Changes in energy prices and wage costs can, to the extent these are passed through to consumer prices, have important effects on HICP inflation excluding energy and food (HICPX). Data from different sources can be matched to obtain the cost shares of energy and wages in various sectors.
This box investigates the drivers of the weakness in euro area imports in 2023. After rebounding in mid-2022 as a result of the easing supply bottlenecks for goods and the lifting of mobility restrictions in the aftermath of the pandemic, the euro area imports-to-GDP ratio fell in the first quarter of 2023 and has remained at a lower level since then. We show this is mainly due to the composition of GDP growth following a period characterised by weak exports and consumption.
Headline and core inflation levels and momentum dynamics in the euro area are currently somewhat weaker than in the United States, reflecting buoyant rent inflation and consumption growth in the United States but also the different cyclical positions of the two economies. Core inflation remains elevated overall in both economic areas, due notably to high levels of services inflation. At the same time, goods inflation has declined considerably, in line with the normalisation of disrupted supply chains at the global level and lower commodity prices.
British bank reports 13% decline in quarterly profits but still beats analysts’ expectations
Greece’s debt managers leveraged the positive sentiment after S&P’s revision of the outlook for Greek Government Bonds (GGB) to positive last Friday and issued a new 30-year bond on Wednesday, the longest maturity since the same issuance in early 2021.
First-quarter net income increased 10% from a year earlier to €1.45bn
Seventh successive quarter of declining volumes dashes hopes for revival as high interest rates continue to bite
Eurozone’s largest bank forecasts rise in full-year profits and revenues even as interest rates are expected to fall
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is in China this week as tensions have risen over trade, security, Russia’s war on Ukraine and the Middle East crisis.
Plus, one UK local council gets wooed by a Monaco hedge fund and Rodolphe Saadé leans into building a media empire
