Jim Power

Their perception of risks have increased.

The perception has increased.

No surprises there.

And what that suggests is that there will be a further tightening of credit conditions in the second quarter.

And that is a really important one, because obviously the banking system is a key part of the economic and business model.

And if the banking system starts to slow down and starts to function less efficiently, you know, that will have serious repercussions for us.

economic activity and and in that i'm sorry the other piece was um from the consumer confidence survey was that inflation expectations have increased significantly with four percent inflation now penciled in for later this year up from the previous 2.6 so what we're seeing here in the euro area is basically uh business and consumer sentiment surveys are struggling

inflationary pressures and inflationary expectations, which is more important from a central bank perspective, are rising.

And in that context, the European Central Bank has an interest rate decision to make this Thursday.

My call will be there will be no

increase in rates or no change in rates but um the markets are basically saying there will be an increase in rates by june or in june so it's it's a strange one we've discussed it many times you know this balance between growth going to be seriously damaged in the euro area and the euro area is more vulnerable than most other areas because of its dependence on energy important energy whereas um you

The inflation side is moving in the opposite direction.

Big call for a central bank, isn't it?

Looking at political accountability, I'm kind of fascinated with Trump and what's happening there on many different levels.

But if you think about what he was saying this time last year and just before that, you know, he promised to make life cheaper for Americans and end inflation.

inflation today in the states is at the highest level in two years and is going to rise further consumer sentiment has plunged um he said he was going to bring petrol prices under two dollars a gallon uh they're currently averaging four dollars eleven cents a gallon so i

You know, everything he promised, he is not delivering on.

His approval rating has fallen to 40.1, according to Real Clear Politics.

That's the lowest mark he's got so far.

A Fox News poll showed that 7 in 10 of those surveys believed that the economy is getting worse.