#european-central-bank

#european-central-bank

The European Union's executive arm proposed Thursday to create an ethics body that would set up common rules of conduct for institutions after the 27-nation bloc was rocked last year by a cash-for-influence scandal.European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen supported its creation when she took office back in 2019, and her services stepped up action after the so-called Qatargate scandal shattered the EU Parliament.

Europe's inflation took a positive turn with a significant drop to 6.1%, but prices are still posing a pinch to shoppers who are yet to see real relief in what they pay for food and other necessities.The annual figure in May eased from 7% in April for the 20 countries that use the euro currency, the European Union's statistical agency Eurostat said Thursday.

German police have been left red-faced after a member of the public was able to slip into a VIP convoy for Chancellor Olaf Scholz and then give him a hearty hug as he prepared to board a plane at Frankfurt Airport.Tabloid newspaper Bild reported Friday that Scholz's bodyguards only realized their mistake later, and chased the man down.

Tech is notorious for its bountiful and fun perks: think nap pods, or free food including catered meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as open access to healthy snacks.On-site gyms too, are a frequent perk as are endless branded swag gifts-that Patagonia fleece vest being a strong contender among male finance and tech workers.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Sept. 27, 2021.The Bank of Japan will release its quarterly Tankan business sentiment survey on Oct. 1. (Bloomberg)Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is due to step down in April after the longest stint at the helm of the central bank in its 140-year history.

What to expect in 2023: Policy makers will need to ease off on the brakes as evidence percolates through that the upsurge in inflation is waning and economic growth is slowing.The UK is already seemingly in a recession, along with much of Europe.The big question for 2023 is when or if the US craters too.

Rebound, Schmebound
The European Central Bank is throwing some major shade at bitcoin even as it bounces back following the FTX collapse.In a blog post titled "Bitcoin's last stand," published on its official European Union website, the ECB lobs a devastating takedown at the digital currency - and warns that its demise could just be getting started.

WASHINGTON Pranksters posing as President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine tricked the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, into having a conversation with them in January, according to video clips covered on Russian state television and posted online.The ruse apparently carried out by two Russian comedians who support President Vladimir V. Putin involved asking Mr. Powell questions about the American and global economy.

The Federal Reserve is getting some unwanted help in its drive to slow the U.S. economy and defeat the worst bout of inflation in four decades: a cutback in bank lending.The upheaval in the financial system that's followed the collapse of two major U.S. banks is raising the likelihood that lending standards will become sharply more restrictive.

Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), during a news conference at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022.Kuroda shocked markets by doubling a cap on 10-year yields, sparking a jump in the yen and a slide in government bonds in a move that helps pave the way for possible policy normalization under a new governor.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Sept. 27, 2021.The Bank of Japan will release its quarterly Tankan business sentiment survey on Oct. 1. (Bloomberg)Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is due to step down in April after the longest stint at the helm of the central bank in its 140-year history.

The European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022.(Alex Kraus/Bloomberg)PARIS - The European Central Bank was expected to announce another major interest rate hike on Thursday, despite vocal opposition from some of the eurozone's biggest economies, including France and Italy.

The eurozone has defied predictions that the Ukraine war would plunge it into recession after a warm winter blunted the impact of higher energy prices.Data from Eurostat the EU's statistical agency showed that growth in the 20 countries using the single currency stood at 0.1% in the first three months of 2023.

Fears that Europe's companies are exploiting high inflation to increase their profit margins have prompted a warning from the European Central Bank that it is closely monitoring potential price gouging of consumers.Policymakers have repeatedly called for wage restraint but concerns are mounting that a bigger driver of the wave of price rises may be companies using inflation as an excuse to increase profit margins, a trend unions have described as greedflation.

Ireland's finance minister Michael McGrath has said that the rate of inflation has peaked and is on a downward trajectory that is expected to accelerate.The latest figures from the European Central Bank show the rate of inflation dropped further than expected, though inflation when energy prices were excluded remained high.

Investors in a riskier type of Credit Suisse's bonds had the value of their holdings slashed to zero Sunday after Swiss authorities brokered an emergency takeover of the bank by rival UBS.On Sunday, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced that UBS would buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.25 billion) or about 60% less than the bank was worth when markets closed on Friday.

A newly pressed Croatian two-euro coin.(Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg)There is a new conventional wisdom about the euro, driven in part by the recent entry of Croatia into the euro zone with much cheer and little disruption: The currency works fine, thank you, and the euro crisis of 2011 is a distant memory.

The nation's papers continue to be led by widespread strike action, as well as reaction to the latest bombshell claims from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.The Guardian and Daily Express report senior Tories have joined calls urging Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to open pay talks with nurses in an effort to bring the strike action to an end.

A startup in The Netherlands is using the heat generated by Bitcoin mining rigs to grow tulips, Agence France-Press reports - and the sheer irony, given the historical context, is absolutely mind-numbing.In the 17th century, demand for tulips - yes, the flower - spiked so sharply in Amsterdam that prices rose to staggeringly high levels, in a massive deviation between perceived and actual value that resulted in what is widely considered to be the first recorded economic bubble and subsequent collapse.

Germany's biggest industrial union agreed with employers Friday on a pay deal that will see millions of workers get raises totaling 8.5% over two years as well as one-time payments meant to cushion the effect of sky-high inflation.The IG Metall union and employers reached a compromise in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, a key industrial region.

Many other kinds of food are about 50 percent more expensive, including pasta and vegetables.Especially the energy and food prices are still increasing substantially.The prices for milk products have increased by 60 percent in the past twelve months.This means a family the members of which spent 40 Euro on food per day in the fall of last year will be charged more than 60 Euro today.Germany's inflation rate has reached 10 percent.The government's energy price cap will help to some extent.The producer prices just saw the strongest increase since the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in 1949.