IMF’s Thomsen: Very important that Italy has a 2019 budget that is in line with the EU rules

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

Poul Thomsen, Director of the European Department at the International Monetary Fund, was out on the wires in the last minute, saying that quite a few countries in Europe still need fiscal consolidation but too many are not doing so.

Key quotes:

• Fiscal policy has been insufficiently countercyclical in Europe.
• Highly indebted countries inside the Euro-zone are a particular concern.
• Fiscal policy in Spain needs to be more countercyclical.
• Italy should have undertaken more structure fiscal adjustment in the last few years.
• This is time to increase fiscal space; Italy is most constrained in that respect.
• We do project relatively strong growth in Italy next year.
• However, this must not be the time to relax fiscal policy in Italy.
• Very important that Italy has a 2019 budget that is in line with the EU rules.
• The direct impact of US car tariffs on Europe would be relatively limited.
• But this could affect investor sentiment negatively.

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

EUR/USD climbs to daily highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD now picks up pace and advances to the area of daily peaks north of the 1.1800 barrier at the end of the week. The pair’s decent move higher comes against the backdrop of a generalised lack of direction in the FX galaxy and the mild offered stance in the US Dollar.

GBP/USD trims losses, retests 1.3460

After briefly challenging its key 200-day SMA near 1.3440, GBP/USD now manages to regain some balance and revisit the 1.3460 zone on Friday. Cable’s pullback comes as the selling pressure on the Greenback gathers traction, reigniting some recovery in the risk-linked space.

Gold flirts with four-week highs past $5,200

Gold extends its rebound, climbing for a third consecutive session and pushing back above the $5,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The move higher continues to draw support from lingering geopolitical tensions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, both of which are keeping safe-haven demand firmly in play.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple consolidate with short-term cautious bullish bias

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are consolidating near key technical areas on Friday, showing mild signs of stabilization after recent volatility. BTC holds above $67,000 despite mild losses so far this week, while ETH hovers around $2,000 after a rejection near its upper consolidation boundary.

Changing the game: International implications of recent tariff developments

The Supreme Court ruling on International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs provides limited relief for the rest of the world, with weighted average tariff rates modestly lower.

Starknet unveils strkBTC, shielded Bitcoin transactions on Ethereum Layer 2

Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, today announced strkBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin asset that introduces optional shielding while preserving full DeFi composability.