• Greece's coalition leaders say they have accepted the terms of the country's second rescue package, ending days of deadlock. Having failed to agree €300m of pension cuts last night, last-ditch talks with international lenders have delivered 'success' – according to prime minister Lucas Papademos....• But doubts remain over whether it will be enough to satisfy the rest of Europe. Eurozone finance ministers are meeting now in Brussels, but are not expected to reach a decision tonight. Germany and Ireland have both suggested that the deal agreed in Greece may not go far enough.....
• The agreement has sparked anger in Greece. Unions have called a two-day strike, beginning on Friday. A government minister has resigned, along with a senior member of the New Democracy party.
• The European Central Bank hinted that it could share any profits on its Greek bonds with the rest of the eurozone. However Mario Draghi ruled out taking part in the debt restructuring programme. For those that do not keep an eye on what is actually going on you should get ready for the ride we are about to go on together (well the 99%). Greece is going to default. Fact. The LTRO that the ECB did in January saw european banks borrow 0.5 Trillion euros at 1% and then put it straight back into the ECB at 0.25% because they do not want to lend it to other banks because they are all insovent. The ECB is going to do another LTRO soon that will be closer to 1Trillion euros!! and the reason for all this that Greece is defaulting in March and they believe that as long as they throw money at the banks before the credit event that all will be fine....I thought they'd spend 3-4 hours in the room, eating biscuits and shooting the shit, so they could come out, looking like they'd been fighting hard for the people. ... After all, how could they negotiate when the other side wasn't present? But, no, I was wrong, they have turned down the deal. Now we need to see if the Troika will budge. If not, then the politicians have to either cave, or turn down the money. » Ben Bernanke warned that America's labour market was still a "long way" from recovery, despite the unemployment rate falling to 8.3% in January, the lowest for three years. Stockmarkets had surged in response to the employment data, with the Dow Jones index reaching its highest mark since May 2008. But the Fed's chairman reminded Congress that the official figure "understates the weakness" of the labour market as it does not count people who have given up looking for work or can find only part-time employment. See article» » The trading of shares in Alibaba was suspended amid rumours that the Chinese e-commerce firm is to buy back the 40% stake held in it by Yahoo! It is thought that Alibaba has obtained loans from a syndicate of banks to buy back some or all of that stake, which could be worth $13 billion. Meanwhile, Yahoo! took more steps to restore investor confidence, as Roy Bostock announced he was stepping down as chairman. ? » China barred its airlines from taking part in Europe's emissions-trading scheme (ETS), hardening its opposition to an attempt to get carriers to pay for carbon emissions on flights into and out of the EU. Russia, America and India are also opposed to their airlines' inclusion in the ETS. See article» » Air France was forced to cancel about half its long-haul flights because of a four-day strike by pilots and crew, who walked out in protest against government plans to require them to give at least 48 hours' advance notice of strike action.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble warns ahead of a eurozone meeting in Brussels that spending cuts agreed by the Greek coalition leaders do not appear to fulfill bail-out conditions. Germany's finance minister says that the Greek deal on spending cuts, approved by coalition leaders yesterday, doesn't appear to fulfill bail-out conditions. "German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble warns ahead of a eurozone meeting in Brussels that spending cuts agreed by the Greek coalition leaders do not appear to fulfill bail-out conditions." The fuse on violent Greek revolution has already been lit, and Schauble wants more. ....This man is an imbecile !! So, first we're told by Juncker that the meeting won't produce a decision tonight, and now we hear that it's unlikely to be positive even when it does come... As the eurozone finance ministers settle down for what promises to be a very, very long meeting, it's worth stepping back a bit and looking at where we are: ...• Greek leaders struck a deal yesterday, after months of wrangling, to cut the monthly minimum wage by 22pc to €586, lay-off 15,000 civil servants and put an end to dozens of job guarantee provisions. ...• It's also close to a debt-relief deal with private investors which will see them exchange their €206bn in Greek bonds for €30bn in cash, plus €70bn in new (less lucrative) bonds. ...• These measures are all designed to put Greece's finances in order and convince Europe to release €130bn in bail-out cash. In fact, it's all a bit tangled because the €30bn in cash offered to private investors actually comes from that bail-out money... • Tonight's meeting is about approving those measures before they're passed to the Greek parliament for official ratification. But we hear from Schäuble that they may not cut deep enough... We also hear that a decision is not expected tonight...
