This is not a good sign given their monetary arrangements with no federal fiscal authority to incur the corresponding budget deficits, public and private.
And the unlimited Fed swap lines to the ECB could now be further increasing eurozone foreign currency debt, and funding imports with fresh ‘cheap and easy’ dollar debt.
Euro-zone trade deficit swells in September
Euro-zone trade deficit swells in September (AP) – The euro-zone swung to a trade deficit of 5.6 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in September from a 2.9 billion euro surplus last year. Imports surged 16 %in September from a year ago. Exports grew just 9 percent. The euro-zone trade deficit for the year to date — from January to August — now stands at 29.6 billion euros ($37.52 billion). Euro exports to the United States dropped 5 %from January to August from a year ago, Eurostat said. And exports to the currency area’s biggest customer, Britain, did not grow at all for the first eight months of the year. Imports from Russia climbed by a quarter over the same timeframe. Eurostat revised down its August trade figures, saying total euro-zone exports dropped 3 %during the month from a year ago. It originally reported a first estimate of 2 percent. Imports in August also grew less than expected — at 6 %instead of 7 percent.
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