European Commission: The Economic Situation in Europe Has Improved

The economic situation of the European Union has improved further this month, June, with the economic sentiment indicator reaching its highest level since 2007. According to Reuters, citing the European Commission, the economic sentiment indicator for the Eurozone reached 111.1 in June, the highest figure since August 2007, while this indicator was 109.2 in the previous month. It was previously predicted that the economic sentiment indicator would reach 109.5 this month. This indicator reflects the outlook of a group of experts regarding the future of the market, business environment, and other factors. Meanwhile, the business confidence index (the willingness of producers to take risks) also rose from 0.9 in May to 1.15 in June, the highest since April 2011. The inflation expectations index among consumers also improved from -3.3 in May to -1.3, indicating an improvement in the situation. Almost all economic indicators in the Eurozone last month showed signs of improvement. In another report, Reuters wrote about the banking and monetary situation in the European Union: central banks in Western countries have announced that the era of cheap money (low-interest rates) is coming to an end; a factor that has led to an increase in the value of the euro compared to a year ago. Following the central banks' announcements, the yields on bonds and the value of international company stocks also increased. According to this report, European stock markets rose between 0.25% and 0.8% on Thursday. Meanwhile, Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, stated that interest rates should be increased as the UK economy approaches full capacity. The value of the British pound also rose with these remarks, reaching 1.3 US dollars. Reuters noted that the value of the US dollar has also reached its lowest level since October of last year - before Donald Trump was elected as the new President of the United States.