Central Bank

Janet Yellen, number one of the Federal Reserve, said during the symposium in Jackson Hole, which rate-hike will be if the macro data should confirm the outlook prepared by the Fed. Therefore she has opened the doors to the long-awaited increase for interest rates, but did not announce the date.

The Chair of the Fed left no doubt to be reasonably satisfied with the economic developments. "If the growth was not fast, was sufficient to generate further improvements in the labor market," she pointed out, that is, driving out the concerns that had held back the hands of the Central Bank in the first half of the year when GDP up by 1 % – the second-quarter performance was yesterday revised downward to 1.1% from 1.2% – and a slowdown in job creation had been added to global uncertainties such Brexit and the Chinese slowdown.

The European Commission has approved a recapitalization of 4.6 billion euro, more than half of them with public funds and issuance of new sovereign debt, to save Caixa Geral de Depositos (CGD), a Portuguese state bank that is in serious difficulties.

Iceland’s central bank, despite the positive growth and wage developments, has operated a cut of 50 basis points, to 5.25%; the institute’s move is justified by inflation which remains at very low levels and the appreciation of the koruna in comparison to other currencies. Last year the bank had proceeded with a rise in the refinancing rate to 7 days for three times.

Highly anticipated Jackson Hole meeting opens today, the symposium that brings together every year the central bankers from around the world organized by the Kansas City Fed. The president of the US central bank, Janet Yellen, together with the presidents of other central banks will find themselves arguing over out of the huge black hole inside the monetary policy, caused by the financial crisis of 2008.

Before the meeting, the member of the Fed, Stanley Fischer, said that monetary policy was not yet able to stimulate productivity growth. But governments ignore the demands of the central banks, leaving the presidents Janet Yellen (Fed), Mark Carney Bank of England), Mario Draghi (ECB) and Haruhiko Kuroda (BoJ) to carry the burden of economic stagnation.

Greece will fail to achieve the goal of revenues from privatization this year. The target of € 3.7 billion is a mirage, it will be a success if the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund will bring in cash an amount of between 1.5 bln to 1.7 bln euro despite the acceleration of certain divestments in recent months . Yet the privatization plan is one of the cornerstones of the Athens bailout program, after three plans agreed with the EU and IMF 250 billion.

The EU Council will not give any sanction to Spain and Portugal for failure to meet the deficit. The Community body preferred to deal with the situation by giving more space to the two Iberian countries, which will still have to take corrective measures and present a new budget plan by October 2017.

The operations to be implemented in the fall will have to be aimed at reducing the budget deficit from 4.4% at end 2015 to 2.5% by the end of this year to Lisbon, and Madrid will have until 2018 to reach the target of 3% from 5.1% last year. Greater flexibility, and, for Spain, which will bring the 4.6% in December, 3.1% in 2017 and 2.2% by 2018, in the light of a more uncertain political situation given the lack of a permanent government by the end of 2015.

Switzerland has always been one of the safest havens in the financial field, as evidenced by its public bonds, which until the expiry of 30 years still offer negative returns. The exchange rate between the Swiss franc and euro is practically to the beginning of the year, being rocked in recent months in a fairly narrow range (1.07 to 1.11).

The post-Brexit statement was only the second time the SNB has officially confirmed intervention to weaken the Swiss franc since January 2015. The first happened when Greece announced a referendum on its bail-out by European partners.

The economic recovery in the euro area continued, supported by domestic demand, while export growth remains modest. Looking ahead, the economic recovery should proceed at a moderate pace. The Economic ECB Monthly Bulletin explaining how "domestic demand continues to be supported by the transmission of monetary policy measures of the real economy ECB" but the risks to the outlook for growth "remain on the downside": Brexit, other geopolitical uncertainties, the outlook for growth contained in emerging markets.

"It ‘s likely that inflation rates remain very low in the coming months and then go back later in 2016 in large part due to the reasons of the base effects of change on-year rate of energy prices". In the newsletter it is stressed that with the support of the "monetary policy measures and the expected recovery of the economy, inflation rates are expected to rise further in 2017 and 2018".

The ECB continues to expect that interest rates will remain at levels equal to or lower than the current ones for an extended period of time, far beyond the horizon of the net asset purchases. "In economic bulletin states that" if necessary "Frankfurt ready to act "using all the tools available within its mandate."

Finally for the ECB, "the bank lending survey in the euro area for the second quarter of 2016 showed further improvement of the offer conditions of loans to businesses and households and the continuing increase in demand for all categories of loans. " Therefore, according to the institute in Frankfurt, "it is essential that the channel of bank loans continue to function properly."