The start of 2015 saw a modest growth acceleration in the eurozone manufacturing sector. The final seasonally adjusted Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers' index) posted in line with the earlier flash estimate of 51.0 and slightly above December’s level of 50.6.

Greece in recent days has been giving mixed signals on debt talks with Bloomberg News reporting that Alexis Tsipras, prime minister, called Mario Draghi, ECB president, late Friday following a tetchy meeting in Athens between Yanis Varoufakis, finance minister, and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Eurogroup head and Dutch finance minister.

Eurozone annual inflation is expected to be -0.6% in January 2015, down from -0.2% in December 20143 , according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union. Meanwhile the Eurozone (EA18) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.4% in December 2014, down from 11.5% in November 20144 , and from 11.8% in December 2013. This is the lowest rate recorded in the Eurozone since August 2012.

When Agnieszka Gagala took out a Swiss franc mortgage in Poland in 2009, her debt amounted to 260,000 zloty (CHF64,000). After the Swiss National Bank (SNB) abandoned its defence of the franc, the exchange rates went into overdrive, leaving Gagala with 500,000 zloty to pay back.

Greece has had a pathetically poor export performance for decades and in contrast with countries such as Spain and Portugal during the crisis, the exporting sectors failed to soften the austerity measures while some of the bailout troika's demands made the situation worse. The economy is the most closed in the European Union making Greece Europe's worst exporter.

Deutsche Welle, the German broadcaster, says that based on reports by the Reuters and AFP news agencies, the German government forecasts GDP growth in 2015 at 1.5%, up from an earlier estimate of just 1.3%.

Growth of business activity in the Eurozone economy accelerated to its fastest for five months in January. The Markit Eurozone PMI (purchasing managers' index) Composite Output Index rose from 51.4 in December to 52.2, according to the ‘flash’ estimate, which is based on around 85% of total survey replies.

The euro's effective exchange rate is down 10% in the past six months and while some fear that the new quantitative easing (QE) program that was announced by Mario Draghi, ECB president, on Thursday could provoke a currency war, the improved exchange rate will not spur an exports boom but along with other short-term benefits, it will help.

Spain added almost 434,000 jobs in 2014 and at the end of December almost a quarter of employees had temporary status with few rights and low pay.

The governing council of the European Central Bank meeting in Frankfurt today agreed to launch a quantitative easing (QE) sovereign bond-buying program amounting to €60bn each month - asset-backed securities and covered bonds are also included.

The European Central Bank has left its key rates unchanged ahead of its expected announcement of a QE (quantities easing) bond-buying program.

The European Central Bank has left its key rates unchanged ahead of its expected announcement of a QE (quantities easing) bond-buying program.

The governing council of the European Central Bank meeting in Frankfurt today is expected to agree to launch a quantitative easing (QE) sovereign bond-buying program that is commonly called "money printing" - in contrast with sovereign bond purchases in the aftermath of the Greek crisis, there will be "no sterilisation" where equivalent amounts are withdrawn from the credit markets.

Peter Elston has warned that the looming spectre of deflation could prove disastrous for equity markets.

Germany's economy grew at 1.5% in 2014 and while this was its best performance in 3 years, it weakened after a strong start, expanding only by 0.1% in the third quarter - Destatis, the national statistics office, has yet to publish separate fourth quarter data. The economy only grew by 0.1% in 2013.

In the month of November 2014 seasonally adjusted industrial production rose by 0.2% in both the Eurozone (EA18) and the EU28, according to estimates from Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union. In October 2014 industrial production grew by 0.3% in the both zones.

Following revelations last November about Luxembourg's system of extensive corporate tax avoidance for multinational corporations, a quarter of members of the European Parliament were reported on Wednesday to have backed a proposal from the Greens to set up a special inquiry committee on tax evasion and avoidance.

Following a weak winter half in 2014/15 Germany's economy looks likely to regain its footing as 2015 progresses. However, sluggish performance at the turn of the year means growth will probably average only 1% in 2015 after 1.4% in 2014, according to Deutsche Bank economists.

Germany today reported that exports and industrial production fell in November 2014 while the UK reported a fall in industrial and construction output. The UK trade deficit narrowed due to a fall in the fuel import bill. Meanwhile France also reported a decline in industrial production.

The flash estimate on Wednesday from Eurostat, which showed that annual euro area inflation had fallen by 0.2% in December 2014, makes a European Central Bank announcement of a quantitative easing (QE)/ sovereign bond buying program a near certainty on January 22 when the governing council will hold a policy meeting. However, deflationary trends exist also in many parts of the world.

