https://www.scmp.com/rss/254679/feed The eurozone is an economic and monetary union (EMU) of 19 European Union (EU) member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency. Introduced in 1999, it is one of the largest economic regions in the world and currently consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Nicholas Spiro Nicholas Spiro For an indication of how much the energy crisis is shaping the path of monetary policy, look no further than Australia. On May 5, the country’s central bank raised interest rates for the third consecutive time, unwinding last year’s monetary easing. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said “higher fuel prices are adding to inflation and there are indications that this is likely to have second-round effects on prices for goods and services more broadly”. The RBA’s decision to keep tightening... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352708/australias-interest-rate-rise-signals-growing-hawkish-stance-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3352708/australias-interest-rate-rise-signals-growing-hawkish-stance-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 May 2026 08:30:05 +0000 Sylvia Ma Sylvia Ma Daniel Gros is the director of the Institute for European Policymaking at Bocconi University. Previously, he served as an adviser to the European Parliament, collaborated with the European Commission as economic adviser to the Delors Committee, which developed plans for the euro, and worked at the International Monetary Fund. In this interview, Gros examines the structural tensions shaping EU-China economic ties, draws lessons from the euro’s experience to analyse the yuan’s... https://www.scmp.com/plus/economy/china-economy/article/3351083/euro-yuan-unlikely-match-us-dollar-global-currencies-daniel-gros-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/economy/china-economy/article/3351083/euro-yuan-unlikely-match-us-dollar-global-currencies-daniel-gros-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Apr 2026 04:30:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters A private spy firm founded by former members ⁠of Israeli intelligence ⁠has confirmed its involvement in ⁠a sting operation targeting state officials and private interests in Cyprus, saying it wanted to expose corruption. A senior aide to President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides resigned in January after a video posted online showed ‌him discussing investment projects in Cyprus. It also featured a businessman who suggested he had direct access to Christodoulides, and a former minister speaking... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3349756/israeli-spy-firm-black-cube-involved-cyprus-corruption-probe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3349756/israeli-spy-firm-black-cube-involved-cyprus-corruption-probe?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2026 13:03:22 +0000 Kandy Wong Kandy Wong Professor Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University has repeatedly warned that the US dollar is approaching a crisis of legitimacy. Having written extensively on the global recession in the late 2000s, Rogoff has turned his focus to the US currency’s increasingly unstable place at the top of the world’s financial hierarchy. A former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and a chess grandmaster, he published Our Dollar, Your Problem in May last year. In this interview, Rogoff elaborates... https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china/money-wealth/article/3347930/euro-chinese-yuan-end-us-dollar-dominance-top-economist-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/news/china/money-wealth/article/3347930/euro-chinese-yuan-end-us-dollar-dominance-top-economist-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2026 02:31:08 +0000 The European Union’s finance chief said the bloc is open to further extending the deadline for wresting euro clearing from London, casting doubt over a newly adopted timeline. EU Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque said in an interview with Bloomberg earlier this week that she hopes a new proposed 2028 deadline can be achieved, but “didn’t know” if it would be the final extension to a post-Brexit exemption granting EU market access to UK clearing houses. The comments came just... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3297027/eu-finance-chief-casts-doubt-new-uk-clearing-deadline?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3297027/eu-finance-chief-casts-doubt-new-uk-clearing-deadline?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Feb 2025 11:17:35 +0000 Yuke Xie Yuke Xie La Défense, Europe’s largest purpose-built business district that is located eight kilometres west of central Paris, is trying to attract investors from China and other Asian countries in an effort to combat record vacancy rates in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Of the district’s four million square metres of office space, around 15 per cent is currently vacant due to reduced demand, as many companies have shifted to remote work or adopted more flexible arrangements after the pandemic,... https://www.scmp.com/property/article/3289859/la-defense-europes-largest-business-district-outer-paris-seeks-investors-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/property/article/3289859/la-defense-europes-largest-business-district-outer-paris-seeks-investors-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Dec 2024 05:30:08 +0000 Once again, Chinese policymakers have given investors reasons for hope. On September 24, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced a raft of monetary easing measures to help counter a cyclical and structural downturn that has intensified in recent months. As Chinese stimulus packages go, this was one of the boldest since the eruption of the Covid-19 pandemic. As is often the case with China, the immediate reaction in financial markets was positive, with volatile stock markets and commodity... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3279996/why-germanys-economic-issues-run-just-deep-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3279996/why-germanys-economic-issues-run-just-deep-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Sep 2024 08:30:08 +0000 Hong Kong will be among the first markets where interest rates are likely to fall next year along with the US, which could potentially boost the city’s property sector, according to analysts. With inflation in the US, the world’s largest economy, showing signs of cooling down, normalising of interest rates may come earlier than in the UK and the euro zone, said Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank. Hong Kong’s peg to the US dollar means an automatic adjustment to the city’s... