Euro Zone

Euro zone economy is quite like water quality of Seine (polluted river in Paris), some days it may look okay but overall it's poor enough to continuously worry about it, ING economist Bert Colijn said

The euro, which has fallen some 0.8% since Prez Emmanuel Macron called the election on June 9, was last 0.24% higher at $1.0737

Inflation in the 20 countries that share the euro has fallen to 2.6% from more than 10% in late 2022, largely thanks to lower fuel costs and an easing of post-pandemic supply snags

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack also told a regular news briefing that the US economy needs to slow in 2024 and the Fed should remain cautious in cutting rates

The fourth quarter GDP figure was also revised down to a negative 0.1% from a previous 0.0%, meaning that the euro zone was in a technical recession in the second half of 2023

On Tuesday, data showed inflation fell in six economically important German states, while national figures showed domestic price pressures eased to their lowest in nearly three years

The ECB is widely expected to leave interest rates at the current record high of 4%

Price growth, now a long way from its peak in double digit territory in late 2022, fell as unprocessed food, energy and industrial goods inflation all slowed

Euro zone inflation eased to 2.4% in November from 2.9% in October, data showed last week, prompting bets that the ECB will begin cutting interest rates sooner than previously thought

The ECB last week hinted at a steady policy ahead, while pushing back on expectations for rate cuts any time soon

Along with Germany, GDP also declined in Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, and the Netherlands

Preliminary data showed gross domestic product in the euro zone expanded by 0.1% in the first quarter, below expectations in a Reuters poll for 0.2%

The fines seek to rectify wrongs committed, and caution firms that privacy breaches will not be taken lightly and non-compliance would incur the authorities' ire

The move is part of ECB efforts to fight record-high inflation in the euro zone by raising the cost of credit and it is its first step towards mopping up even more liquidity

Structural unemployment problem, social unrest, poor state of education and health care, and nutrition deficits among children - tomorrow's workforce - temper optimism on India, writes T Ninan

Meta will likely be smaller in 2023 than it was this year, he said.

Annual inflation in the eurozone's 19 countries rose to 8.9 per cent in July, an increase from 8.6 per cent in June

The dollar, which had been buoyed by safe-haven flows against the euro, last fell 0.305% to 104.720

ECB had an unscheduled, emergency meeting earlier on Wednesday to address higher borrowing costs for many European govts

The question for India, as a middle or swing power with long-term external dependencies for energy and military hardware, is how to not let old friendships come in the way of new ones, notes T N Ninan