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The ECB is concerned that banks are not lending to smaller businesses in the euro zone periphery. Photograph: Bloomberg ECB ‘can only do so much to help SMEs’

ECB policymaker Benoit Coeur says bank is exploring options, but must act within mandate

Martin Weale, a member of the Bank of England’s nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee, said policymakers should tread carefully over flexibility in newly reworded mandate to help growth. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire BoE ‘must tread carefully’ with inflation approach

Policymakers should not be “inflation nutters” but should avoid doubt over commitment to targets

France fell back into recession in the first quarter of the year, experiencing a 0.2 per cent contraction in GDP in the first three months of the year , in line with the previous quarter. Euro zone in sixth quarter of decline

GDP fell by 0.2%

The European Commission plans to send a formal warning to China that it is ready to levy sanctions against telecoms equipment makers Huawei and ZTE over illegal subsidies, people close to the matter said. EU ‘ready for telecoms dispute’ with China

Commission plans to send formal warning over subsidies to telecoms firms Huawei, ZTE

Portugal GDP slump slows in first quarter

Bailed-out country enters third year of recession, but optimism for recovery is high

Germany crept back into growth in the first quarter of the year, with the economy increasing by 0.1 per cent, but France slid into recession. Euro zone contracts for sixth quarter

Germany ekes out growth but France slips into recession

Bank of England governor Mervyn King at the publication of the bank’s quarterly inflation report. Photograph: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg Bank of England offers hope for UK economy

Outlook on inflation improves and BoE projects stronger growth for first time since crisis

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso will meet president Francois Hollande in Brussels today. Photograph: Francois Lenoir France must present credible reform plan says Barroso

New data shows economy slipping into shallow recession

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan rings the bell prior to an economic and financial affairs meeting yesterday, at the EU headquarters in Brussels. Noonan defends 12.5% corporate tax rate

Setting tax rates is a matter for sovereign countries, Minister says in Brussels

British chancellor George Osborne: likely to argue that countries should be given discretion on how to apply the bail-in rules. Photograph: PA Securing consensus on bank resolution will be uphill battle for EU ministers

In a packed agenda, the big challenge at today’s meeting will be political discussion on bank resolution and recovery

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton yesterday held the first formal negotiations with the European Parliament on the seven-year Multiannual Financial Framework in Brussels. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill EU ministers meet to revise budget accord

Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands resist budget disbursement increase

[From left] German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, British chancellor George Osborne, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde and Canada’s finance minister Jim Flaherty at the Global Investment Conference 2013 in London. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/Reuters Schäuble signals support for easing of austerity as G7 ministers meet
  • Europe
  • Bloomberg
  • May 10, 2013, 11:08

German finance minister says there’s ‘room for manoeuvre’

A man checks a document outside an employment office in Athens Nearly two-thirds of Greek youths are unemployed

Repeated austerity under international bailouts has almost tripled Greece’s jobless

Slovenian prime minister Alenka Bratusek: said the stability package would be enough to prevent the tiny Alpine country following Cyprus in the euro zone queue for a bailout. Photograph: Matej Leskovsek/International Herald Tribune Slovenia says it will sell 15 firms and raise VAT in effort to avert bailout

Government to sell second largest bank, telecoms operator and national airline

General view of a container terminal in the harbour of Hamburg. German firms fear a tax on financial transactions is a “direct strike” againist the export-oriented economy Tobin tax opposed in Germany

Firms join opposition tax on financial transactions in Europe

German chancellor Angela Merkel on a video screen as she addresses the audience at a meeting in Dresden recently. Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters Policy of extending German model to entire euro zone is folly

Europe will not become a bigger Germany. It is foolish to believe it ever could

People pass by a political poster reading: “Troika out. Elections now. Turn the crisis around. Cut the debt and not the salaries”, on a street in Lisbon earlier today. Photograph: Jose Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters Strong demand as Portugal issues first new bonds since bailout

Crucial milestone in crisis-hit country’s bid to regain full access to debt markets

Ewald Nowotny, governor of Austria's central bank, and European Central Bank governing council member, said the possibility the European Central Bank might cut its deposit rate below zero is not relevant for now. Nowotny dismisses talk of negative ECB deposit rate

Ewald Nowotny says possibility of ECB cutting rates below zero per cent ‘not relevant’

President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi signs the newly introduced €5 banknote for a school boy after an ECB news conference in Bratislava today. Photograph: Petr Josek /Reuters ECB cuts interest rates to record low

Main interest rate reduced to 0.5 per cent amid weak economic activity and tame inflation

The ECB has dropped the the euro area core benchmark interest rate to a historic low of 0.5 per cent. Analysts hope rate cut will have far-reaching impact

A swathe of data published this week bolstered the case for monetary intervention

The euro-area jobless rate rose to a record in March, increasing pressure on the European Central Bank to take additional measures to boost growth. Photo: Bloomberg. Euro area unemployment at record high
  • Europe
  • April 30, 2013, 10:36

Some 19.2 million people were jobless in March, up 62,000 from the previous month

Latest Economy

In the first three months of the year exports of chemical and pharmaceutical products fell by more than 11 per cent on the same period in 2012 Exports subdued but strengthen for second consecutive month
In Ireland, as in most European countries, the banking system is the most important conduit for channelling money from savers to investors. If the most important part of the financial system is impaired, under-investment follows, leading in turn to sub-par economic growth Too little credit or too few entrepreneurs?
The ECB is concerned that banks are not lending to smaller businesses in the euro zone periphery. Photograph: Bloomberg ECB ‘can only do so much to help SMEs’
Martin Weale, a member of the Bank of England’s nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee, said policymakers should tread carefully over flexibility in newly reworded mandate to help growth. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire BoE ‘must tread carefully’ with inflation approach
More US consumers gave a favorable view of their personal finances than in anytime since 2007. US consumer sentiment near six-year peak
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