Long hot Italian summer.
Likely September elections may be a referendum on euro and EU membership
Italy’s failure over the weekend to form a government was driven by the refusal of the Italian President Mattarella to appoint the hardline Eurosceptic Paolo Savona to the position of economy minister. From the perspective of President Mattarella the recent election was not a referendum on the euro; for the Five Star/League coalition his refusal to accept Savona was interference in the democratic process. An incoming caretaker government is being put in place but is not the issue; elections later in the year will in effect be the referendum on the euro. For investors, this creates significant uncertainty over the summer months and into the autumn.
Read more...BOE: Bank on track.
Today’s BOE decision represents a correction in UK policy makers’ thinking. The sudden stop in activity which was implied by the Bank’s August stimulus package has not materialised and the focus has instead returned to significantly above-target inflation by 2018. This is going to be supportive of sterling, especially as consensus views on the exchange rate had become so negative.
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