The rise in interest rates seen in the advanced economies since the end of Covid has been continuing in scattered order. Long-term interest rates have generally been on the rise, but with significant divergences. The general situation of uncertainty and the undeniably upward trajectories of public debt in advanced countries are having negative repercussions on the bond markets, which are likely to have a similar impact on the financing of the economy.
The quantitative theory of money — the idea that inflation in an economy depends on the quantity of means of payment in circulation — is a very old one. It is generally attributed to the French philosopher and jurist Jean Bodin, who, around the middle of the 16th century, was the first to have the intuition that the causes of the "rise in the price of all things" in Europe were to be found in the influx of precious metals from the New World.
Stabilisation in manufacturing, deterioration in services. The manufacturing PMI continues to improve in May, rising above the services index for the first time since March 2022. The composite indicator fell back below 50. The European Commission's economic sentiment index climbed in May (+1 pt to 94.8) but remains well below its long-term average (100).
The dollar is involved in nine out of ten foreign exchange transactions and still accounts for 58% of total foreign exchange reserves. Commodities, interest rates, derivatives: it is the dominant currency in almost all markets, with one exception: green bonds, which are mainly denominated in euros and whose take-off is mainly driven by companies and public actors based in Europe. In 2025, the green bond market is expected to see another record volume of issuance. It remains to be seen whether the US counteroffensive on social and environmental responsibility will be a threat or an opportunity for sustainable finance. There are many arguments in favor of the latter hypothesis.
The recovery in loans for house purchase spread to all eurozone countries in March 2025, but the picture is still mixed. New loans to households for house purchase, excluding renegotiations, saw a year-on-year increase in all eurozone countries in March 2025, which is unprecedented since April 2022. However, it was a very mixed picture in terms of year-on-year increases, ranging from 4.3% in Croatia to 48.6% in Lithuania, with a volume-weighted average of 24.3% across the eurozone. As a result, new loans in the eurozone (EUR 60.3 billion) has returned in March 2025 to its August 2022 level, after hitting a low in January 2024 (EUR 37.0 billion).
Central European economies have defied pessimist predictions in recent years on their ability to cope with shocks. The region posted a less pronounced GDP contraction in 2020 compared to advanced EU countries. In 2022, at the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, the region was viewed as the most exposed within Europe due its high energy dependence on Russia. However, the widely expected recession did not occur as these economies implemented generous fiscal stimulus. Central European countries are now facing the tariff shock imposed by the US administration. Will this time be different?
The business climate is holding up. The composite PMI decreased (50.1) but remains in expansion area. The manufacturing index persists in negative territory but is getting better for the fourth month in a row. Expectations of activity in services fell sharply (53.1, the lowest level in five years).
Faced with US disengagement, the European Union has decided to close ranks and reinvest massively in its defence. On 6 March, the European Council therefore approved a plan that would theoretically raise EUR800 billion. This plan is split into two parts. The first will allow each Member State to deviate from its spending trajectory by 1.5% of GDP on average over a four-year period, without being subject to an excessive deficit procedure. In theory, this mechanism would provide an additional EUR650 billion of budgetary leeway. For the time being, several national governments have announced that they will not make use of the escape clause (France) or are not favourable to it (Italy, Spain).
They say the Davos consensus is always wrong, but it usually takes longer than a couple of months to be apparent. Not so in 2025.
The unemployment rate held steady at 6.2% in January, an all-time low. Declines are most marked in southern Europe and Ireland, while the unemployment rate is relatively stable in France and Germany. Negotiated wages rose by 4.1% y/y in Q4 2024, less than in Q3 (5.4% y/y) but still well ahead of inflation.
Inflation is no longer the No. 1 economic problem that it has been for the past three years, but it remains a major challenge. While it has not reached its 2% target yet, and the last pockets are slowly deflating, new inflationary pressures are mounting. At this stage, those pressures are limited but not negligible and new inflationary risks, linked to the economic and geopolitical context, are taking shape. The Fed's task is becoming more complicated by the risk of a US stagflation, and the ECB's one happens to be slightly trickier when balancing between downside and upside risks on growth.
Against a backdrop of falling interest rates, new banking loans (excluding renegotiations) to households and to non-financial corporations (NFCs) in the Eurozone continued to accelerate in January 2025. Cumulated over one year, new loans to the non-financial private sector (NFPS) increased by 8.6% year-on-year, after 7.4% in December 2024, to EUR 3,437 bn.
In France, we could think that the increase of public debt is a general consequence of the Covid-19 crisis. However, the chart we are commenting here shows that it is not.
