Avalanche of debt to meet private buyers; euro zone govt initiative
Next year, governments in the euro zone will need to persuade private investors to step in and purchase 400 billion euros more in debt, which would put pressure on the region’s shattered bond markets as the European Central Bank continues to withdraw its assistance.The European Central Bank (ECB), which has been essentially a guaranteed debt…
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Euro zone inflation hits 5%
Euro zone inflation rose unexpectedly, likely making for more uncomfortable reading at the European Central Bank. This has consistently underestimated price pressures and come under fire for this from some of its own policymakers. Inflation in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose to 5% from 4.9% in November. Energy prices, up 26% compared to…
Euro zone business lending picked up
Lending to euro zone companies accelerated for the third straight month. European Central Bank data showed that reversing in part a steady decline in the early part of the year. Lending to euro zone businesses expanded by 2.9% last month. A pick-up from 2.5% in October. But well below the 7% recorded a year earlier. Household lending…
Euro zone banks continue to reduce soured credit
Euro zone banks continued to record a decline in soured loans, according to the collected data. This is even as the European Central Bank warned that lenders are being complacent in recognizing bad debt. Non-performing loans (NPL) at the bloc’s 114 biggest banks dropped to 422 billion euros. The ratio of bad debt fell to 2.32% as per the…
ECB open to giving banks more time to rebuild capital buffers
ECB bank supervisor Andrea Enria said that the European Central Bank is open to giving banks in the euro zone more time to rebuild capital buffers if the current crisis leads to a material deterioration of asset quality. In an online conference Enria told that they plan to stick to the flexibility that they provide banks, to use the capital buffers…