The week ahead | Calamatta Cuschieri

The week ahead is set to be a hectic one following last weekend’s first round voting of the French presidential election. Emmanuel Macron, a former banker and economy minister, and Marine Le Pen, who is known for her extremist views on immigration and her anti-EU stance, came out ahead of the other contenders in the French presidential election and will face off in two weeks’ time when a winner will be declared.

UK general election campaigning begins

Following the snap general election announcement by Theresa May and her government last week, forty five days remain before voting gets underway

Following the snap general election announcement by Theresa May and her government last week, forty five days remain before voting gets underway. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour party’s leader, is forwarding a political manifesto in which he is proposing the increase of taxes on the rich, nationalising the railway system and introducing free meals to schoolchildren. May began her election campaign in Bolton as a way of increasing her party’s stronghold in the north in an attempt to increase her government’s parliamentary majority. By doing so, she would be able to wield more power and have more leverage during the tough negotiation talks that will be held with European Union leaders on issues such as trade and immigration.

The ECB’s quantative easing programme

The Eurozone’s 25 monetary policymakers are set to meet in Frankfurt to discuss the Quantative Easing programme that the European Central Bank is currently undergoing

This week, the Eurozone’s 25 monetary policymakers, which is made up of the heads of each Eurozone central bank, are set to meet in Frankfurt to discuss the Quantative Easing (QE) programme that the European Central Bank is currently undergoing. The programme involves the purchasing of €60bn worth of bonds each month until September 2017. The purchasing of bonds is mostly that of government bonds. The idea behind this programme is to provide liquidity in the sovereign debt market with the hope of propping up consumer activity and increase the rate of inflation, which is the end goal of the ECB as it tries to keep the rate of inflation below but close to 2%.

Analysts do not expect much to change or to come out of the meeting, as some have suggested that the ECB might introduce a rate hike this year but the ECB’s president, Mario Draghi, and his chief economist Peter Praet, have downplayed such a rate hike decision to be made this year.

Disclaimer:

This article was issued by Simon Gauci Borda, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article is being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.