Currency Note Euro

Euro struggles under Greece’s debt burden

By Ricky Bean May 12th, 2015

The week started poorly for the euro as it began to weaken against the other major currencies on Monday as concerns over Greece’s future in the Eurozone piled on the pressure ahead of talks between the European finance ministers and Athens on Monday afternoon. Greece is due to repay approximately €750 million to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today, and it says it will, but Greece is running out of cash and time is short to reach an agreement.

The single currency made over a percent loss against sterling and made a marginal loss against the US dollar. With no data out to support the euro it was always looking likely to have a poor day, particularly against sterling, following the surprising Conservative majority general election win. Other than Greece’s IMF payment deadline, we have wholesale price index data from Germany out today. This is by no means a major data release, so the real focus will be on Athens and how likely a default on their debt truly is.