tighten monetary supply
Sweden’s central bank, or Riksbank, was the first among developed economies to introduce negative interest rates during the crisis and will now be the first to hike those rates over the next two months.
The...
Greece follows Ireland and Portugal in seeking early IMF repayment
Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras has announced that Greece will submit an official request to the Eurogroup seeking permission to repay a loan to the International Monetary Fund, a move that would follow similar...
Johnson tries build a viable no-deal narrative
The political pressure is mounting on Boris Johnson to abandon the idea of no-deal, but as the economy walks towards a recession, the British prime minister is trying to built up the economic viability...
The politics of AI in the financial markets
Technology is and has always been a crucial part of finance.
From the first promissory notes in the Netherlands and China, there was a race with counterfeiters that parasitically undermined trust. As in any political...
Online selling VAT fraud could see a Brexit headache for UK’s HMRC
Officials are preparing for an uptick in VAT compliance problems as the UK leaves the European Union. Online platforms like Amazon Marketplace and eBay are already under pressure to make sellers pay their share...
Argentina’s peso is in free-fall
The century-old saga of Argentina's boom-bust economy has taken another ominous turn as the Argentine peso is now trading at 57.95 per US dollar on Wednesday, which is equal to a 22% loss of...
German business confidence drops for 11th consecutive month
A monthly executives survey of 9,000 German firms published on Monday by the Munich-based Ifo economic think tank confirms the widespread impression of a nosedive in business confidence.
For the 11th consecutive month, managers operating...
Italy’s parties weigh options for new government or snap elections
Italy's centrist Democratic Party reiterated its position that it would be open to the possibility of a second Giuseppe Conte government, Senate Chief Whip Andrea Marcucci said on 26 August after his party and...
Italy pushing for new government by Tuesday
Italy's 5-Star Movement and the centre-left Democratic Party started negotiations on Friday over the weekend to form a new government following the resignation of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte last week.
Both parties reported that progress...
Sino-American trade war escalates
US President Donald J. Trump is escalating the trade war with China; markets in Asia nosedived on Monday morning, with the Chinese yuan reaching an 11-year low.
Ahead of the G7 Summit on Friday evening,...
The Netherlands join the deficit consensus
The Dutch government is considering a deficit-finance stimulus program, prioritizing infrastructure, research, and education the government said on Thursday.
The plan would entail the Netherlands borrowing an additional €50bn on the current historically low or...
Italy’s opposition wants alternative government following Conte resignation
Italy’s main opposition party The leader of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti, has called for the formation of a four-year alternative government in order to approve the country's 2020 budget. This was the...
Markets expect new government rather than snap elections in Italy
Italian President Sergio Mattarella is beginning a two-day round of consultations with parties on Wednesday to explore whether it is possible to form a government.
Giuseppe Conte resigned on Tuesday, ending a 14-month coalition government...
Italian PM Conte resigns
After weeks of coalition turmoil between the increasingly popular Lega party and their governing partners, the 5-Star Movement, Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced his resignation on Tuesday afternoon saying, 'this government ends here".
Conte's...
European markets surge in expectation of German stimulus package
The Euro surged against the US dollar on Friday, in anticipation of a U-turn in German budgetary policy, which could end a decade-long zero-deficit policy.
European shares rebounded from a six-month low on Friday, as...
Salvini-led government would prioritise tax cuts over deficit
An Italian government led by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini's Lega party would pursue an ambitious tax cut programme, according to the party's economic spokesman, Claudio Borghi.
“We need to pursue a tax cut and...
Markets signal global recession
Markets in Europe fell on Thursday, following a sell-off in Asian and US stock exchanges on Wednesday. The market downturn was triggered by negative growth data in the UK and Germany, culminating with Chinese...
Germany forced to rethink export-led growth model
Germany’s export-led economic model is called into question, forcing the government to rethink its fiscal policy.
Slumping exports have brought Germany on the brink of recession, according to data released on Wednesday. The overall output...
