Eurozone
Olli Rehn: Scotland would need central bank to join EU
Independent Scotland would not be able to both keep the pound sterling and join the EU, former commissioner argues, referring to ‘core part' of union treaty
Small eurozone countries can use government spending to combat imbalances
ECB-published working paper examines small open economies in a monetary union, whose options for dealing with shocks are limited
One in 10 eurozone households spend more than they earn, Bundesbank paper finds
Households with female, young, or divorced heads have harder time making ends meet, but ‘rather confident in the possibility to get funded through informal lending channels'
Unconventional monetary policy has heightened medium-term risks to banks, IMF paper finds
No evidence that unconventional monetary policies has ‘helped' banks, according to paper; finds deterioration of medium-term bank credit risk in US, UK, and the eurozone
Lithuania takes delivery of first euro coins
1,740 tonnes of coins must be minted ahead of currency switchover on January 1; delivery is supervised by police under special agreement signed in May
ECB publishes ‘manual' explaining eurozone banks' comprehensive assessment
Publication of the manual ‘demonstrates ECB's commitment to transparency' on how it is conducting the ‘rigorous' assessment of the eurozone's biggest banks
Eurozone banks ease credit standards for first time since crisis hit in 2007
ECB bank lending survey shows that more banks eased credit standards than tightened them in second quarter of 2014
Spanish economists see short-run benefits in structural reforms
Working paper published by Bank of Spain says product and labour market reforms could boost output and employment now and in the future
IMF staff note: Structural reforms 'more desirable' than nominal wage cuts in Europe
International Monetary Fund staff note says ‘many reforms’ are still needed in deficit countries; highlights benefits of greater fiscal integration in longer term
Lagarde: monetary and fiscal policy must nurture eurozone back to growth
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde warns Europe of vicious cycle of economic decline if low inflation, high debt and high unemployment persist
ECB argues risk of deflation is 'remote'
Monthly bulletin sets out criteria for what the European Central Bank considers deflation, as opposed to ‘subdued price developments of a less malign nature’
Lithuania cleared to adopt euro in 2015
Lithuania set to follow Estonia and Latvia into the eurozone; ECB gives seal of approval but warns it will be ‘challenging' to keep inflation low after joining
Irish inflation is domestically determined, central bank economists find
Paper by Central Bank of Ireland deputy governor Gerlach and colleagues challenges traditional view that Irish inflation dynamics are determined abroad
Romania governor backs banking union as ‘substitute' for fiscal union
National Bank of Romania governor is prepared to take his country into the single currency despite the lack of a fiscal union without which monetary union 'cannot function properly'
Coeuré calls for further progress to single capital market
ECB board member Benoît Cœuré tells International Capital Market Association that price convergence alone will not signal the end of eurozone capital market fragmentation
European central banks strike new gold agreement
Central banks in the eurozone, Sweden and Switzerland agree to coordinate their gold transactions, but scrap the 400-tonne limit on annual sales
QE for infrastructure investment could be ECB's alternative to ‘pushing on a string'
As the ECB continues to struggle to boost lending in the eurozone periphery, a leading Greek academic is proposing it channels QE through the European Investment Bank
Lithuania may squeeze past eurozone’s asymmetric convergence criteria
The asymmetric nature of the EU’s convergence criteria means that Lithuania, with 0.6% average annual inflation, may only scrape into the eurozone next year
Constâncio calls for centralised deposit insurance scheme
European Central Bank’s Vítor Constâncio welcomes legislators deal on deposit guarantees but insists they are ‘only a little part’ of what is necessary
Big eurozone economies dragged each other down during eurozone crisis
Sovereign CDS in Spain and Italy showed ‘notable co-dependence' in 2009–12 and also explained much of the widening in Germany's spreads, IMF paper says
Poland still has euro doubts after decade in EU
The National Bank of Poland could need two years to make technical adjustments before the country can join the eurozone; ERM II presents another hurdle
Structural reforms could get eurozone out of recession, paper shows
Bank of Portugal working paper finds structural economic reforms could get the eurozone out of recession and away from the zero lower bound if designed correctly
ECB paper finds eurozone inflation better anchored than US
Analysis of medium- and longer-term inflation expectations at times of economic shocks finds European inflation expectations more firmly anchored than in the US
Financial markets still fragmented, say ECB and Commission
European Central Bank and European Commission find the eurozone is more economically and financially fragmented now than it was before the crisis