European debt crisis: Austria votes on euro rescue deal

The Austrian parliament will debate the expansion of the European financial stability facility, after Germany yesterday became the latest country to back the plan 8.34am: Taking advice from George Soros is a little like inviting the fox round to help redecorate the hen house. But “The Man Who Broke the Bank of England” has written a very interesting editorial in the Financial Times, advising Europe’s leaders on how to tackle the crisis. Reassuringly titled ” How to stave off a second Great Drepression “, Soros argues that Europe’s leaders have lost their grip on the crisis – and presents a radical three-point plan to prevent a Greek default ripping through the EU. 1) Agree a new treaty creating a common treasury for the eurozone. 2) Give the European Central Bank temporary control of Europe’s major banks, in return for loan guarantees and “permanent recapitalisation” 3) Drive down Italy and Spain’s borrowing costs to around 1% while they rebuilt their finances (by making it profitable for banks to buy their debt and then bank these bonds with the ECB). Soros argues this would end the immediate “acute phase of the euro crisis”, and persuade the financial markets that a permanent fix could be agreed. The longer-term solution would be more complicated because the regime imposed by the ECB would leave no room for fiscal stimulus and the debt problem could not be resolved without growth. How to create viable fiscal rules for the euro would be left to the treaty negotiations. The course of action outlined here does not require leveraging or increasing the size of the EFSF but it is more radical because it puts the banks under European control. That is liable to arouse the opposition of both the banks and the national authorities. Only public pressure can make it happen. Public pressure – that’s you lot. Anyone reckon it would work? The whole article can be read behind the FT’s registration wall . 8.09am: Europe’s stock markets have opened, and it’s a sea of red electronic ink as most shares fall. The FTSE 100 is down 62 points at 5133, around 1.2% lower. Similar losses in other markets, with the German DAX falling 1.5% and the French CAC down 1.2%. Not major swings, but not terribly encouraging. The catalyst for the sell-off appears to be poor retail sales figures from Germany, which suffered their biggest fall in four years. The Federal Statistics Office reported that retail sales, adjusted for inflation and seasonal swings, slumped 2.9% in August compared with July. That has increased fears that Europe’s economic powerhouse is slowing down. These monthly retail figures are notoriously volatile, but economists warned that the euro crisis has probably deterred many German consumers from splashing out on ‘big-ticket’ items. As Christian Schulz from Berenberg Bank put it: Germany will only fully enjoy higher domestic demand once this uncertainty is lifted. 7.58am: Here’s the agenda for today’s main events. As well as the political action, there’s a clutch of important eurozone economic data • Austria starts debating the EFSF package – 10am CET (9am BST) • Eurozone consumer price index estimate for September – 11am CET (10am BST) • Eurozone unemployment rate for August – 11am CET (10am BST) • George Papandreou and Nicolas Sarkozy meet in Paris – 5pm CET (4pm BST) 7.47am: Political analysts are pretty confident that Austria will approve the EFSF expansion, as the ruling coalition has a healthy majority (it holds 108 out of the 183 seats in parliament). Reuters has the details: The Social Democrats and their conservative People’s Party coalition partners support the plan and need only a simple majority in the lower house. Nearly all members of the opposition Greens will also vote for the step, party finance spokesman Werner Kogler said, while far-right opposition parties oppose further bailouts in principle. If the EFSF is increased to €440bn then Austria’s contribution would almost double to €21.6bn euros, from €12.2bn. Last month, there was a brief wobble in the markets after an Austrian committee refused to fast-track the EFSF approval vote. 7.31am: Good morning. Today, it’s Austria ‘s turn to vote on the proposal to expand the European financial stability facility, and hand it new powers to help contain the euro crisis. For Greece , it’s another day of attempting to persuade international lenders to disgorge the next chunk of bailout cash. Prime minister George Papandreou is expected to meet with France’s Nicolas Sarkozy later today. Japan has responded to the crisis overnight by intervening in the currency markets again – more details to follow. And in the City, investors are still caught between hope and fear, with the FTSE 100 expected to drop a little this morning. With London basking in a little heat wave today, traders may not be in the mood for anything too energetic. Can we expect a quiet day on the trading floors? European debt crisis Euro Austria Greece Germany Europe European commission Banking Global economy Graeme Wearden Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk

Posted by on September 30, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.