European Council President Herman van Rompuy has quashed
reports yesterday which said that a deal on keeping Greece afloat and providing
more bailout money for the near-bankrupt state is unlikely to be reached next
week when eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels.
Mr van Rompuy said a deal to keep Greece afloat by providing more
bailout money will be agreed in "due time" once a report on the country
is finalised by the troika of the IMF, reports Reuters. "We need more time to reach agreements on privatisation law," Van Rompuy told
reporters after a summit of Asian and European leaders in Laos. "In any case,
the Europe group meeting on 12 November remains on the agenda." Athens also needs to push through spending cuts and tax measures worth
€13.5bn as well as a raft of economic reforms that will satisfy EU and IMF
lenders but anger the Greek population, which has led to the anti-austerity
strikes that we are seeing today in the country. "The decision on this will be taken by the Europe group after analysis of the
troika report, which is in the stage of finalisation in Athens," Van Rompuy
added. He urged the Greek government and leading political parties to decide on what
is needed to reach an agreement with the troika, adding "I'm quite sure this
will be done in due time"....Martin Koehring from the
Economist Intelligence Unit
has said these protests could convince to some MPs in the centre-left Pasok
party to vote against the latest austerity package, but said he still expected
the package to be approved.
The two-day general strike is yet another sign of the
anti-austerity climate among the Greek population. However, the government has
to pass further austerity measures to guarantee disbursement of a vital €31.5bn
loan tranche from the EU and IMF.
The strike may convince more MPs from the centre-left Pasok party to vote
against the latest austerity package; Pasok is part of the fragile three-party
government coalition but has seen its support among voters eroded as a result of
backing austerity. The government has already suffered several setbacks in recent weeks, with
the other left-wing junior coalition party, the Democratic Left, threatening to
vote against the package. Wven the senior coalition party, the centre-right New Democracy party, has
seen two MPs being forced out of the party for opposing further budget cuts. The
government's majority is narrowing and the general strike further puts pressure
on MPs to vote against the government's plans. On balance, however, we expect the package to be approved by MPs because
the alternative would be the government running out of cash by November 16 and
facing default and potential euro exit.
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France's central bank has warned this morning that the French economy is slipping into recession.
In its latest monthly survey, The Bank of France predicted that GDP would fall by 0.1% in the last three months of the year. It also forecasts a 0.1% decline between July and September (that data will be released next Thursday).
Yet more pain for president François Hollande, as he attempts to guide an economy that has already stagnated for the last nine months.
FRANKFURT—European Central Bank President Mario Draghi dismissed calls for the central bank to help Greece reduce its crushing debt burden, putting the onus on euro-zone governments to find the money needed to give Athens more time.
Mr. Draghi's stance could complicate efforts to find as much as €30 billion ($38 billion) Athens may need to plug a financing gap that Greece would face if Europe and the International Monetary Fund agree to give the country more time to meet its fiscal targets.
"The ECB is by and large done," Mr. Draghi said at his monthly news conference when asked what ...
FRANKFURT—European Central Bank President Mario Draghi dismissed calls for the central bank to help Greece reduce its crushing debt burden, putting the onus on euro-zone governments to find the money needed to give Athens more time.
Mr. Draghi's stance could complicate efforts to find as much as €30 billion ($38 billion) Athens may need to plug a financing gap that Greece would face if Europe and the International Monetary Fund agree to give the country more time to meet its fiscal targets.
"The ECB is by and large done," Mr. Draghi said at his monthly news conference when asked what ...
Whether Greece gets the next tranche or not makes no difference to the Greek people.
The economist Varoufakis has just been speaking on a morning chat show and he made it clear that none of the13.5 million is earmarked for the Greek state and its immediate needs. The money will go entirely to Greek and EU banks. He also explained how the money given to the Greek banking system will also end up back in the ECB without reaching the real Greek economy. In return the Greek people have been dumped with yet more debts and swingeing austerity measures which will wipe out what's left standing in the Greek economy.
Greece and its people are bankcrupt in all but name. We are being kept alive as a conduit.
Never mind what the talking heads say, it's obvious to everyone else that the Greek memoranda do not have their intended effect and Greece cannot pay back its loans as planned. Whose fault? Who cares. It's a fact.
We know that the ECB is unwilling to sell its Greek bonds back to Greece at purchace price, and demands nominal. In other words, the ECB insists on making a 70% - 85% profit on those bonds with the excuse of article 125 which forbids state financing.
The ECB's task is monetary stability. The ECB's current stance brings Greece to the point of defaulting and exiting the euro, and not paying the nominal that the ECB demands either.
Someone please explain to me how monetary stability is served by the ECB forcing an EZ state to default and exit the euro. Will that somehow stabilise the euro, or will it send the vultures into a frenzy over Spain?
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