Sunday, March 4, 2012

Spain planning to breach EU budget targets, warns prime minister Mariano Rajoy

Greek banks will probably be barred from normal ECB funding and have to turn to the Emergency Liquidity Assistance [provided by the ECB] instead but for how long, we don’t know. Greece needs around 95pc of its private creditors to accept the deal by the deadline on Thursday in order to secure its €130bn international bail-out package and avert imminent bankruptcy. ...Greek politicians back the use of CACs – which allow the deal to be imposed on all bondholders if 66pc agree to it – being inserted retrospectively if the voluntary agreement falls short. The uncertainty over the deal on Greek debt put further pressure on the euro last week. The single currency fell sharply against the dollar and other major currencies. ... Uncertainty over Spanish willingness to stick to its austerity programme also put pressure on the currency. Last week, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) declared that there had not yet been a credit event in Greece so there was no need for the credit default insurance instruments to be triggered. Should the CACs be triggered this week, the committee will almost certainly have to reconsider its decision.
Government austerity programmes: There are a number of channels through which higher oil prices will impact the public finances ----The governments will face a higher interest burden on the portion of the national debt that is linked to inflation...Slower economic growth will reduce tax receipts and could raise government outlays on unemployment benefits.... The governments may choose though to increase winter fuel subsidies to the needy against a backdrop of higher energy costs... However, it may be harder for the governments to implement the planned increase in petrol duty given the risk of public backlash. Wake up and smell the coffee, for we reached a point, where the price of oil, dictates the ability of the World's economy to function. Thousands of hauler jobs, hinge on the price of diesel, every aspect of our lives are directly impacted by the availability of oil at affordable prices. Politicians are showing complete disregard, for the hardships created by the pricing of oil versus taxation. Governments should set a cap on the prices, to allow growth and protect jobs at risk by market prices.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said his government, which came to power at the end of 2011, will prepare a 2012 budget that aims to reduce its deficit to 5.8% of gross domestic product, far in excess of the 4.4% target his predecessor, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, had committed to. Mr. Rajoy said a rapidly deteriorating economic situation and a large 2011 budget overrun made the wide deviation necessary. Earlier this week, the government said Spain's 2011 budget deficit stood at 8.51% of GDP, compared with a target of 6%.

Anonymous said...

The new fiscal rules, most of which were agreed to in January, give the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, more power to force governments to adhere to deficit targets. Since Spain has exceeded the 3%-of-GDP limit, the Commission now has considerable discretion whether to seek penalties against the government.

A Commission spokesman suggested Spain shouldn't expect leniency. "Meeting fiscal consolidation targets in vulnerable countries has been and remains one of the cornerstones of EU's comprehensive response to the crisis," said spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio. "It is key to reinforce confidence."

Anonymous said...

Suffering from draconian austerity measures and a slowdown in world trade, the Spanish economy shrank by 0.3% in the fourth quarter from the third, its first contraction since the economy clawed back from recession in early 2010. Finance Minister Luis de Guindos said he expects the economy will continue to shrink in the first two quarters of this year, and possibly the third as well, before stabilizing in the fourth.

New government data Friday showed that the Spanish economy is shedding jobs at its fastest rate since the 2009 recession. February jobless claims rose by 2.44% to just over 4.7 million. While the Labor Ministry doesn't give an unemployment rate, Spanish unemployment stood at 23.3% in January, according to the European Union's Eurostat agency, more than twice the 10.1% average rate for the 27 EU members

Anonymous said...

insurance..you take it out only to find its worthless...so why doesn't this surprise me namely that they are having a job being able to claim back losses until now...

I have legal home cover...it only overs free legal advice - that's it.

If a gargantuan credit default is triggered...the money won't be there to get back anyway...it a global sham - of course.

As with the people who pronounce that the end of the world is coming,so it is with the Eurozone one day it will be true lets hope the death of the Eurozone and the end of the world do not decide to come on the same day as we can go on living without the Creek's in the Euro.

Anonymous said...

This Greek nonsense still grinds on when it has always been obvious to me that the Greeks will default later this month and no amount of tinkering will make it otherwise.

Anonymous said...

Is The City About To Get Another Kick In The Teeth?

If the Daily Eurosceptic is correct and Greece defaults the City is going to have to pay out record amounts in derivatives insurance.
ISDA will not want to see this.

Such an event would almost certainly trigger Ireland to demand the restructuring of its debt. That would be a double whammy for the City.