#ecb-rate-cut

#ecb-rate-cut

"BAWAG and Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc (PTSB) have agreed today, with the support of the Minister for Finance of Ireland who holds approximately 57.5pc of the shares in PTSB, the terms of a cash offer by BAWAG which has been recommended by PTSB's board of directors."

When planning our budgets, we tend to focus on cutting costs. Yet, sometimes a little strategic spending can help to save money in the long term, by reducing our regular expenses and replacing repeat purchases of single-use items.

"The best way to deal with the problem is to actually deal with the problem, to acknowledge it, to work on it," Dimon stated, emphasizing the urgency of addressing the national debt.

The conflict has driven up the price of oil and natural gas; damaged oil refineries, tanker terminals and other energy infrastructure; disrupted shipments of fertiliser that the world's farmers depend on; and damaged the confidence of businesses and consumers.

"The start of the year has been extremely sluggish for German industry," said Elmar Voelker, an analyst at the bank LBBW, noting that "the fleeting hopes of a recovery that had emerged last autumn have evaporated for now."

Services experienced the highest annual increase at 3.4%, followed by food, alcohol, and tobacco at 2.5%. Non-energy industrial goods saw a more modest increase of 0.7%. Meanwhile, energy prices fell by 3.1% over the month, which helped to temper overall inflation pressures.

September, or more likely October, is now the realistic opportunity for a rate cut, and even that is far from guaranteed. The data coming through is not consistent with easing in July. In fact, it points in the opposite direction. Inflation is not falling fast enough. The latest wholesale inflation data shows prices rising at 3.4% year-on-year, the strongest pace in a year, and core measures are still running close to 4%.

The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated. The implications of developments in the Middle East for the US economy are uncertain, the central bank said in a statement announcing its policy decision and referring to its Federal Open Market Committee.

Markets remain fragile amid persistent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which have pushed oil prices higher and revived concerns about inflation in Europe. While interest rates are expected to remain unchanged, attention could turn to the ECB's forward guidance and assessment of energy-driven price risks.

Before the Iran war began, a rate cut at the Bank's next meeting on 19 March had been an 80% chance, but policymakers are now expected to wait to see how the conflict develops with a 99% probability of a hold at the meeting and no rate cuts for the rest of 2026, markets indicate.

The European Central Bank (ECB) held its key interest rates unchanged following the February meeting of the Governing Council, in line with Cebr projections. This marks the fifth consecutive hold, despite a below-target inflation reading of 1.7% in January, the lowest level since 2021. The decision to hold rates also comes despite a recent Euro rally against the dollar, which is expected to add disinflationary pressure through cheaper imports and weigh on growth by making the bloc's exports more expensive.

In an incisive analysis of the new age of predatory great powers, where might is increasingly asserted as right, Carney not only accurately defined the coarsening of international relations as a rupture, not a transition. He also outlined how liberal democratic middle powers such as Canada but also European countries must build coalitions to counter coercion and defend as much as possible of the principles of territorial integrity, the rule of law, free trade, climate action and human rights.

As tensions simmer between the European Union and the U.S. over the Trump administration's trade policies and its play for Greenland, we've been hearing about the EU's economic "bazooka." What is it? AILSA CHANG, HOST: Things are quite tense right now between the U.S. and the European Union. Sources of that tension include the Trump administration's trade policies and its play for Greenland, which, in turn, has led to talk about the EU's anticoercion mechanism, also known as its economic bazooka.

The resilience of gold above $4,800 per ounce at this stage reflects a delicate and complex balance between traditional supporting factors and emerging pressures-one that cannot be superficially interpreted or reduced to the movement of the dollar alone. It is true that the U.S. dollar's retreat from its recent peaks, after failing to sustain its recovery momentum from a four-year low, provided gold with a short-term breather and attracted some buyers.

There are serious accusations on the table that must now be completely cleared up. I call for rapid and rigorous investigations,