The euro reached a four-week low against sterling on Thursday, after European leaders failed to come to agreement over financial rescue package options for the Eurozone amid the coronavirus crisis. After a series of long discussions, a last-minute package was agreed for €500bn of emergency loan finance.
With Giuseppe Conte warning that fragmentation would risk the blocs future, there was pressure on both sides of the debate to find a solution. Austria’s finance minister has now joined with the Netherlands, however, in saying that a change in position for his government is ‘out of the question’.
The latest European Central Bank monetary policy meeting accounts were also released last week, showed that there was ‘unanimous agreement’ that ‘bold and decisive’ action needed to be taken, but ‘reservations were expressed by some members about the necessity of launching a new, dedicated asset purchase programme’.
Today is a quiet day for data releases, but we will see Spanish and Italian inflation tomorrow, and German inflation and Eurozone industrial production on Thursday. On Friday, Eurozone inflation and construction figures will be released.
