Thursday, May 16, 2013

Reuters has got hold of a draft copy of the Troika's latest assessment of Greece, following their recent visit.
No major shocks... international lenders concluded that Greece is on track to hit its targets this year and in 2014, but warns it will struggle to fully return to the financial markets after that date.
The Troika also chides Athens for being too slow to privatize state assets....Here's Reuters' early take: Greece is set to meet its budget targets this year and next but must step up privatizations and public sector reform, the country's international lenders said in a draft report obtained by Reuters on Monday.  The report by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund assessing the country's progress in meeting its bailout goals, said the country's privatization revenue target had been lowered for 2013 to €2bn ($2.59 billion) from €2.6bn euros.  "While progress has been made in preparing assets for privatization, the overall speed of the privatization process remains unsatisfactory," said the report.  The document adds to evidence that the debt-laden country still faces big hurdles to standing on its own feet, despite the fiscal progress made by its coalition government and about 200 billion euros in rescue loans it has obtained from the EU/IMF since mid-2010.  Even though Athens' overall debt outlook remains unchanged as it overachieves on budget cuts, Greece would take several years to fully return to capital markets once funding from the bailout program ends in 2014, the report said....But where are the hundreds of thousands of Greeks, Spanish, Cypriots .. in the streets demanding immediate exit from the euro?   Even in strike-happy Greece, SYRIZA (and far left too -- apparently), the country's second party in popularity, says that Greece's place is in the euro!  And you're complaining, are you, about the Greek/Spanish/Cypriot...-bashing when in each and every of these countries there simply are no popular parties demanding immediate exit from the common currency. I'd say, either Greeks, Spanish, Cypriots...are into masochism or the press is terribly out of tune with what these countries' peoples really want. Each of those countries that you say are bashed would still need to auction their sov. bonds, even if tomorrow they were back to their original currencies. I am certain the bashing would not stop with their their old currencies reinstated.

 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Euro Zone Recovery Remains Elusive
The euro-zone debt crisis has mutated into Europe's longest slump of the postwar era, as the currency bloc's economy shrank for the sixth-straight quarter with no recovery in sight for most of the 17 countries.

Anonymous said...

2 HRs agoEurope
Euro Zone Recovery Remains Elusive
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The euro-zone debt crisis has mutated into Europe's longest slump of the postwar era, as the currency bloc's economy shrank for the sixth-straight quarter with no recovery in sight for most of the 17 countries.


By Marcus Walker, Brian Blackstone

Pedestrians walk through the Grand Place in Brussels. The euro-zone economy continues to suffer, data showed Wednesday.
Bloomberg News
The euro-zone debt crisis has mutated into Europe’s longest slump of the postwar era, as the currency bloc’s economy shrank for the sixth-straight quarter with no recovery in sight for most of the 17 countries. The euro zone’s output of goods and services, or gross domestic product, fell at an annualized rate of 0.9% in [...]

Comments »OpenCloseOriginal Article Format » 4 HRs agoReal Time Economics
Euro Zone vs. U.S. Economic Growth
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The euro zone remains mired in recession, even as other parts of the world experience at least modest growth. “The euro zone remains the weakest link in the world economy,” ING economist Peter Vanden Houte wrote in a research note. U.S. GDP grew at a 2.5% pace in the first quarter, and U.K. output expanded [...]


The euro zone remains mired in recession, even as other parts of the world experience at least modest growth.

“The euro zone remains the weakest link in the world economy,” ING economist Peter Vanden Houte wrote in a research note. U.S. GDP grew at a 2.5% pace in the first quarter, and U.K. output expanded as well, albeit at a slower rate. Japan is expected to report growth in first quarter GDP later this week.

Comments »OpenCloseOriginal Article Format » 5 HRs agoMarkets
European Stocks Climb
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Weak growth reports raised hopes the European Central Bank would consider more measures to help boost the sluggish economy.

Anonymous said...

William Hague tried to downplay the significance of the rebellion.

The foreign secretary told Sky News:


Conservative MPs were able to vote for it or they were able to abstain, entirely their choice.
I think the whole party, of course, would like to be able to proceed with legislation on this subject, we can't because we are in a Coalition.
When all the dust settles on this there is one essential fact, one party, the Conservative Party, is committed to a referendum on leaving or staying in the European Union and the other parties are not committed to that.

Anonymous said...



Labour shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander claimed the vote was "a further devastating blow to the prime minister's authority."

He said:


It demonstrates that David Cameron has managed to turn a Europe issue into a leadership issue. This is a prime minister who has lost control of the agenda and tonight lost control of his party.
David Cameron's backbenchers have shown they simply won't give up until he gives in.
The real risk is that he spends the coming month trying to get his party back in line, instead of focusing on getting our economy back on track.


8.31pm BST


Peter Bone says the vote shows that the Tories want an EU referendum.

He told the BBC:


No Conservative voted against the amendment, many Labour MPs voted for it. This is not a rebellion, this is a free vote. In fact, to a certain extent, the prime minister was encouraging us to vote for the amendment because, after all, it's his own policy.

Anonymous said...

The German government has thrown its formidable weight in Europe behind a campaign to keep Britain in the EU, describing the fallout from a UK exit from the union as a disaster for all parties and also supporting Washington's pressure on London to stay in.

Top government figures in Berlin made absolutely clear they saw continued UK membership of the EU as central to Berlin's priorities in seeking to reverse European economic decline and to counter protectionist pressures in France and other Mediterranean countries.

The intervention came as 114 Tory MPs voted to criticise the government for not including plans for an in-out referendum in the Queen's speech, a greater show of eurosceptic strength than ministers had anticipated.

The leading politicians in Berlin said they wanted to reopen the Lisbon treaty to repair the mess left by three years of financial crisis, supplying David Cameron with an opportunity to try to reset the terms of UK membership before putting the outcome to a referendum. But Berlin concedes that Paris may be the biggest problem in getting its way since the weak and unpopular President François Hollande opposes a treaty renegotiation that could open the way to a referendum in France, too, and bring him down.

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