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3235623/interest-rates-likely-have-peaked-hong-kong-home-prices-will-soon-begin-look-knight-frank-analyst?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3235623/interest-rates-likely-have-peaked-hong-kong-home-prices-will-soon-begin-look-knight-frank-analyst?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Sep 2023 23:30:13 +0000 Dubai’s luxury property prices rose the most among 30 cities that Savills tracks globally, while Hong Kong still has the world’s most expensive prime residential property. Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates, saw luxury home prices rise 11.2 per cent to an average of US$800 per square foot in the January-to-June period, compared to prices at the end of December, Savills said. The city is likely to keep its crown for the rest of the year, it added. On an annual basis, however, the... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3228221/dubais-luxury-home-prices-rise-most-hong-kong-still-most-expensive-prime-residential-market-savills?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3228221/dubais-luxury-home-prices-rise-most-hong-kong-still-most-expensive-prime-residential-market-savills?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Jul 2023 09:30:10 +0000 The head of the European Parliament on Thursday vowed “a wide-ranging reform package” to clean up the legislature amid a corruption scandal linked to World Cup host Qatar. The parliament’s speaker, Roberta Metsola, said the plan “will include a strengthening of the parliament’s whistle-blower protection systems, a ban on all unofficial friendship groups, a review of the policing of our code of conduct rules, and a complete and in-depth look at how we interact with third countries”. She said she... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3203476/eu-parliament-chief-vows-big-reforms-amid-corruption-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3203476/eu-parliament-chief-vows-big-reforms-amid-corruption-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Dec 2022 13:33:52 +0000 The strength of the US dollar has been palpable this year, with the currency rallying about 20 per cent, retesting 20-year highs. The pain felt across G10 nations has been most acute in Japan and the UK, with the yen and pound some 20 per cent weaker, while the euro is down 15 per cent. Other Asian currencies have weakened but remained largely resilient compared to the G10 currencies, apart from those commodity-linked ones such as the Canadian and Australian dollar, and Swiss franc. Widely... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3194157/risk-asian-currency-crisis-remains-low-even-amid-us-dollar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3194157/risk-asian-currency-crisis-remains-low-even-amid-us-dollar?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Sep 2022 03:30:10 +0000 Growth in home prices in the United Kingdom has trailed peers in the European Union (EU), but has provided Hongkongers buying property in London and other British cities more value for their money. According to a study published by Knight Frank recently, since June 23, 2016 – when 52 per cent of British voters shocked the world by deciding that London should go it alone – house prices across EU member states have risen by 39.3 per cent on average, with almost half the rate of growth occurring in... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3182825/boost-hong-kong-buyers-uk-home-prices-have-trailed-those-eu-states-six?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3182825/boost-hong-kong-buyers-uk-home-prices-have-trailed-those-eu-states-six?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jun 2022 11:34:04 +0000 Within moments of touching down at the Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport in Funchal, you know you’ve arrived on an island that is infatuated with its biggest ever star. From museums and statues to besotted locals, the island of Madeira is practically a shrine to the football icon. Here’s why a trip to Madeira should be on the bucket list of every diehard Ronaldo fan … 1. Ronaldo is worshipped like a demigod on his home island – and is everywhere you look Ronaldo was born in the São Pedro... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3160944/why-you-should-visit-cristiano-ronaldos-hometown-madeira?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3160944/why-you-should-visit-cristiano-ronaldos-hometown-madeira?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Dec 2021 19:00:35 +0000 Investors from Hong Kong and mainland China seeking permanent residency in Portugal may soon have to consider buying commercial property there rather than a residence, under new rules set to take effect in the new year. Starting from January, house purchases in the capital city of Lisbon as well as Porto and parts of the Algarve region will no longer qualify under the fast-track residency programme, a move intended to cool down home prices and encourage investment in other Portuguese... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3160839/portugals-revamped-golden-visa-scheme-may-mean-higher-cash-requirements?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3160839/portugals-revamped-golden-visa-scheme-may-mean-higher-cash-requirements?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Dec 2021 02:00:30 +0000 China has made good progress in encouraging the renminbi’s use as a fully fledged global reserve currency, but there is still a long way to go. At the moment, the renminbi’s share of world reserve holdings stands at 2.25 per cent, compared with 59 per cent for the US dollar and 21 per cent for the euro, according to the International Monetary Fund’s Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves report. As global acceptance of the renminbi as a reserve currency spreads, which major... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3130077/why-euro-has-more-fear-yuans-rise-us-dollar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3130077/why-euro-has-more-fear-yuans-rise-us-dollar?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Apr 2021 19:30:18 +0000