5 Min Read
LONDON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will this week face more questions about an increasingly challenging outlook only a month after it unleashed fresh stimulus to bolster the euro zone economy.
FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of European Central Bank (ECB) is photographed n Frankfurt, Germany, January 14, 2021. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo
Policymakers boosted emergency bond buys by 500 billion euros ($607 bln) in December. But resurgent COVID-19 cases, new restrictions on activity in countries including Germany and France and the slow roll-out of vaccines has cast doubt over the pace of the region’s recovery.
“At this point in time, the ECB still finds itself a little bit with its back against the wall,” said Althea Spinozzi, fixed income strategist at Saxo Bank Group. “There’s no alternative but to keep supporting the economy until an end to downside risks are clear.”
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana plans to issue 22.3 billion cedi ($3.9 billion) worth of bonds in the first quarter according to the finance ministry’s issuance calendar seen on Monday.
It said 19.7 billion cedi would be used to roll over maturing bonds, while 2.6 billion is fresh issuance to meet the government’s financing requirements.
Ghana’s economy has been hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak which has curbed economic growth and widened its deficit. The gold- and cocoa-producing country is expected to tap international capital markets this year.
The calendar showed that the government plans to issue 91-day and 182-day treasury bills weekly, while 364-day treasury bills will be issued every two weeks.
Italy forecasts its debt to soar to a new post-war record level of 158.5% of gross domestic output (GDP) this year, surpassing the 155.6% goal it set in September, a government source told Reuters on Saturday.