Economic surveys - for households and companies - started the year on a slightly more positive note. Consumer confidence (+0.3 points) benefited from a slight fall in indicators for unemployment and inflation prospects. The composite PMI index returned to expansion territory (+0.6 points to 50.2), with the contraction in the manufacturing industry easing slightly (+1.5 points to 46.6), while the services index fell dipped (-0.2 points to 51.4).
The impulse of bank lending to the private sector continued to recover in the Eurozone in Q4 2024 (1.5 after between 1.1 and 1.2 since September 2024). It was back in positive territory since August (0.8), and in December 2024 it reached its highest level since November 2022 (2.7). The ECB bank lending survey in the Eurozone confirms the recovery in the demand for loans in Q4 2024. However, political uncertainties have resulted in a tightening of credit standards for lending to companies in France and Germany.
At the end of 2024, the household saving rate in the Eurozone was higher than it was before the COVID crisis. Among the four main economies of the Eurozone, France is no exception. Only in Spain and Italy has this trend been accompanied by an increase in investment in housing. In France and Germany, these additional savings are exclusively financial in nature. The factors at the root of the high financial saving rate will not prevent it from falling in 2025, but will contain it.
According to an unpublished study conducted within the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), if it were to perform its functions in the Eurozone, the US supervisor would be stricter, in terms of risk-weighted capital requirements, with respect to the systemically important banks (G-SIBs) established there, than the single supervisor of the Eurozone. The methodology of the exercise on which this conclusion is based has not been shared. However, it seems very complex to define.
The upcoming protectionist shift in the United States, the structural difficulties in industry and the political instability in France and Germany will limit the eurozone's economic growth margins in 2025. However, the labour market is holding up well in many countries (the unemployment rate in the eurozone is still at a record low level). In addition, some of the shock will be cushioned by inflation falling back down to its target level and by the continued cycle of interest rate cuts. Under these conditions, there is still anticipation of a slight increase in eurozone economic growth in 2025, to 1.0%, which will, again, be underpinned by significant differences in growth levels between Member States.
The ECB is still keeping control of things. This was the general message from Christine Lagarde at her press conference on Thursday 12 December. As expected, the ECB cut its key rates by 25 basis points for the fourth time since monetary easing began in June, taking the refinancing rate down to 3.5% and the deposit facility rate down to 3.0%. Inflation forecasts have been lowered slightly, with the forecast brought down to 2.1% for headline inflation and 2.3% for core inflation, before the two measures converge at 1.9% in 2026.
The eurozone’s net international investment position in terms of direct and portfolio investment recovered significantly between 2015 and 2022, becoming positive from 2021 onwards, meaning that the eurozone has become a net creditor to the rest of the world. However, the income it receives from these assets is lower than the income it pays to non-resident investors. What are the reasons for this?
The PMI indicator for the manufacturing sector fell further into contraction territory in November, down from 46 to 45.2. In particular, the employment index hit its lowest level since August 2020 (45.3). The momentum in services also reversed, with the PMI indicator slipping back below 50 in November, to 49.2. In addition, consumer confidence deteriorated in November (-1.2 points to -13.7, according to the European Commission's flash index) and only marginally increased in the second half of the year.
While the German economy continues to underperform and France remains in a middle ground, Southern European countries have become the driving force behind economic momentum in the Eurozone.
After a long, unfavourable period of low rates lasting almost six years, European banks have seen their interest margins and profitability improve overall with the rise in ECB rates in 2022 and 2023. As we now enter a period of falling rates, Laurent Quignon talks to us about their effects on the interest margins of European banks.
After becoming positive again in August 2024, the private sector credit impulse in the Eurozone continued to recover in September, hitting its highest level in nearly two years (November 2022). Among other factors, it contributed to the pleasant surprise in terms of the development of Eurozone GDP in the third quarter (+0.4% q/q after +0.3% in the first and +0.2% in the second). Credit impulse to non-financial corporations has recovered more quickly since dipping below credit impulse to households in autumn 2023, when the restrictive effects of monetary policy peaked. The impulse of lending to households remained slightly negative in September.
The gradual improvement in household confidence indices in the Eurozone (financial situation and purchase intentions), supported by falling inflation, is still not leading to a rebound in consumption. Retail sales have been stable for a year, even though a slight rise of 0.2% m/m was recorded in August. Motor vehicle sales, which often display a significant change from one month to the next, rose by 8.2% m/m in September, but were down to their lowest level in three years on a three-month moving average basis.
