MADRID | By Antonio S谩nchez-Gij贸n at CapitalMadrid | On May 9 the European Union will deliver Charlemagne Prize to Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaite. The idea is not to reward her as a former EC Commissioner, but as the person who embodies the success of three small countries of Northern Europe out of their deep economic crisis in two years. While the populations of the Mediterranean Europe and France are raised in arms against austerity policies imposed from Brussels and Frankfurt to exit the stagnation and save the euro, two European Baltic nations are looking forward to joining the common currency.
Italian government says andiamo, Europa!
MADRID | By Antonio S谩nchez-Gij贸n (Capital Madrid) | What is on stake for the new Italian government? The country is living in a contradiction: on one hand it has debt and risk premium under control, but on the other it is struggling with a deep economic crisis. Moody’s has corrected its 2013 GDP forecast set so far at -1%, and has placed it at -1.8%.
Italy in the twilight
ROME | Nadia Urbinati | The stalemate over the election of the President of the Republic, which broke on April 20 with the re-election of Giorgio Napolitano and the resignation of the leadership of the Democratic Party, is the highwater mark of the crisis in the Italian political system. To save that system, we must move ahead immediately with reforms, starting with electoral reform.
Thursday’s chart: Quo Vadis, Italian yield?
Contagion has been bucked in the eurozone, in spite of the instability markets forecast over Italian politics.
Soledad Pell贸n, analyst at IG Markets: 鈥淪pain is right to avoid Greece-like bailouts鈥
MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Soledad Pell贸n, analyst at IG Markets: 鈥淪pain is now in better conditions to start the recovery鈥
Italy’s Lombardian cross
Presseurop.eu | By Marc Semo |聽As the most populated and wealthy region in the country, Lombardy will play a key role in the outcome of the Italian legislative elections scheduled for February 24 and 25. However, troubled by the lack of ethics among politicians, the region’s all-important Catholic vote is more undecided than ever.
“France shows same weakness signs as peripheral economies”
MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Javier Flores, head of analysis at Asinver: “France’s economic system will not fall into bankruptcy, but the French model cannot be considered as a superpower any more.”
I-told-you-so graphs for ECB worshippers
By Luis Arroyo, in Madrid | Very briefly: for those who have let themselves fall for the euphoria that unfolded after the European Central Bank governor Mario Draghi reported on unlimited short-term sovereign bond purchases, I would like to remind them of what happened during the last weeks of 2011 and the beginning of 2012. [...]
European banks flee Greece
Jos茅 Luis Marco, CAPITAL MADRID | Although Spanish banks have little direct exposure in Greece, the country over which hangs the euro zone exclusion threat, something different happens with several European banks: they have a direct interest in the Hellenic country both with their branches in the country and with the assumption of Greek sovereign [...]
ECB’s help will reduce financing costs but also outstanding debt payment period
The mere announcement of an intervention by the ECB has already had a clear effect on the evolution of the yields on Spanish and Italian bonds in the shortest time. The Spanish two years bond that skyrocketed in July to 7.1%, has fallen to 3.072%. A very different story is however the 10 years bond, [...]
