Left to right: Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, French President Francois Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, and German Canchellor Angela Merkel (Getty)
13.33 SocGen has put out a list of 'Seven Key Calls to Kick Start 2013' - and it looks as though it is confident about a eurozone recovery. The number one call is to go long on European stocks, as it predicts they will outperform US stocks, number two is to buy Spanish debt, and number three is to sell safe assets such as German bunds. You can see the whole list here.
12.55 It would seem parliaments across Europe are tying up budgetary loose ends as Christmas approaches. Lithuania - not currently a eurozone member - has just rubber stamped its 2013 budget. The measures in the act point towards the Baltic nation's ambition for membership of the single currency, keeping its deficit-to-GDP ration within the stringent 3pc imposed by EU institutions.
St Casimir church in Lithuanian capital Vilnius
12.44 Austria's economic forecasters are divided on 2013 predicitons but agree that 2014 will see the growth rate hit 1.8pc, citing "visible" signs the downturn is coming to an end. The WIFO predicted GDP would grow 1pc in 2013, compared with 0.6pc this year, but the IHS was less optimistic, slashing its 1.3pc growth forecast to 0.8pc. Both institutes were more hopeful than the Austrian central bank, which earlier this month cut its 2013 growth forecast from 1.7pc to just 0.5pc.
Hahnenkamm ski resort in Austria
12.23 BREAKING: Italy's upper house has approved prime minister Mario Monti's 2013 budget bill, passing it to the lower house for the final go-ahead. The upper house's approval comes after lawmakers fron Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party postponed debate on the bill, scheduled for Tuesday, asking for more time to examine the measures, in a move decried as politically motivated by other members.
The Italian Senate (upper house) in Rome
12.17 Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem has assured parliament the Netherlands will meet the EU's 3pc budget deficit target, in spite of official forecasts released yesterday predicting the deficit would hit 3.3pc of GDP in 2013. He declined to say whether further cuts would be needed to meet the target, but has conceded the government will use the ?3.8bn windfall from its telecom spectrum auction to help plug the hole in public finances, backtracking on earlier assertions this money would not factor in the austerity programme.
Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem
11.33 In an unwelcome Christmas present for the French, the contentious austerity budget unveiled by president Francois Hollande in September has clinched parliamentary approval after months of deliberation. President Francois Hollande's budget aims to cut ?30bn, two thirds of which are set to come from tax hikes, including a 75pc levy on income over ?1m - a measure which has seen French actor Gerard Depardieu revoke his citizenship in indignance (see 09.03).
11.20 Greeks struggling with loan repayments have hit the country's banks hard, with Hellenic lender Eurobank posting further losses in the third quarter. And the bank's chief executive Nicholas Nanopoulos sees the situation deteriorating, saying:
2013 will be a difficult year, there is a chance of another wave of bad debt after measures adopted by the government.
Eurobank has already received nearly ?4bn from the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) which was set up to recapitalise the country's systemic banks, and expects to get a further ?1.8bn from the HFSF shortly, executives told analysts.
11.08 Four Spanish banks have won EU approval for their restructuring plans in return for securing a ?1.87bn state bail-out. Banco Mare Nostrum, Caja3, Banco CEISS and Liberbank, which were all hit when Spain's property bubble burst in 2008, have drawn up plans to slash their balance sheets by between 25pc to more than 40pc over the next five years. They are all obliged to also halt dividend payments, with three of the banks barred from making acquisitions during the restructuring period.
10.50 Turmoil in the eurozone is creeping north, with Finland, the only Nordic member of the single currency, facing a year of recession. The finance ministry forecast GDP will shrink 0.1pc this year, before growing 0.5pc in 2013 and 1.7pc in 2014. The figures show a substantial downwards revision on previous forecasts that the economy would grow 1pc this year and 2pc in 2014. The ministry's figures are also gloomier than those generated by the country's central bank on December 13, which said the economy would grow 0.4pc in 2013, down from a previous forecast of 1.2pc.
Finland's economy looks set for deep freeze in 2013
10.00 Over in Japan, the central bank has made efforts to spur on the languid economy by expanding its quantitative easing tool by ?10tn (?73bn) to ?101tn. The bank said fresh easing was tied to fears about the slowing global economy, conspicuously omitting mention of incoming conservative prime minister Shinzo Abe's planned 2pc inflation target. The bank said in a statement:
Overseas economies remain in a deceleration phase. It was judged appropriate to undertake further aggressive monetary easing policies.
Incoming Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe won a landslide victory on promises he would ram through full-blown 'reflation' policies to pull his country out of slump and drive down the yen
09.42 Italians watching their spending saw October retail sales in the country dip 3.8pc year-on-year. The October figures mark the steepest decline year-on-year and month-on-month (sales fell 1pc from September) since April.
09.26 Greek news website Kathimerini has reported a major shake-up at Greece's tax authorities in an effort to beef up collection and investigation efforts. Tax evasion is thought to cost ?30bn annually in lost revenues, and improved tax operations are one of the pillars of Greek reform imposed by its troika of lenders. The revamp involved 164 directors, deputy directors and finance ministry observers being moved to different departments.
09.03 French actor Gerard Depardieu, best known for his portrayal of Obelix in 'Asterix and Obelix', has been offered tax asylum by Chechnya, after he revoked his French citizenship in protest at high taxes on the wealthy. President Francois Hollande raised the tax on earnings over ?1m to 75pc, from 41pc, as part of an austerity drive earlier this year. Mr Depardieu is currently resident in Belgium, where taxes are lower.
Gerard Depardieu
08.45 Prime Minister David Cameron told his party last night they would fight the next general election on a strongly anti-Europe ticket. He told them he had to get "the big calls right", and there was no bigger call than the decision the party had to make on Europe - in a clear response to Ukip's surging popularity. He said:
I want you all to be absolutely clear - we will go into the next election with a clear Eurosceptic position. It will clearly be in tune with the British people, we will be the ones offering the British people a genuine change and a genuine choice.
Read political correspondent Christopher Hope's full piece here.
08.23 Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras, in an interview with the FT, warned Athens still faces "the possible risk" of exiting the single currency, a sobering message amid the festive cheer brought by the nation's tumbling cost of borrowing in the wake of receiving a ?34.3bn rescue package from the IMF, ECB and European Commission troika of lenders. He said:
What we have done so far is necessary but not sufficient to achieve a permanent solution for Greece. The issue is now implementation.
Our partners? decision to give us so much money ? more than we expected ? removes a large part of the risk [but] we still face the possible risk of bankruptcy.
08.00 Last night we heard reports the Italian prime minister, Mario Monti, has indicated he will run for election. Italian newspapers, citing unnamed sources, said Monti was ready to back a new centrist grouping set up by Ferrari chair Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. The FT quoted a source as saying: "Monti would be the political chief of the operation." He is widely expected to announce his intentions over the weekend, with Italian news agencies quoting Andrea Riccardi, a government minister thought to be close to Mr Monti, saying as much.
Italian premier Mario Monti, who was installed by the country's president last year in the wake of Silvio Berlusconi's forcible exit from power
06.00 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the eurozone debt crisis.
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