Problems In The South Holding The Euro Back

The euro traded steadily on Monday morning as the Federal Reserve's tapering schedule and the threat of military action in Syria kept investors on edge. The euro was trading at $1.3175 at 6:45 GMT after last week's string of positive data helped boost the currency. This week, data from the 17 nation bloc may not be as promising.

reported that the eurozone's July industrial output data is likely to disappoint this week. After last week's economic indicators showed better than expected progress, poor data this week could serve as a reminder that the region has quite a long way to go, especially in the south. Southern debtor nations continue to face harsh austerity policies as their governments attempt to lower their debt to a manageable level. In Greece, another loan is on the horizon as the country attempts to pull itself out of recession. Data last week showed the nation's economy shrank 3.8 percent, and is forecast to contract 4.2 percent for 2013 overall. In order to meet the terms of its loan from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and EU, Greece must make massive cuts to the public sector which in turn will drive up the already sky high unemployment rate. In Italy, political turmoil could overshadow economic peril as the nation's senate committee prepares to meet on Monday to decide the fate of Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi was found guilty of tax evasion and his sentence includes a ban from holding public office. Now the senate committee will decide whether the ban will be enacted immediately, or if Berlusconi will be allowed to finish his current term before the ban takes effect.