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☆ Germany risks falling back into recession as car industry sputters
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Industrial production in Europe’s biggest economy fell 1.5% in June compared with May, driven by a 3.5% drop in Germany’s vast automotive sector. The decline in German industrial output, much steeper than forecast by economists, raises the risk that the manufacturing heavyweight will contract again later this year, potentially falling back into recession. The construction sector, where output shrank by 2.8%, also had a negative impact on overall industrial production, the country’s statistics office said Monday. “German industry remains in rough waters,” Salomon Fiedler, economist at Berenberg, said in a note Monday, noting last year’s energy price shock and weakness in US and Chinese demand, among other factors. Berenberg expects Germany to fall back into “a mild recession” in the second half of this year, Fiedler added.

Persons: “, ” Franziska Palmas, Jörg Krämer, Hildegard Müller, ” Salomon Fiedler, Fiedler, — Mark Thompson, Anna Cooban Organizations: London CNN —, Capital Economics, Auto, German Automotive Industry Association, Volkswagen Locations: Germany, Europe, China, Russia, Ukraine, “

☆ Britain is getting so desperate to tame inflation it’s talking about food price caps
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Food inflation dipped slightly to 15.4% in May, but that’s still the second-highest rate on record. But chocolate and coffee prices are rising as global commodity prices soar, British Retail Consortium CEO Helen Dickinson said. Price controls anyone? “The current food price shock does not warrant such an intervention,” he added. Brexit is responsible for about a third of UK food price inflation since 2019, according to researchers at the London School of Economics.

☆ What are AT1 bonds and why are Credit Suisse’s now worthless?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But it is the owners of Credit Suisse’s $17 billion worth of “additional tier one” (AT1) bonds who have been left fully in the cold. David Benamou, chief investment officer at Axiom Alternative Investments, a French wealth management firm with exposure to AT1 bonds, called the decision “quite surprising, not to say … shocking.”What are AT1 bonds? AT1 bonds are also known as “contingent convertibles,” or “CoCos”. It is not the write-down of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds that has rocked investors, but the fact that the bank’s shareholders will receive some compensation when bondholders will not. But because Credit Suisse’s demise has not followed a traditional bankruptcy, analysts told CNN, the same rules don’t apply.

☆ Europe has enough energy to survive the winter. Next year might be different
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Cornelius Poppe/NTB/AFP/Getty ImagesBut success has come at a heavy cost to the economy: the scramble for alternative sources has sent energy prices soaring. Alexei Miller, CEO of Russian state energy giant Gazprom, said on Wednesday that there was “no guarantee” that Europe would survive the winter with its current reserves. “Adopting policies that prevent the pass-through of high energy prices to consumers is an expensive gamble that is doomed to fail if wholesale energy prices will stay high in the future,” he added. Carlos Torres Diaz, head of power analysis at Rystad Energy, told CNN business that Europe’s energy transition “has been put on hold” as it prioritizes energy security. “These sources of energy also help reduce the dependency on energy imports,” Torres Diaz added.

☆ UK brings budget forward in another attempt to reassure markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Kwarteng announced the Oct. 31 date in a letter to the Treasury on Monday, pulling his midterm budget forward by more than three weeks in an attempt to reassure rattled markets and rebellious party colleagues. He also confirmed that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the independent fiscal watchdog, will publish its assessment of the budget on the same day. Investors have been awaiting clarity on a revised date for the budget, which was initially set for November 23. It was widely expected to be brought forward after Kwarteng’s “mini” budget on Sept. 23 crashed the pound and sent shockwaves through financial markets with its promise of £45 billion ($49.8 billion) of unfunded tax cuts. The pound has recovered all of its losses but UK government bond yields remain higher than they were before the crash.

☆ UK's mini budget slashes taxes and borrows heavily as recession hits
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN Business —A huge gamble by the UK government aimed at rescuing the economy from recession and boosting long-term growth sent the pound plunging on Friday. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent think tank, called the government’s plans “extraordinary.”“It’s half a century since we’ve seen tax cuts announced on this scale,” he said in a tweet. The pound sank almost 2% to $1.10 on Friday after Kwarteng’s announcement to its lowest level since 1985. The measures come a day after the Bank of England warned that the country was already likely in a recession. ‘Unfunded giveaways’News of the heavy additional government borrowing rattled investors already concerned that the country is spending beyond its means.

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