9 comments:
The facts are these. The Greeks have taken monies offered to them by someone else and promised to repay that money according to an agreement. The Greeks have the proceeded to piss it up the wall on a basket case unreformed public sector. The unions have fed like the parasites they are on the carcass of the Greek public sector and now they're turning around and playing chicken with their own creditors.
This country as no shame, no dignity and a huge sense of entitlement fostered by a culture that suggests they are entitled to live in a certain way ie a cradle to grave existence in the finest traditions of socialist collectivism or as I say call it , collective delusion
The bill as arrived for their excessive consumption and state excess and the Greeks don't want to honour their obligations unlike the Irish who are a proud people and will always their debts.
Solution. The EU/ECB should recapitalise its banks, tell Greece to fuck themselves and let them sink beneath the waves or they can sat around all day discussing politics and Aristotlean philosophy..
They think they are entitled to a certain standard of living. They're entitled to nothing. Pure Western arrogance
Trade and commerce is the only to prosperity. State spending may create a veneer of wealth but its a monetary mirage nothing more.
I go to Greece regularly and will continue to go.
To all my hard-working Greek friends, I hope things get better for you. You do not deserve this.
Greece is the cork keeping the euro debt genie in the bottle and preventing contagion. The eurozone is shafting Greece at least as much to protect itself. France for example has a years gdp owed to it from Italy. Fat chance of that happening if Greece falls.
I'm sure Greece has compelling reasons why it is in debt. So do a lot of countries, ourselves included.
Let him without sin...
"Just because Greek leaders have agreed on targets does not mean that they will or indeed can be delivered," said Sony Kapoor of Re-Define, an economics thinktank in Brussels. "We have just reached a temporary truce. The war will continue to be fought for some time to come."
European commission sources said a signed memorandum committing the Greek government to a further €3.3bn in savings – which still has to go through parliament in Athens this weekend – had to be delivered within five days to meet the tight deadlines for avoiding default.
In return for the pledges, Greece will get the €130bn, on top of the €110bn decided nearly two years ago. Greece's private creditors will take up to 70% losses on their loans to Greece through a debt-swap accord that would halve Athens's private sector borrowings to €100bn. Negotiations resumed in Paris on Thursday on the "haircuts" for Greece's private lenders.
The pan-European regulator, the European Banking Authority, admitted on Thursday that it had yet to complete a detailed analysis of the plans submitted by the European banks that were found to need to raise €115bn in last year's stress tests. However, they will not be subjected to new stress tests in 2012 while they cover the already identified shortfalls
The EU is either committing economic genocide on the Greeks or trying to push them out of the EU (or maybe both). 48% youth unemployment is catastrophic.
If the British government contained anybody with a spine, or an understanding of democracy and liberty, they would be screaming at the roof tops at the injustice of what is being done to the Greek people.
Greek tax revenues have collapsed- how is the EU Reichskommissar going to get around that problem?
The irony is that the Eurozone finance ministers know that it is not enough and may yet say so.
The Greeks will let their politicians know the deal is unacceptable.
The markets will rejoice for about 1 day then its punishment as usual.
Congratulations EU negotiators, a lose-lose-lose result.
Those Greeks must be really dumb. Fancy having a government inflicting pain and hardship on people who never caused the problem in the first place.
Why not just do as we do, print unlimited money.
Quantitative easing is the best thing since sliced bread, literally money for nothing, I'm surprised the whole world is not doing it, as soon as they cop on, problem solved. We can then all go back to buying and selling each other worthless houses, exotic holidays abroad, and get our kids into the best schools.
Whats wrong with the bloody world, If we can see the answer, why can't they. ?
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