
ECB close to being done with rate cuts, Kazimir says
FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank is nearly done with interest rate cuts and should watch data through the summer months to determine whether a little more policy fine-tuning may be needed, Slovak policymaker Peter Kazimir said on Monday.
The ECB cut rates for the eighth time last Thursday and signalled that it may now pause after it fastest policy easing cycle since the 2008/2009 global financial crisis.
The ECB's deposit rate now stands at 2% and investors price in just one more cut, to 1.75%, towards the end of the year
"As things stand now, I think we're nearly done with, if not already at the end of, the easing cycle," Kazimir said in an opinion piece.
While economic growth could turn out weaker than expected, Kazimir also said it would be a mistake to ignore risks that inflation, the ECB's primary focus, could turn out higher.
"Incoming data throughout the summer will provide a clearer picture and guide our decisions on whether further fine-tuning is needed," Kazimir added.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Khaleej Times
3 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Pakistan economy to grow 2.7% in FY25, economic survey shows
Pakistan's economy is likely to expand 2.7% in the fiscal year ending June 2025 after growing 2.5% during the previous year, the government's economic survey showed on Monday, a day before the country's federal budget is unveiled. The government initially targeted 3.6% GDP growth, but lowered it to 2.7% last month. The IMF expects real GDP to grow by 2.6% in FY25 and for the economy to grow 3.6% in FY26. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government aims for 4.2% GDP growth next year, the country's planning minister said last week, amid competing priorities, including stimulating investment, maintaining a primary surplus, and managing defence expenditure amid heightened tensions with India. Pakistan's central bank, in a bid to encourage growth, cut its policy rate by more than 1,000 basis points in the current fiscal year. Its latest cut last month brought the key rate to 11%, resuming an easing cycle that had brought rates down from 22% after a brief pause in March. Pakistan had a current account surplus of $1.9 billion in the July to April period of the current fiscal year compared to a deficit of $200 million in the same period last year, the survey showed. 'Pakistan's economy has been globally acknowledged for achieving macroeconomic stabilisation in the outgoing fiscal year,' Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in his foreword to the survey. 'Pakistan is consistently advancing on an upward trajectory, built upon investment friendly reforms, enhanced domestic savings, and increased foreign direct investment, with GDP growth projected at 5.7 percent over the medium term,' he said. The economic survey, a key pre-budget document, comes at a time when Pakistan's economy is stabilising but remains fragile as the country navigates reforms under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund programme. Pakistan's federal budget for the next fiscal year starting July will be released on Tuesday. The government's total revenue for the first three quarters of the current year stood at 13.37 trillion rupees, the survey showed. Increasing revenue to trim the fiscal deficit, a key demand of the IMF programme, is considered challenging for Islamabad. Other key performance indicators mentioned in the economic survey include fiscal deficit at 2.6% of GDP during the first three quarters of the fiscal year.


Zawya
4 hours ago
- Zawya
EU ban on Air Tanzania flights could crush London plan
The European Union's decision to ban all Tanzania-registered aircraft from operating in its airspace has raised concerns about the effectiveness of the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) and cast a shadow over the country's aviation and tourism sectors. Announced on June 3 in the EU's latest update to its Aviation Safety List, the ban cites 'serious deficiencies in national aviation oversight' as the reason for blacklisting all Tanzanian carriers. Suriname was also included on the revised list. While no Tanzanian airline currently operates flights to Europe, the implications of the ban are far-reaching, especially for Air Tanzania's plans to expand its long-haul network. Air Tanzania's dream of launching direct flights between Dar es Salaam and London's Gatwick Airport could have been dashed by the stance taken by the European bloc. The Tanzanian flag carrier had long planned the Gatwick route as part of its broader ambition to expand its long-haul network from Dar es Salaam, which includes routes to Guangzhou, China, and Mumbai, India. The ban, issued by the European Commission's directorate-general for mobility and transport, also applies to the United Kingdom — despite its exit from the EU — as the UK continues to honour aviation safety advisories from Brussels.'Passenger safety remains our top priority. Following a detailed technical assessment, the European Commission has added all air carriers certified in Suriname and Tanzania to the EU Air Safety List due to serious deficiencies in national aviation oversight,' said Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the EU Commissioner for