Mario Draghi’s grilling by European lawmakers on Monday is the highlight of a critical few days for the European Central Bank as the president considers whether more stimulus is needed to overcome the euro-area slowdown.
Less than three weeks before their final meeting of the year, ECB officials are working on economic projections that will help determine whether their €2.6 trillion (Dh10.8tn) bond-buying programme should be capped as planned. The latest signs -- including a German contraction, a budget standoff in Italy, and heightened global trade tensions -- are testing their conviction that the expansion is intact.
Investors are on the lookout for any sign that bond purchases will be extended or alternative measures such as more long-term loans to banks are on the agenda.
Mr Draghi will be in Brussels a day after the city hosts a summit to sign off on a Brexit deal for the UK’s divorce from the European Union. That would clear at least one of the uncertainties clouding the fragile economic outlook.
In the hours before he’s quizzed by lawmakers, Germany’s Ifo index of business confidence should give an insight into how trade tensions are affecting the region’s biggest economy. Data on Friday showed the weakest private-sector growth in almost four years. Mr Draghi’s top lieutenants are also scheduled to speak: Peter Praet in Frankfurt and Benoit Coeure in Vienna.
Italy -- the key source of political and market tension within the euro area as it fights with the EU over its budget -- reports confidence data on Tuesday. A bigger test comes on Thursday when it holds a bond auction, a week after a sale drew unexpectedly weak demand from retail investors.
The ECB will publish its twice-yearly Financial Stability Review the same day, and Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau will speak in Rome.
The week rounds off with the latest reading of euro-zone inflation, the final one before the policy decision.
The ECB’s Governing Council will hold a non-monetary policy meeting on December 5 -- though it would surprise no one if monetary matters arose. Italian purchasing managers indexes will be published the same day, and Mr Draghi will open a colloquium on banking.
Central bankers then go into a one-week quiet period, but important data will keep coming in. Germany reports factory orders and industrial output, and the euro zone gets a breakdown of third-quarter gross domestic product.
German investor sentiment and euro-area industrial output will be the last important figures before the Governing Council publishes its decision at 1:45 p.m. Frankfurt time on December 13.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Other IPL batting records
Most sixes: 292 – Chris Gayle
Most fours: 491 – Gautam Gambhir
Highest individual score: 175 not out – Chris Gayle (for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013)
Highest strike-rate: 177.29 – Andre Russell
Highest strike-rate in an innings: 422.22 – Chris Morris (for Delhi Daredevils against Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017)
Highest average: 52.16 – Vijay Shankar
Most centuries: 6 – Chris Gayle
Most fifties: 36 – Gautam Gambhir
Fastest hundred (balls faced): 30 – Chris Gayle (for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013)
Fastest fifty (balls faced): 14 – Lokesh Rahul (for Kings XI Punjab against Delhi Daredevils in 2018)
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
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