Morning Update

US researchers at the National Centres for Environmental Prediction have identified Monday as the hottest day on earth since records began at the end of the 1800s. With the global average temperature exceeding 17.1 degrees Celsius, scientists cited the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and El Niño. Monday’s record broke the previous record of 16.92 degrees Celsius which was reached in August 2016. Major heatwaves have been seen across Spain, China, and other countries across Asia with June already marking the hottest month since records began across the world. Monday also saw Antarctica – currently in winter – breach its hottest day in the month of July, pushing 8.7 degrees Celsius. Here, as the Guardian Notes “surface air temperatures worldwide exceeded the 1.5C Paris agreement threshold in June for the first time, and stayed there for several days, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change.”

June was also the hottest month across the UK since records began with a mean temperature of 15.8 degrees Celsius, exceeding the previous record of 14.9, which was reached in 1940 and 1976. The mean temperature was also around 2.5 degrees Celsius above the usual June average. The Met Office stated that it marked the “fingerprint of climate change”.

Yesterday, the Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis committed to repay some of the country’s bailout loans ahead of schedule. With Greece’s debt being 171.30 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product in 2022, it currently has the largest level of debt relative to output across the Eurozone, though is a significant fall from the 206.3% seen during 2020 as the country grappled with lockdowns. Citing Mitsotakis’ pledge, Bloomberg stated that “the early repayment of the so-called Greek Loan Facility will mark a symbolic step for Mitsotakis as he seeks to consign to the past the years of financial turmoil which saw his country come close to losing its place in the European currency union and left it as the only euro area member with a junk rating”.

Last quarter, S&P upwardly revised their outlook for Greece from stable to positive citing structural reforms, a rise in investment and an improving fiscal stance. While S&P improved their outlook in May, they kept the country’s credit rating below investment grade at “‘BB+/B”. In an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, Mitsotakis said that he will try to recover Greece’s investment-grade sovereign credit rating, some 13-years after it was removed. S&P’s next review for Greece is on 20 October.