Transport.'We urge both countries to address these issues promptly. The Commission stands ready to support their efforts toward full compliance with international safety standards.'The Commission did not specify the exact deficiencies found in the TCAA's oversight or cite any particular safety violations by the affected airlines. While none of the banned Tanzanian airlines currently operate flights to the EU or the UK, the universal ban sets back any plans to enter the market. Air Tanzania, which once flew to Frankfurt, Rome, and Athens, had hoped to re-enter the European market as part of its turnaround strategy. According to its in-flight publication, Twiga Magazine, ATCL had planned to launch direct flights to Gatwick—London's second busiest airport—as early as this year. The airline announced that it had secured three weekly landing slots at Gatwick in June 2024, with plans to operate two flights a week from Dar es Salaam and one from Kilimanjaro. The EU ban now slams the brakes on these plans, casting doubt on Air Tanzania Company Ltd's long-term recovery strategy, which relies heavily on expanding into long-haul and intercontinental markets. The regional market, meanwhile, remains highly competitive, with dominant players such as Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways crowding out smaller carriers. The London route has long been considered a lucrative one. Ethiopian, KQ, Uganda Airlines, and RwandAir all operate direct flights to the UK capital. Air Tanzania joins a list of African national carriers currently banned from the EU: Air Zimbabwe, Congo Airways (DRC), Eritrean Airlines, Air Libya, and Sudan Airways. While the EU updates its Air Safety List regularly, it remains unclear when Tanzanian carriers might be removed, or how long the restrictions will last. Industry analysts say the ban reflects a broader failure in aviation oversight.'It raises questions about TCAA's capacity to enforce safety standards and uphold international regulatory expectations,' one expert observed. The EU's action follows a partial ban imposed in December 2023 that targeted Air Tanzania specifically. At the time, officials from the European Commission and aviation experts were in Tanzania to assist both the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority and Air Tanzania in closing identified safety gaps. Those efforts now appear to have fallen short. Concerns raised by the EU reportedly included the operation of aircraft beyond mandated maintenance intervals, staffing shortages in key technical departments, and weaknesses in the regulator's independence. For Air Tanzania, the impact is particularly significant. The national carrier operates three Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners—long-haul aircraft whose potential remains underutilised due to limited access to international markets. The airline has been working toward securing a Third Country Operator (TCO) certification, a prerequisite for launching flights to London Gatwick. Although the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU, the UK Civil Aviation Authority typically aligns with EU safety assessments in its own decisions.'If Air Tanzania cannot access European destinations, it weakens its business case for operating wide-body aircraft, which are capital-intensive assets,' the analyst added. 'This affects not only revenue projections but also the airline's ability to participate fully in international partnerships and interline agreements.'From an operational safety standpoint, Air Tanzania remains a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and holds a current IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) certification — widely regarded as the industry's gold standard. The EU ban may therefore reflect shortcomings more on the regulator's side than the airlines. Still, the road to reinstatement could be long. Without demonstrable progress in meeting international standards, Tanzania risks further isolation from global aviation networks — affecting not only its flag carrier but the broader ecosystem of tourism, trade, and investment that depends on strong and credible air connectivity. © Copyright 2022 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (


Zawya
5 hours ago
- Zawya
ECB close to being done with rate cuts, Kazimir says
FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank is nearly done with interest rate cuts and should watch data through the summer months to determine whether a little more policy fine-tuning may be needed, Slovak policymaker Peter Kazimir said on Monday. The ECB cut rates for the eighth time last Thursday and signalled that it may now pause after it fastest policy easing cycle since the 2008/2009 global financial crisis. The ECB's deposit rate now stands at 2% and investors price in just one more cut, to 1.75%, towards the end of the year "As things stand now, I think we're nearly done with, if not already at the end of, the easing cycle," Kazimir said in an opinion piece. While economic growth could turn out weaker than expected, Kazimir also said it would be a mistake to ignore risks that inflation, the ECB's primary focus, could turn out higher. "Incoming data throughout the summer will provide a clearer picture and guide our decisions on whether further fine-tuning is needed," Kazimir added.