Central Bank

President Mario Draghi gave little indication about the next steps for monetary policy in the euro zone during a speech on Wednesday ahead of a key meeting between central bankers. The European Central Bank chief seemed to have learned from his own mistakes by avoiding commenting on how and when he might bring monetary stimulus to an end.

Speaking at a conference in Lindau, Germany, Draghi praised economists’ research and said that adjustments to monetary policy are "never easy." However, he made no reference to how the bank might adjust its own policy to the improving economic data across the euro zone, a highly debated issue among market participants.

Eurozone inflation was stable in July and unemployment reached its lowest rate since February 2009. In your opinion, how that can impact the ECB’s interest rates?

I think that that the ECB might be happy about the growth outlook, but inflation is still looking really subdued. There is still some more slack in the economy, which would mean the European Central Bank is fairly patient and extremely gradual in its policy.

Switzerland’s central bank on Monday reported a net profit of 1.2 billion Swiss francs for the first half of 2017 as big foreign exchange losses weighed on earnings from its foreign investments.

The Swiss National Bank made a profit of 100 million francs from its foreign currency positions, as exchange related losses of 11.8 billion francs almost wiped out the earnings from bonds and shares it holds.
The institution’s foreign currency investments have ballooned to 728 billion francs, 12% larger than the entire Swiss economy.

The International Monetary Fund’s board on Thursday approved a $1.8 billion loan to Greece – but will only release the money if the country gets debt relief from its European creditors.

The IMF has praised Greece for taking steps to reduce its budget deficits, including expanding its tax base and cutting spending on pensions. But the lending agency is pressuring Greece’s eurozone lenders to provide enough relief to ensure the battered country can pay its bills.

The European Central Bank’s (ECB) July policy meeting has ended with policy-makers opting to maintain a cautious tone, presumably to keep a lid on rising Eurozone interest rates and currency.

The ECB kept its deposit rate deep in negative territory and maintained monthly bond purchases at €60-billion, in line with the expectation of most analysts in a Reuters poll.

Greece plans to issue bonds next week for the first time in three years, according to news reports. Rumors had circulated that the country would make a return to debt markets early this week. But the government pushed back the date of its five-year bond issue to next week to avoid higher borrowing costs, according to Greece’s Kathimerini newspaper. Since the weekend, the country’s bond prices have risen as investors hope the proceeds will strengthen Greece’s finances.

The manipulation of the prices of precious metals is already well-known, and even so no criminal proceedings have been undertaken against the central banks, which also buy stocks. This has had as a consequence that the prices of equities are at the moment artificially high. Investors should take profits now.

The EU recommended on Wednesday that three times bailed-out Greece has made enough progress in balancing its budget to be removed from special oversight of government spending.
The move is a further boost for Athens days after it secured a fresh tranche of cash from its latest bailout to meet crucial debt payments and avoid a fresh crisis.