- Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann
The number of unemployed people in Portugal soared to a fresh high in the first three months of 2013, the data published by National Statistics Institute showed Wednesday. The overall jobless rate rocketed to 17.7%, up from 16.9% in the quarter earlier, as the number of unemployed rose to 952,200 people from 819,300 a year earlier. At the same time, youth unemployment jumped to 42% from 36% a year ago. The government has also reviewed its forecast considering the labour market, and now it expects unemployment to reach 18.2% this year and then peak at 18.5% in 2014.
Also Wednesday the Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said that the European Central Bank still can introduce bold measures to address sovereign debt crisis in the region. Earlier this month, the ECB decided to cut its benchmark rate to 0.5%, while Mario Draghi said the bank would monitor incoming data closely and will be ready to cut rates further, including the deposit rate currently at zero.
Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann warned: "It is important that the interest rate is quickly normalised when the situation improves. A low interest rate is certainly not a permanent solution. He reiterated his view that the effects of cutting the main refinancing rate "should not be overestimated at the moment".
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