The euro weakened against the pound yesterday following the ECB’s monthly meeting. Although it kept asset purchase packages unchanged, it launched a programme of ‘pandemic lending’ and eased conditions on long term loans for banks. The latter means the interest rate on them is essentially -0.1%.
Earlier yesterday, figures showed the Eurozone economy contracted at its fastest rate since records began in 1995. France has entered a technical recession as its GDP fell by 5.8% in the first quarter of 2020.
Christine Lagarde told the press that Europe is facing a ‘recession of unprecedented magnitude’, with the potential for GDP to fall between 5% and 12% this year.
