GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRASH ALERT: ‘No glimmer of HOPE’ as eurozone investor confidence PLUNGES
FEARS of an impending global financial crash have intensified today after investor morale in the eurozone was revealed to have slipped to a four-year low in December.
By LEVI WINCHESTER
Express.co.uk
Tue, Dec 11, 2018
Sentix research group said its investor sentiment index for the eurozone slid to -0.3 from 8.8 in November, the lowest level since December 2014. The decrease, which marks the fourth consecutive monthly drop, far exceeded analysts’ expectations of a dip to 8.1. The fall in investor morale was blamed on growing Brexit uncertainty and the ongoing spat between Italy and EU finance chiefs over Rome’s controversial spending budget. Sentix managing director Manfred Huebner said the situation evokes memories of the time preceding the 2008 financial crisis.
Mr Huebner said: “Looking at the international environment, there is practically no glimmer of hope.
“While the European Central Bank is preparing for the end of the billion-dollar government bond purchases, the economy is slimming down at a considerable pace, again challenging politicians and central banks.
“Whether trade disputes, the Italian crisis, unrest in France and Belgium or Brexit: it’s coming from all corners at the moment.”
A separate index on investor morale in Germany fell in December to 7.2 from 15.6 in what Mr Huebner described as a “breathtaking loss of momentum” caused partly by worries about possible US tariffs on cars and weak Chinese car sales.
Sentix surveyed 1,076 investors from December 6 to 8.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of “large challenges” ahead “to prevent a second Great Depression” in a report released in October.
In their report, the downcast IMF predictions pointed to cheap interest rates and surging debt levels as potential triggers for economic chaos.
The international body spoke of fear that a global panic could be triggered by unregulated parts of the financial system, as global debt levels remain above those at the time of the last major crisis in 2008.
The IMF Global Financial Stability report read: ”The extended period of ultralow interest rates in advanced economies has contributed to the build-up of financial vulnerabilities.
“The large accumulation of public debt and the erosion of fiscal buffers in many economies following the crisis point to the urgency of rebuilding those defences to prepare for the next downturn.”
The Rest…HERE
