Capital flight from one Eurozone country to another, continues to rise. That capital flight is a measure of trust of of a nation’s banks.
Capital flight is ongoing in Spain, Italy, Greece, France, and Portugal in that order. The recipient countries are Germany, Luxembourg, Finland, and the Netherlands in that order.
Some charts and tables will help provide a clear picture.
Data for the following charts and tables is from ECB Target Balances, a measure of capital flight. Neither the ECB nor Eurozone officials likes to discuss these numbers for obvious reasons.
The ECB-generated chart below shows Target2 changes over time. However, tracking 20 lines by colors is more than a bit problematic.
Here is the ECB’s chart with my annotations in blue. My charts and tables follow.
Target2 Balances Over Time
February Target2 Balances
The above chart shows where the money is coming and going, and by how much.
Cyprus actually has the 5th largest positive balance (thanks to capital controls and forced bail-ins). A few other countries have positive balances, and there are other countries with smaller negatives.
Monthly Changes in Billions of Euros
Aggregate Changes