EU’s Budget Commissioner opens consulting firm in Hamburg
European Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger will become an independent business and political consultant in Hamburg after the end of his term in office.
Oettinger and his partner, the Hamburg event manager Friederike Beyer, will jointly run the firm together and...
Finnish presidency sets August 26 as MFF deadline for budget priorities
Informing the EU affairs ministers about plans for work on a multi-annual financial framework (MFF) for 2021-2027, the Finnish presidency has set a deadline for the other 27 members of the European Union to...
Italian business confidence rebounds
The HIS Markit global survey published on Monday suggests that Italy's business confidence got a boost in the second quarter of 2019, even as the Eurozone's economic fundamentals are worse.
Overall, the Italian economy saw negative...
OECD warns Europe to prepare for economic shock
The OECD’s chief economist, Laurence Boone, expects Northern Europe to experience an economic shock, probably by the end of the summer.
Chastising countries with a fiscal surplus policy, especially Germany and the Netherlands, the chief...
Italy to challenge Lagarde’s nomination and fiscal compact
Italy could challenge the choice of Christine Lagarde for the Presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB) while also calling into question the fiscal compact, which frames budgetary policy within the Eurozone.
In an interview...
The UK less prepared for recession than a decade ago
Britain is facing the highest risk of a damaging recession in 12 years, according to the UK’s Resolution Foundation.
According to the Foundations projection model, the chances of a recession in the UK had increased...
Towards Franco-American collision as French Senate introduces tax on digital behemoths
The French Senate endorsed on Thursday a law that will impose a 3% tax on mostly US-based digital behemoths; the tax has already been endorsed by the National Assembly.
The so-called GAFA tax (Google, Apple,...
EU finds compromise to maintain status quo
The heads of state, key political actors and Brussels-watchers alike will tell anyone who cared enough to follow the European Union’s top jobs saga (that is, not the citizens of Europe). A pat on...
Ireland sits on a pile of debt bigger than the 2000s
Ireland sits on a €205bn "mountain of debt" that is four times bigger than it was in the 2000s, the Chief Executive of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) Conor O'Kelly told a parliamentary...
Italy avoids EU Excessive Deficit sanctions over high debt
The European Commission has dropped its threat of taking disciplinary action against Italy after the Italian government tabled a substantial remedy package.
Speaking on behalf of the European Commission, Pierre Moscovici told reporters in Brussels that an...
Ireland’s external debt increases Brexit vulnerability
Ireland’s exposure to international creditors makes the country more vulnerable to a no-deal Brexit shock, the chief of the national debt office Conor O’Kelly told reporters on Monday.
The UK is Ireland’s biggest trading partner...
Hammond says new PM cannot make promises they aren’t able to keep
British Chancellor Philip Hammond has warned that whoever succeeds Theresa May as the country's prime minister must limit their promises within the bounds of accepted fiscal responsibility and called on the top candidates to "be honest" as...
Brussels tones down budget standoff with Rome
The European Union will allow Italy to increase its deficit if it helped the country’s economy,” Italy’s deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio said on Tuesday.
The comments by the leader of the 5-Star Movement...
Commission approves annual report on 2018 EU budget implementation
The European Commission’s annual management and performance report (AMPE) for the EU Budget has been approved by the College of Commissioners.
The priority for the 2018 budget was to build on the economic recovery, in...
Signs of recession reignite debate over Eurozone budget
Industrial output in the Eurozone dropped in April by 0.5%, with car production leading the negative trend and manufacturing output seeing a steady decline since the last half of 2018 when production in the...
OECD calls on EU governments to boost public spending
European governments should increase spending to “reignite” global growth, according to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report.
The organisation, better known as the OECD, raised concerns about the stagnation of global trade amid multilateral...
The Netherlands raise new concerns about the Italian budget
Italy’s public finances have reemerged as part of the political debate following the publication of the European Commission’s Spring Forecasts where the Italian 2019 deficit is projected to reach 3.5% of GDP, a significant deviation...