Week in FX Europe – Forget ECB Next Week-Funding Could Be More Expensive ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Next week is a shortened trading week for North America. From a data perspective investors will have a lot to digest before ending their sprint at next Friday’s non-farm payroll report. Before investors get to endure any vulnerability’s from the employment announcement, the global investors will have to endure both the copy and rhetoric from a plethora of Central Bankers, and the European Central Bank is one of them. The ECB’s 23 Governing Council members will meet against a backdrop of improving Euro-zone economic data to discuss their monetary policy. Their own regions gradual recovery remains very much uneven, and continues to be led by Germany. The common theme is that “for the foreseeable future, euro interest rate hikes are excluded.” They are likely to remain at “present or lower levels for an extended period of time.” Political tension in the Middle East is likely to have more of an impact rather than an ECB announcement and it will probably be felt more by the different euro-zone government issues next week. Austria, Germany, Spain and France will offer a total €18.5b worth of government bonds, and all of these auctions are scheduled ahead of the ECB’s rate setting announcement next Thursday. Europe not only has to contend with the possibility of the Fed beginning to taper their $85b monthly bond-buying program, but now they have to price in geopolitical risk as well. In times of political and economic uncertainty investors tend to seek safe haven assets and the Bund is one of them. Dealers instead of cheapening the curve to take down cheaper supply, they could end up paying higher bond prices for a safer bond! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greece Could be Forced to Transfer Real Estate to Troika To Speed Monetization Greece’s international lenders will press Athens next month to transfer state-owned real estate to a holding company managed by the euro zone to spur flagging privatization efforts, officials said on Thursday. The plan, to be put to the Greek government by the troika of lenders – the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission – in September, will propose creating a Greek-owned holding company outside Greece and run by foreign experts. The plan, first suggested two years ago, reflects growing frustration with Greece, which will probably need further aid and has made scant progress in reforming its public sector and selling assets. Acting as a warehouse for property, it would seek to overcome Greek bureaucracy that has undermined the privatization program, agreed as part of a 240-billion-euro ($320-billion) rescue. It will also ensure that the money raised will help pay off Greece’s debt. via Reuters.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 20:29:22 +0000
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