As the multi-act drama of the Eurozone crisis stumbles on, Greece falls under the spotlight once more.
Officials from the Troika have returned to the struggling nation in order to complete an evaluation of its economy.
The outcome of their assessment will decide whether Greece’s efforts are worth the next instalment of their 8.1 billion Euro bailout.
According to one unnamed Finance Ministry source: ‘The biggest issue in the negotiations will be the delays in public sector reforms.’
Meanwhile, Greek newspaper Kathimerini has asserted that the Troika might attempt to impose additional austerity measures on the Greek Government. The paper claims to have acquired a draft memorandum which hints that further spending cuts might be required.
Kathimerini asserts: ‘According to the draft document, unspecified new measures may have to be taken if authorities fail to collect adequate revenue from outstanding debts to the state and fail to plug a funding gap for this year of just over 1 billion Euros, chiefly attributed to the debts of the country’s main healthcare provider, EOPYY. One potential method of narrowing the funding gap likely to be proposed by Trokia officials is the payment of the emergency tax for 2013 in four instalments rather than five. Such a move would narrow the funding gap for this year by an estimated 400 million Euros, Troika officials are expected to argue.’
In other Eurozone news, Spanish manufacturing PMI surpassed expectations by coming in at 50.0 – the mark which separates growth from contraction. Spain hasn’t posted such a strong result since it entered its current recession.
An economist with Markit said of the result: ‘The second quarter of 2013 ended on an encouraging note for the Spanish manufacturing sector, with PMI data pointing to a rise in a new business and an easing in the rate of decline in production.’
The EUR/GBP pairing rose on Friday but continues to trade below 0.86 pence per Euro.
Additional Euro movement may occur following the publication of Eurozone CPI figures, due out at 10:00 am.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
As of 09:00
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3026 >
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8567 >
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4159 <
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6786 <
The Euro/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3693 >