The Eurozone (EA18) seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 11.5% in November 2014, stable compared with October 2014, but down from 11.9% in November 2013. The EU28 unemployment rate was 10.0% in November 2014, down from 10.1% in October 2014 and from 10.7% in November 2013. Austria's rate was lowest at 4.9%.

The Eurozone annual inflation rate fell December 2014 and the risk of deflation entered the red zone.

The Eurozone service sector remained on a soft track at the end of 2014. Although growth of business activity and new orders was recorded, with trends in both improving on those signalled in November, rates of expansion were only modest in both cases. A further drop in backlogs of work and muted business confidence† also highlighted the underlying subdued conditions in the sector.

The euro fell to a nine-year low against the US dollar on Monday, as investors expect an announcement on January 22 by the European Central Bank that it will begin buying sovereign bonds while controversy raged in Germany about a report that the government was preparing to allow Greece to abandon the single currency.

The Eurozone manufacturing sector ended 2014 on a subdued note, as rates of growth for output, new orders and employment all continued to track close to stagnation. At 50.6 in December, the final seasonally adjusted Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (purchasing manager' index) was up slightly from November’s low of 50.1, but edged down from the flash estimate of 50.8.

Investor sentiment in Germany rose sharply in December, spiking 23.4 points to 34.9 in December, according to an investor confidence index. It is the highest level since May 2014.

Eurozone business activity grew at a slightly faster rate in December, but the pace of expansion was still one of the weakest seen over the past year. The Markit Eurozone PMI (purchasing managers' index) rose from November’s 16-month low of 51.1 to 51.7 in December, signalling a modest upturn in the rate of growth. However, the reading was the second-lowest seen over the past year and failed to prevent the average reading for the fourth quarter from falling to the lowest since the third quarter of 2013.

On Thursday, the ECB is going to conduct the second of its targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs) to unlock bank lending in general and to ease the access-to-finance problems of SMEs in particular. To what extent TLTROs will be able to revitalise bank lending to SMEs may depend mainly on i) banks’ demand for TLTROs, ii) their intended use of the funds and iii) the importance of SME lending for banks’ business as a whole.

The Ifo Institute expects the German economy to gain impetus in 2015 and it forecasts economic output to increase by 1.5% in the year.

Actual consumption per capita (AIC) data issued Thursday by Eurostat, the EU statistics office, shows Germany 22% above the average and Ireland, Cyprus and Spain 6 to 10% below - AIC is a proxy for standard of living.

The financial crisis has exacted a severe toll on society in the Eurozone. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the headline-generating figures for youth unemployment, which peaked at over 50% in some countries in September 2014. Even today only 4 out of 10 workers (excluding numbers in education) between the ages of 15 and 24 in the most vulnerable Eurozone countries are employed. And if the Eurozone’s recovery slows, these numbers could start to climb again. However, in several countries, the problem has predated the current crisis.

German imports fell sharply in October reflecting weak economic conditions in the Eurozone according to data issued Tuesday - declining oil prices were also a factor. However, unadjusted exports hit a new monthly record high.

German employment rose over 43m in November 2014 for the very first time and the gain in jobs was in full-time employment with a fall in what are called 'atypical' types of employment as shown in the first chart above. In contrast the quality of the jobs created in the UK in particular and lesser so in Ireland, is lower.

Mario Draghi, European Central Bank president, said Thursday that the governing council will decide early in January whether to launch measures such as sovereign bond-buying which is called quantitative easing (QE) while commenting that the fall in oil prices may make raising inflation from its November annual rate of 0.3% difficult to achieve. He also announced cuts in forecasts.

At meetings of the policy committees of the European Central Bank and Bank of England today in London and Frankfurt, benchmark interest rates were kept at historic lows.

The governing council of the European Central Bank meets Thursday in Frankfurt and the big focus is on whether recent hints by ECB officials on plans to soon begin a program of purchasing large amounts of sovereign bonds in the market known as quantitative easing (QE) will be confirmed, to boost economic prospects in the single currency area.

Eurozone retail sales volume rose in October but remain at the level in 2004, according to data Wednesday from Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union.

German manufacturing wages are the highest of the big industrial nations contrary to the common argument that it has stolen an export advantage on its fellow member countries of the euro area, through low wages.

Germany, France and Italy have called on the European Commission to accelerate and expand reforms on special tax deals for multinational companies, saying the EU should adopt rules by the end of next year.

The slowdown in the Eurozone manufacturing sector continued into November, according to the latest PMI surveys from Markit. At 50.1, the final seasonally adjusted Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers' index) was only slightly above the no-change level of 50.0 and below its earlier flash estimate of 50.4. Germany, France and Italy contracted in the month.