Two years after it nearly crashed out of the Euro zone, Greece returned to the bond market this week with yield-hungry investors rushing to buy its debt in a 3-billion Euro deal that could mark the beginning of the end of its bailout. Athens offered a yield of just 4.95% to sell five-year bonds, the second lowest borrowing costs for a bailed-out Euro zone state returning to market.
The weak state of the French economy and uncertain outlook for budget targets was in focus on Wednesday after official data confirmed that the country is in recession. Weak growth and public finances in France are of acute concern to the European Commission and to Germany which is the main powerhouse in the Euro zone.
The figures are also watched closely on nervous financial markets.
The prime ministers of Spain and Britain will meet in Madrid during the second week of April, according to a weekend report in ABC. The article said the meeting between Mariano Rajoy and David Cameron would centre primarily on the Euro-zone crisis.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff criticized in Paris policies that are limited to austerity when facing crises because they are not effective in economic terms and only generate ‘more recession and unemployment”.
The Vice-president of the European central bank Vitor Constancio said the EU has much to learn from Latin America which has coped with successive economic and financial crises and has managed to create robust financial structures which have made the region’s system even more resistant to outside shocks.
Germany got bids for 6.24 billion Euros of two-year notes at an auction Wednesday exceeding its 5 billion-Euro maximum sales target, according to a statement from the Bundesbank.
Confidence in the state of the world economy over the next 12 months fell to the lowest level in five quarters, according to the Global Confidence Index prepared by the World Economic Forum.
President Jose Mujica said Uruguay was going through an ‘exceptional’ period vis-à-vis the world crisis but also warned that exceptionality has limits and is not forever.
A top official from the European Commission was particularly critical of the credit risk rating agencies in their handling of the Euro crisis and Germany brushed aside the latest rating agencies announcement saying the country is in a very sound economic and financial situation.
Britain's economy shrank far more than expected in the second quarter, battered by everything from an extra public holiday to government spending cuts and the neighbouring Euro zone crisis.