European Central Bank News

Bund futures hit two-month lows on Friday after the German Ifo business survey beat forecasts, although the grim outlook for the euro zone economy limited losses.

London, May 24 - Some European countries are at risk of "social consequences" from high unemployment, especially among youth, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told a group of business leaders and politicians in London at a Thursday evening event.

German economic growth is expected to increase considerably in the second quarter thanks in part to an "immense" pick-up in construction activity, Ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe told Reuters on Friday.

On the back of the escalating sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone, which has battered confidence in the private sector, the Dutch economy is sliding further into recession.

Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said on Thursday it was not up to the European Central Bank to solve the euro zone crisis, resisting pressure from other ECB policymakers for the bank to widen its range of policy tools.

Representatives of GreeceA's creditors and the competition branch of the European Commission are asking domestic commercial banks to sell off their non-banking activities in Greece and their subsidiary and affiliated banks in Southeastern Europe.

A top European Central Bank official says an agency with powers to restructure and wind down busted banks is "indispensable" to strengthening the continent's banking system against future turmoil.

It's only a matter of time before the European Central Bank joins the party and fires up the printing presses, says Merryn Somerset Webb.

Financial fragmentation persists in the euro zone and the European Central Bank is considering additional monetary actions to tackle the problem, ECB governing council member Christian Noyer said on Thursday.

FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan has insisted that he will not ask AIB to pass on interest rate cuts to 70,000 mortgage customers because it would "penalise" taxpayers in general.

A large fire that broke out in the hotel Astir in the western port of Patra on Tuesday was brought under control by a unit of 30 firefighters manning 10 fire engines.

A delegation of technocrats of the troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund will arrive in Athens on June 4 to assess Greece's progress, reports said Tuesday.

The Eurozone debt crisis that has unsettled investors over the last two years is "largely over", said economist and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Tuesday morning.

Homeowners who want to move house but are afraid of losing their low interest tracker mortgages will be offered a lifeline by two major banks.

Doug Kass of Seabreeze Partners is known for his accurate stock market calls and keen insights into the economy, which he shares with RealMoney Pro readers in his daily trading diary.

So-called stress tests, a review of eurozone banks' assets - bonds, capital - that should have been published this year will probably be published by mid-2014, European Central Bank board member Yves Mersch said Friday in London.

Spanish government bonds have had a good run since the European Central Bank said it would protect the euro last year.

Outside view shows the euro sculpture in front of the headquarters of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

The euro skidded to a six-week low versus the dollar on Wednesday as data showing an unexpectedly large contraction of the euro zone economy bolstered the case for more monetary easing by the European Central Bank.

The ECB's recent survey on household finances and consumption threw up some unexpected results - counter-intuitively, the average German household has less wealth than the average Mediterranean household.