Ahead of the COP26 summit in November, governments and institutions are announcing ambitious ‘net zero’ goals. Does ‘net zero’ truly mean no emissions, or is it just a piece of greenwashing to hide behind?
June-July 2021
Boris Vujcic had been governor or deputy of Croatia’s central bank for two decades when the coronavirus pandemic hit, putting him in a good position to oversee a programme of quantitative easing, while keeping his eye on the country’s accession into the euro.
Slovenia will take over the presidency of the influential Council of the European Union from the first of July, with the country’s minister of finance convinced that the sharp rises in inflation that threaten to shake up the European bond markets are transitory.
Turkey’s currency was plunged into chaos at the end of March when the government abruptly fired the head of the central bank, and analysts reckon the surprise move will have long lasting ramifications for the country’s credibility in the financial markets.
Gulf Cooperation Council borrowers are on course to hit almost US$100bn in issuance this year, and Qatari issuers say there has rarely been a better time for companies in the bond market than now.
This decade will be the most disruptive of any in human history, according to a book called Rethinking Humanity published by the thinktank RethinkX. Jules Evans provides an overview of the dramatic changes the authors are predicting and adds his own insights.
The financial crisis of 2007-2012 was the first wake up call to the inadequacy of the euro area architecture when facing a large systemic crisis. This column explains why the Covid-19 crisis will leave a deeper impact on the European policy system, and re-introduces the Vox debate on Europe’s economic architecture in the context of the transformations that we have witnessed over the past year.
Italian energy company Enel sold a multibillion-dollar sustainability-linked bond at the start of July, as the nascent deal structure, which sees a coupon step up on missed ESG targets, continues to gain global popularity.
