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ARTICLE · 11 DECEMBER 2012

Deloitte Monday Briefing: Economic Adjustment In Europe

The headline news from the euro area has been downbeat.

United KingdomStrategy
  • The headline news from the euro area has been downbeat. But amid the gloom there are signs of progress.
  • Last week the 'troika' of the IMF, the EU and the European Central Bank reached a new funding agreement for which will cut Greece's long term debt burden. Meanwhile Portugal passed another hurdle by agreeing an austerity budget for 2013.
  • Confidence about prospects for the euro area has been on the rise since early September when the ECB announced a new, radical programme to buy the government bonds of at-risk countries without limit. Last week's news boosted confidence further, helping take Italy's cost of borrowing to the lowest level in 2 years.
  • Two studies released last week that suggest that the painful process of adjustment in the peripheral euro area economies is starting to deliver results. A joint study conducted by Berenberg Bank and The Lisbon Council finds that "the euro area has advanced significantly further [in 2012] on the rocky road

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