08-03-2017

POLITICO Morning Exchange: EU creditworthiness

EU Members' Ability to Repay their Loans - not a pretty picture, says POLITICO. Investors and policymakers of a nervous disposition should avoid the latest report by the Centre for European Policy, a German think tank, on EU countries’ creditworthiness.

Some nuggets:

Greece “remains uncreditworthy and there is no sign of a reversal in this trend. The level of consumption remains much too high.”

Italy’s “creditworthiness has declined continuously since 2010. The reason for this is an erosion in capital stock since 2013. This is the result of the unsolved economic problems, the high level of public debt and political uncertainty.”

Portugal’s “creditworthiness has been deteriorating since 2004. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the country’s capital stock is diminishing. Secondly, the country is consuming beyond its means.”

France’s “creditworthiness trends remain unclear due to its traditionally high level of investment.”

Slovenia, Cyprus, and Latvia are also in CEP’s bad books, while Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Austria are improving their finances.

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