The main headline over the weekend were the violent protests in France, followed by French President Emmanuel Macron’s speech on Monday – which caused widespread reaction over their own budget. President Macron vowed to increase the minimum wage by 7% in 2019, which would be subsidized by the French Government. This alongside a recent U-turn in fuel taxes after the violent protests by the ‘gilets jaune’ mean that France could well be in the eye of the European Commission over their own budget deficit before long.

The spotlight is now on Italy again as Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte meets European Commissioner Jean Claude Juncker later today as they try to negotiate a compromise on the proposed budget – reports so far have alluded to the EU offering Italy an additional 6 months to revise its proposal.

If this does occur, it is likely that the euro will become less risk based and could start to regain some strength in the short term however the long term problem remains and could be a thorn in the side of the euro in the months to come as divisions between Conte, Tria, Salvini and Di Maio start to emerge, with local newspapers also divided. Some are saying a deal has nearly been reached whilst others saying the budget stance have hardened.  

Exchange rates on this page are interbank rates and indicate where the market is trading to show the performance of a currency pair. They are not indicative of the rates which we offer. The information on this web site is provided free of charge for information purposes only. It does not constitute advice to any person on any matter. Foreign Currency Direct plc. ("FCD") makes every reasonable effort to ensure that this information is accurate and complete but assumes no responsibility for and gives no warranty with regard to the same.