The real estate bubble, stoked by the eurozone's low interest rates, continues to take its toll.
For the eurozone as a whole, interest rates have been set pretty well.
If the Europeans really have done nothing more on fiscal policy by then--and if the eurozone still has relatively high interest rates--the conversation may be rather more awkward for them.
Draghi has proposed actions such as further bond purchases, rate cuts, and a new Long-Term Refinancing Option, which allows the ECB to lend to eurozone banks at very low interest rates.
FORBES: FOCUS: Fed Not Likely To Announce Stimulus At FOMC Meeting; Gold Might Be Pressured
Moving the motion Mr Hoban insisted that with interest rates for eurozone countries set by the European Central Bank, it was "even more important member states retain their flexibility to use other tools for financial stability".
The ECB last decided not to cut interest rates in the eurozone from 4.75%.
It was designed to prevent countries getting around strict controls on inflation that the ECB, in setting interest rates across the eurozone, was tasked to enforce.
It explains their resistance to cutting interest rates to boost the eurozone economy, because they fear it would let the inflation genie out of the bottle.
Investors are expecting the ECB to cut interest rates later to help the eurozone economy, which may already have slipped into recession.
Recently disappointing economic news in the 17-nation eurozone fueled expectations that the bank may cut interest rates further from the record low of 0.75%.
FORBES: METALS OUTLOOK: Gold Market To Focus On Central-Bank Meetings, Jobs Report, Physical Demand
But the chief of the European Central Bank shocked analysts on Thursday by saying that inflation pressures have indeed become worrisome, and the ECB could raise interest rates across the 17-nation Eurozone as soon as its next meeting in April.
FORBES: China Is The 800-Pound Inflation Gorilla Across The Globe
But since the crisis, other countries - the US, the eurozone and the UK - also have near-zero interest rates, meaning that in comparison Japanese rates are not so exceptionally attractive any more.
Which is the very problem that the euro has: for a rise in interest rates in France, Germany, some other northern eurozone nations, is indeed part of the standard prescription for what should be happening now.
Mr Fabius also insisted that the European Central Bank (ECB) has "room for manoeuvre" on monetary policy, implying that he believes the Bank could and should cut interest rates further to support the 12 economies in the eurozone.
He cited as supportive high government budget deficits around the world, continuing eurozone debt issues, still-high U.S. unemployment likely to keep interest rates low for some time yet, plus prospects for an eventual shift in sentiment toward higher inflation expectations.
FORBES: Focus: Metals Slump On Year-End Liquidation, Scaled-Back Fed Expectations After GDP
Latvia says it has met the five requirements needed to gain entry into the eurozone, which relate to levels of debt, deficit, inflation, long-term interest rates and having a stable peg to the euro.
Confidence in the eurozone economy fell in April for a second consecutive month, increasing the likelihood of a cut in interest rates later this week.
Despite confirmation of the recessionary conditions in much of the eurozone, investors piled back into stocks, possibly because the survey makes it more likely that the ECB will cut interest rates again, possibly next month, to boost growth.
应用推荐