Investor confidence in the Eurozone has fallen to a three-year low according to the German research group Sentix.
The report shows that sentiment for the 17-nation currency bloc dropped to -30.3 in August from -29.6 in July. The figure was slightly less than that predicted but another drop will be of great concern to the single currencies backers.
The figure could have been a lot worse if European central bank president Mario Draghi had not stepped forward and announced plans for the Bank to resume its buying of government bonds. Optimism in the Euro was restored somewhat last week following his pledge ‘to do whatever it takes to preserve the Euro’.
Draghi’s remarks prompted the improvement in the gauge of expectations, Sentix said. It said 856 investors participated in the survey, which was conducted between Aug. 2 and Aug. 4.
Elsewhere Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the Euro group organization of Eurozone finance ministers, said that the single currency had reached a “decisive phase.” A phrase that has been said countless times since the Eurocrisis began almost three years ago. How many decisive phases can there be?
A separate confidence index for Germany showed that sentiment was falling in the Euro zones most powerful economy. The figure fell to 1.3% from 2.2%. The German population is growing increasingly tired of the situation and of the expectations that they will have to fork out billions of Euros to assist their weaker neighbors. A sign of this was recently held opinion poll that showed that a majority of German voters want to return to the Deutschmark.
It is the voters of Germany who are going to have to dig the deepest to deliver “whatever it takes.” When the people on whom the entire edifice of the single currency is built want out, it is clear the euro is facing an existential crisis that will take far more than further fiscal juggling to resolve.
The Pound to Euro exchange rate is currently trading at 1.282
The Pound to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.552
The Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.509
The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.210
The Euro to Pound exchange rate is currently trading at 0.779
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