BRUSSELS - In recent weeks, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has been in the news as rarely before, with a few important questions being raised about its accountability. For the first time in its 20-year history of promoting democracy and market economies in central and eastern Europe, the bank has decided to apply some democratic principles to the selection of its own president: five candidates are vying for the job, which until now has been filled after behind-closed-doors negotiations between its largest EU shareholders. In the meantime, EUobserver has brought to light allegations that EBRD money has ended up in the pockets of people associated closely with the authoritarian regime of President Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, raising some doubts over the verification mechanisms in place at the bank to ensure the public money it disburses actually benefits ordinary people in its theatre of operations.
Opening up the presidential selection process and dealing with allegations of having benefited the allies of a dictator has hopefully brought on some soul searching at the bank.
It would be a good time for the institution to take a look at itself - last year it turned 20 and this year it will expand its mandate from former Communist-controlled Europe to also promoting reform in post-Arab-Spring north African and Middle East countries. An honest self-assessment is necessary because the bank's record in post-Communist countries is at best mixed and its new turf marks an increase in political responsibility.
4 comments:
Concerns over the state of Spain's economy will drive the price of gold towards $2,000 (£1,255) an ounce this year, according to a leading consultancy. Emma Rowley reports:
Rising fears about the region’s fourth largest economy will send a fresh flood of investment towards the “safe haven” metal, according to the annual report from Thomson Reuters GFMS.
Philip Klapwijk, global head of metals analytics at the consultancy, said: “We could easily see last September’s record high [a closing high of $1,900.23 on September 5] being taken out.
“A push on towards $2,000 is definitely on the cards before the year is out, although a clear breach of that mark is arguably a more likely event for the first half of next year.”
Demand for gold often sees a boost when fears about the situation in Europe intensify. The metal can likewise benefit from the prospect of more quantitative easing (QE), as investors seek to protect their wealth from the inflationary effects of central bankers’ actions.
News in from Athens where our correspondent Helena Smith says the Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos has announced that elections will be held, as expected, on May 6.
Five months to the day after Lucas Papademos was sworn in, the former central banker is meeting president Carolos Papoulias to inform him of his intention to take Greece to the polls and request the dissolution of Athens' 300-seat House.
That gives Greece's feuding political parties exactly 25 days to campaign for an event that many in Europe - starting with Germany, Athens' main provider of rescue funds - would prefer not to take place. With polls indicating that no party will win enough seats to form a government, fears are growing that Greece is heading for protracted political instability in addition to navigating its worst economic crisis in modern times.
Officials representing Greece's troilka of creditors [the EU, IMF and ECB] will be conducting a crucial inspection tour in June when Athens will be asked to provide evidence of how it plans to make an extra €11.4bn in spending cuts.
Meanwhile troika officials will also meet government officials today to discuss how best to proceed with the recapitalisation of Greek banks - a vital step to re-energising the country's cash-strapped economy.
Whoops. European authorities have failed to grasp the structural flaw at the heart of the Eurozone.
Structural flaw at the heart of the western banking system more like. The USA and UK are equally fubar..there is no separation here, only in the minds of the general populous pickled by simplistic yet slick "were not as bad as them lot" public relations when the truth is anything but. The UK escaped the initial fate of Europe through QE, now commentators such as Larry Elliot at the Guardian are saying "pfft..as if that was ever going to work, lending cheap money to Euro banks to stave of insolvency.." it's only what the UK and USA have done over recent years..whilst the ECB has 'lent' circa a trillion euros to a vast array of banks the BoE has lent circa 600 billion euros to our domestic banks. 'We' are a much bigger time bomb, particularly when you factor in the out of control GDP v debt ratio.
Can ballymichael or someone else explain how a purchase like that is justified? Would 6-month debt be too expensive? Are they pretending they are going to pay the money back at the end of the 3 months? Will they gladly pay me Tuesday for a hamburger today?
I see very little discussion/articles on what appears to indicate complete desperation. What is the party line on a purchase like this?
Thank you and happy holidays.
Post a Comment