By: Mike Campbell
Hard on the heels of credit rating agency Fitch’s downgrading of Greece’s credit rating, a second Eurozone country has attracted the concern of a credit rating agency. This time, the country in question is Spain and the agency is Standard and Poor’s (S&P). Analysts at the agency have concluded that the country was confronted with a worse deterioration in public finance than they previously believed and that Spain’s economic weakness will linger longer than they thought. S&P released a statement saying that "Reducing Spain's sizable fiscal and economic imbalances requires strong policy actions, which have not yet materialised," Like the UK, Spain is still to emerge from recession. The Spanish government has embarked on a major public works programme with the aim of holding unemployment below the 20% mark. Spain has the unenviable record as having the highest unemployment figures with the European Union. Spain is expected to have its debt come in at 67% of its GDP in 2010 (Greece was expected to hit 125%, by comparison). European stock markets all closed lower on the news.
Hard on the heels of credit rating agency Fitch’s downgrading of Greece’s credit rating, a second Eurozone country has attracted the concern of a credit rating agency. This time, the country in question is Spain and the agency is Standard and Poor’s (S&P). Analysts at the agency have concluded that the country was confronted with a worse deterioration in public finance than they previously believed and that Spain’s economic weakness will linger longer than they thought. S&P released a statement saying that "Reducing Spain's sizable fiscal and economic imbalances requires strong policy actions, which have not yet materialised," Like the UK, Spain is still to emerge from recession. The Spanish government has embarked on a major public works programme with the aim of holding unemployment below the 20% mark. Spain has the unenviable record as having the highest unemployment figures with the European Union. Spain is expected to have its debt come in at 67% of its GDP in 2010 (Greece was expected to hit 125%, by comparison). European stock markets all closed lower on the news.
Further Indication Of The Weakness Of The Japanese Recession
Investment in new equipment is a barometer of industrial health. Figures just released show that Japanese machine orders were lower than expected for October; a sign that manufacturers are continuing to tighten their belts, The month-on-month decline was 4.5% for October rather than the 4.3% that had been expected. In September, there had been a 10.5% increase in core machinery orders. It is believed that it is the export sector where the cuts have been most marked as manufacturers have to factor in the reduction in demand for their products caused by the high Yen.