Eurozone
Eurogroup calls emergency conference as Greece turns to ESM for help
Greece asks for two-year bailout programme from European Stability Mechanism, triggering yet another emergency Eurogroup meeting; ECB’s Cœuré admits exit from the euro is now possible
Juncker tells Greece to vote ‘yes’ in referendum
European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker calls on Greeks to vote in favour of latest proposals, urging them not to ‘commit suicide because one is afraid of death’
ECB research flags signs of Spanish decoupling
Recent recessions appear to have caused Spain’s economy to diverge from those of other major eurozone countries, working paper warns
Schäuble says Greek outcome now '50-50'
German finance minister warns against losing the ‘remaining credibility’ of the monetary union in speech in Frankfurt; debt negotiations finely poised with IMF deadline looming
ECB’s Constâncio calls for eurozone to cut back on debt
ECB vice-president says deleveraging has proceeded slowly so far due to growth concerns; emphasises debt reduction ought to be done using diverse measures, but says primary surpluses are key
Negative deposit rate ‘turbocharges’ QE, economists say
Former ECB board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi says negative rate ‘creates a multiplier effect’ that boosts impact of QE, a view shared by other panellists at Frankfurt conference
Weidmann warns Greek ELA could raise ‘serious monetary financing concerns’
Bundesbank president says the ongoing provision of emergency funds to Greek banks will be a problem if the cash is used to buy sovereign debt
Greece closer to default as creditors throw out latest proposals
Leaked copy of counterproposal by Greece’s creditors complete with red-inked changes shows agreement as far away as ever, with less than a week until major IMF repayment
German life insurers vulnerable to interest rate shock, research warns
Discussion paper finds life insurers could have experienced a policyholder run in 2013 if interest rates had risen 2.1 percentage points; says QE might make it hard for insurers to protect themselves
ECB welcomes ‘smooth’ T2S launch
Culmination of seven-year process sees first four CSDs migrate to the new platform and settle the first transactions, despite fears over remaining bugs
European presidents publish road map to closer union
Mario Draghi among senior officials to contribute to report calling for greater economic convergence, financial integration and ultimately more shared decision-making on fiscal policy
ECB paper tests systemic risk using ‘VAR for VaR’ model
Researchers use quantile regression in attempt to better account for outliers, which they say could have applications for stress testing
German inequality would fall with US-style home ownership, Bundesbank study shows
Discussion paper fits US home ownership structure to German economy, finding large changes in the distribution and median level of wealth
Eurozone recovery set to broaden, says ECB bulletin
Report presents growing body of good news for most eurozone economies as wages and consumption rise, inflation bottoms out and investment begins to return
Bank of Greece foresees ‘uncontrollable crisis’ if talks fail
Central bank weighs in with bleak prognosis for life without the euro as talks go to the wire; next Eurogroup meeting on June 18 offers last chance
ECB’s Mersch dismisses concerns over T2S launch at weekend
ECB executive board member admits a few bugs remain in Target2 Securities system, but argues they are not major and will not interrupt this weekend’s migration
Ireland to phase out one- and two-cent coins
Central bank will lead project that will see cash payments rounded to discourage use of low-value coins; decision follows successful trial in 2013
Overconfident forecasters may be ‘overrepresented’ in ECB survey
Working paper finds participation in the Survey of Professional Forecasters drops when uncertainty rises, suggesting the results may be biased
EU court rules OMTs are legal
ECB is vindicated as ECJ rules in favour of crisis measure that would see the central bank buy potentially unlimited amounts of sovereign debt to protect ‘singleness’ of monetary policy
Draghi defends ‘distributional consequences’ of QE
ECB president suggests easy monetary policy will benefit all citizens in the longer run; economists describe impact on inequality as “ambiguous” in research prepared for Econ Committee
Nowotny considers ‘human costs’ of structural reform
National Bank of Austria governor challenges economists to think about the quality of economic growth, suggesting this could have implications for the pursuit of structural reforms
EBA recommends balance between filling resolution fund and procyclicality
European Commission could allow some variation in banks’ contributions to Single Resolution Fund to avoid procyclicality, but reaching the fund’s target level is ‘first priority’
ECB paper examines financial exposure in eurozone
Working paper finds eurozone investors are ‘overexposed’ to securities issued within the region, more so in the case of ‘low-rating economies’
Klaas Knot blames disharmony in regulation for higher risks
A lack of common standards in eurozone capital markets was an ‘aggravating factor’ in the run-up to the financial crisis, Dutch governor says; urges commission to add this to CMU proposals