Capital flight in the Eurozone

In a fascinating research note*, Matt King of Citigroup calculates the outflows of capital from various euro zone nations, in particular Italy and Spain. He concludes that Italy saw 160 billion euros exit in 2011, while Spain lost 100 billion euros, in a mixture of bank withdrawals and sales of government and corporate bonds. He thinks a further 200 billion euros could follow.

…Foreign bank deposits have fallen 64% in Greece, 55% in Ireland and 37% in Portugal; in Italy, the fall is 34% and Spain 13%. Foreign government bond holdings have dropped 56% in Greece, 18% in Ireland and 25% in Portugal; in Italy the fall is 12% and Spain 18%. So if Italy and Spain were to move to the average for the other three, a further 200 billion euros would flow out.

A final thought. This is another example of the nationalisation of markets, in which official flows are steadily replacing private sector capital. It is a trend that seems unstoppable.

Here is a bit more.

Comments

Comments for this post are closed