The Institute of International and European Affairs recently held an event on the European sovereign debt crisis. The event featured Dietmar Hornung of Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group, Lee C. Buchheit, a legal expert on sovereign debt issues and Ann Pettifor of Advocacy International who is known for work on sovereign debt and international finance such as the Jubilee 2000 (Drop the Debt) campaign. Podcasts of the presentations and slides are available here.
Category: EMU
The idea of establishing some kind of fiscal council seems to be gaining momentum. Minister Lenihan expressed interest in this idea last week; it featured in speeches by Eamon Gilmore and Joan Burton last week; it is also Fine Gael policy. An editorial in today’s Irish Times also endorses the idea – you can read it here.
The latest Monetary Dialogue briefing papers for the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs are available here (click on 21.6.10). These papers are provided to help the MEPs on the committee prepare for their June 21 meeting with President Trichet, which promises to be an interesting one. My paper is titled “The Euro, the ECB and the Sovereign Debt Crisis”. All the papers focus on different aspects of the European sovereign debt issue.
The ECB has released its latest weekly financial statement, the only source of public information in relation to what’s happening with its sovereign bond purchase program.
It is notable that the program has purchased smaller amounts with each passing week: €16.3 billion during the week ended May 14, €10.4 billion during the week ended May 21, €8.8 billion during the week ended May 28 and €4.9 billion during the week ended June 4. We know that some members of the Governing Council would like the program to end quickly. At this rate of decline, it will be over in a couple of weeks.