Germany must choose EMU fusion or fission - Telegraph

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel is teasing Europe and deluding herself.
For all her fiery language in defence of the euro - as if a currency trading so high against the yuan, dollar, and sterling could be under meaningful external attack - Chancellor Angela Merkel has not yet agreed to pay one cent in help to crippled debtor states. Nor has she faced up to the elemental question hanging over monetary union.

Her own Bundesbank argued years ago that EMU is unworkable without fiscal union, and it has been vindicated by the events of the past two years. Either creditor states agree to an EU treasury, 'Transferunion' and debt pool, or EMU will be subject to unending stress and ultimately fracture or shrink to a viable core, or so goes the argument."

Germany must choose EMU fusion or fission - Telegraph

FT Alphaville - A problem for Portugal, charted

"From Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Thanos Vamvakidis (a former IMF economist) — a chart to kick off a week that looks like it might be heavy on eurozone newsflow:"

FT Alphaville - A problem for Portugal, charted

AFP: EU, IMF auditors should learn their place: Greece

"ATHENS — Greece on Monday kept up the heat on auditors from the European Union and the IMF who said the government should sell 50 billion euros in state assets to lessen the country's runaway public debt."

AFP: EU, IMF auditors should learn their place: Greece:

Mortgage Rates Rising | Money Guide Ireland

Þróun ársverðbólgu á Írlandi; Hagstofa Írlands

9,1% vextir á húsnæðislánum á Írlandi í 1,6% verðbólgu

Vextir á bæði 7 og 10 ára húsnæðislánum á föstum vöxtum á Írlandi hækka. Vextir á tíu ára lánum frá PTSB hækka úr 6,1% í 9,1% fyrir þá sem eru að endurnýja eldri lán á föstum vöxtum. Ársverðbólga á Írlandi mælist nú 1,6 prósent, samkvæmt tölum írsku hagstofunnar.

Mortgage Rates Rising | Money Guide Ireland:

The the 7- and 10-year rates both rise from 6.1% to 9.1%."

FT.com / World - Portugal economy shrinks as austerity bites

[...]

"Zach Witton, an economist at Moody’s, the rating agency, forecast on Monday that “Portugal will seek assistance from the EU’s bail-out fund by the second quarter of this year at the latest”.

Emilie Gay, European economist at Capital Economics, said that with “government bonds uncomfortably high, Portugal still seems to be the next in line to be forced to accept a bail-out package”.

Portugal’s cost of borrowing on 10-year debt has fallen back from a euro-era high of 7.63 per cent on Thursday amid reports that the European Central Banks was buying Portuguese government bonds again.

But the 10-year yield remains above 7 per cent, a level the government concedes is unsustainable."

[...]

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