FORMER BARROSO ADVISOR SAYS ECB MUST INTERVENE IN EURO ZONE CRISIS - The euro zone debt crisis rumbles towards the end of another crisis week - a week which saw a poor result for a debt auction for Germany which failed to raise all the money it wanted at the rate Berlin wanted to pay for it. A meeting between the leaders of Germany, France and Italy failed to encourage the markets and the euro fell to a seven year low against the dollar in over night trade.
Reinhilde Veugelers is a former economic adviser to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso and is currently Professor of Economics at the University of Leuven in Belgium. Professor Veugelers says yesterday's meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is a clear signal that the euro will be rescued come what may, but the question remains about how exactly this will be achieved. She says the euro zone leaders will have to use all the instruments available to them and the ECB will have to be part of this package. She maintains that the ECB is the only institution with the power to solve the crisis in the short space of time that is needed.
The Professor says the ECB should be allowed intervene in the markets without any constraints, but any such action has to be complimented with strong commitment to fiscal discipline from euro zone member states. She says that Europe's politicians have to be trusted, and when they are pushed enough by the markets they do come up with solutions. She says the euro has to survive, but adds that short-term fire fighting measures will have to be replaced with a proper strategy for the long term.
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MORNING BRIEFS - The Irish Film Board, Bord Scannan na hEireann, says it has made funding decisions in the three months to the end of October which should generate €38m worth of film, television and animation production activity. The board gives loan funding to help get productions off the ground. Today's announcement includes confirmation of finance towards the costs of making Neil Jordan's latest film with Saoirse Ronan - a vampire film to be called Byzantium - and also support for the first ever co-production between Ireland and Singapore.
*** Australia today approved brewer SABMiller's Aus$9.9 billion takeover of Foster's, but with strict conditions that will see key operations remain in the country. Australia's Treasurer Wayne Swan said the deal was in the national interest. "The government welcomes foreign investment in Australia and continues to ensure that investments are consistent with Australia's national interest," he said. Given Foster's iconic status in Australia, he set certain conditions on the sale, which will put the brand in foreign hands for the first time in its 150-year history.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.3321 US cents and 86.11 pence sterling.
