Euro Saw Little Change After the Christmas Holiday

The euro traded at $1.3181 on Wednesday morning. The common currency saw little change after markets were closed on Tuesday for the holidays. The eurozone financial crisis seems to have settled since Greece's bailout was restructured and accepted by the region's lawmakers. However, the current political trouble in Italy and uncertainty in Spain have remained to remind investors that the region is far from being in the clear. In Italy, Prime Minister Mario Monti suddenly and unexpectedly resigned after his budget for 2013 passed. Monti was well respected by his European peers and his austerity measures, though poorly received by the Greek people, were praised by other more conservative governments like Germany and Finland. With his resignation on the table, many have urged Monti to run for a second term. Although he has made statements suggesting he would consider the possibility, he hasn't confirmed an interest in running. Greece has remained out of the spotlight after a long and heated debate over its bailout terms threatened to break up the eurozone. However, the

reported that Greece is set to fall short of its tax reform goals for 2012. The country has an issue with wealthy citizens cheating on their taxes and has had difficulty trying to change its tax law and collection methods. Greece will vote on a new tax bill that promises to increase budget revenue by making it more difficult to cheat on taxes and streamlining the system. The bill comes in an effort to appease international creditors who will be looking to the country for reform.