- Carsten Brzeski, ING
Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won the approval for the third bailout package worth 86 billion euros. The Greek parliament backed the legislation by 222 votes to 64. Greece needs to have all procedures, including Eurogroup's and some Euro zone member countries' approvals, in place by August, when Athens is due to make a bond payment of 3.5 billion to the ECB.
Meanwhile, growth of the Euro zone's number one economy, Germany, accelerated in the second quarter, with GDP rising 0.4% following the modest 0.3% expansion in the January-March period. Analysts, however, had predicted a 0.5% growth rate. At the same time, the French economy stagnated, as exports were not robust enough to offset the impact of sluggish consumer spending and changes in inventories. The Euro bloc's third biggest economy, Italy, grew at a rate of 2% in the second quarter, versus a 0.3% advance estimated by economists. The whole Euro zone economy grew by 0.3% in the second quarter, compared with the 0.4% expansion expected by economists. On top of that, price growth in the Euro area weakened further in July on a monthly basis, suggesting the region remains vulnerable to deflationary threats. Consumer prices in the currency bloc declined 0.6% on month in July. In annual terms, the gauge inched up by 0.2% in the reported month.
© Dukascopy Bank SA