Greece denies Varoufakis is planning to resignEurozone debt in ‘danger zone’, Germany’s Weidmannn warnsBrent crude falls 1.7% as fears over Yemen subsidePound rises as Carney says next move in rates is upGrowth in UK house prices slows BoE’s Broadbent: UK deflation risk low 11.26am GMT Reuters has filed a fuller report on the earlier speculation that Yanis Varoufakis is planning to quit the Greek government (which has been denied by officials)Greece’s outspoken Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is not planning to resign, two Greek government officials said on Friday, denying a report in Germany’s Bild newspaper.“None of this is true, it’s far from reality,” one of the officials told Reuters. 11.15am GMT Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling has said eurozone finances ministers are struggling to have faith in Greece amid chaotic decision-making.He told reporters in Vienna:We have a crisis of confidence with Greece. Something is decided every day and on the next day it doesn’t apply any more.You can easily calculate this: it brings nothing. [The Greek problem] will occupy us for some time. I don’t know what will emerge. 10.39am GMT A Greek government official has denied reports that finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is planning to resign. An official told Reuters:None of this is true, it’s far from reality.Greek govt denies speculation on #Varoufakis' resignation 10.28am GMT Twitter rumour: Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is considering resignation.Bild reports #varoufakis pondering resignation - feels like Oskar "champagne socialist" Lafontaine all over again http://t.co/9fFDW00VWUNot clear how credible rumours of #Varoufakis resigning are, Bild quotes unnamed Greek govt insider saying "matter of time" & "done deal" 9.56am GMT The briefest of comments from Mark Carney on interest rates has pushed the pound up against the dollar.The pound rose to $1.4860 from around $1.4818 after the Bank of England’s governor said the next move in rates would be up.$GBPUSD moving up & further away from $1.48 on those Carney comments.#Carney says next move in rates is likely up. Saying the obvious but pours cold water on MPC attempts to convince rate cut possible #GBPCarney reiterates next interest rate move is up 9.47am GMT It seems BoE's Haldane hasn't convinced Broadbent of the argument for cutting either. No support from any of the 5 MPC spkrs this week.For full write-up of Broadbent's speech on low deflation risk to UK, see here http://t.co/nE2CWpdIYd @Reuters 9.45am GMT Back in Frankfurt, the Bank of England’s governor Mark Carney, is reinforcing the point that UK households should prepare for a rise in interest rates (despite Andy Haldane’s comments).The next move in interest rates is likely up. 9.41am GMT Ben Broadbent, deputy governor of the Bank of England and a member of its interest-rate setting Monetary Policy Committee, has waded into the UK deflation debate.Real interest rates still need to be low. Our inflation target is 2% not zero: what makes the current position “good” is not low inflation per se but the fact that, in this particular instance, it’s been caused by something (a drop in oil prices) that improves real incomes.Even though the direct effect of that decline will drop out of the annual comparison later this year and in early 2016, there’s a risk that, by depressing wage growth, sub-target inflation could persist for longer than we expect. 9.18am GMT With his international hat on, as chairman of the Financial Stability Board, Carney is speaking about the quest to end “too big to fail” among global banks. Progress is being made.It’s imperative that we finish this off this year. 9.13am GMT Mark Carney’s panel has started.That’s why we have used macro prudential tools as an insurance policy to limit that. 8.59am GMT While we’re waiting for Mark Carney’s panel to start in Frankfurt, an update from the UK’s housing market.The annual rate of house price growth slowed for a seventh month in March, to 5.1%. That - according to the Nationwide index - compares with a recent peak of 11.8% in June 2014. 8.50am GMT Following a sell-off in European markets on Thursday, and a 0.95% fall in the Nikkei overnight, investors are a little more upbeat this morning.The FTSE 100 is down slightly, 0.1% lower at 6,888.62, but markets are up elsewhere. 8.38am GMT Mark Carney, Bank of England governor, will be speaking on a panel at the Bundesbank conference from around 8.45am (UK time). The live feed is here and we will be following it. 8.26am GMT Over in Frankfurt, the head of Germany’s central bank and a member of the European Central Bank’s governing council, has been warning on unsustainable debt levels in the eurozone.In the euro area we are already in the danger zone - at least with regard to public debt standing at 91% and corporate debt at 105%. Household debt currently stands at 62%.Sovereign debt needs to be backed by capital, and exposure to a single sovereign must be capped, just as is the case for any private debtor. 8.00am GMT Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.Oil prices are falling again after the absence of fresh developments in Yemen eased fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East.The spike in oil prices caused by the Saudi military incursions into Yemen, has all the hallmarks of a classic knee jerk market reaction to a new flashpoint. We saw similar spikes last year with Ukraine, Libya and ISIS pushing into Iraq before markets settled back down again, and it is likely that these concerns about Yemen could follow a similar pattern, as long as there is no significant disruption through the straits between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Continue reading...
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