Friday, August 2, 2013

Greece's international bailout faces a shortfall of around €11 billion ($14.59 billion) by the end of 2015, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday in a review of the country's program, adding that this could be even bigger if the fund's outlook turns out to be optimistic.  Greece's international bailout faces a shortfall of around $14.59 billion by the end of 2015 and this shortfall could be even bigger if the fund's outlook turns out to be optimistic. Global economics expert Charles Forelle joins MoneyBeat. Photo: AP.  According to the report, Greece's bailout faces a €4.4 billion financing gap in 2014 and another €6.5 billion in 2015. The gap could be even bigger, according to the head of the IMF's mission in Greece Poul Thomsen, if the fund's growth outlook is overly optimistic or if the country doesn't reach its privatization revenue target.  "There are clearly downside risks [to the economic forecast] next year," Mr. Thomsen said during a conference call. "The assumption of a gradual recovery is based on the assumption that we have a rebound in consumption and investment and sustained implementation of policies and broad political support of the program."   A group of European Union finance ministers will have to meet and make commitments for the 2014 financing gap at the next bailout review—which likely wouldn't be considered by the board until October, according to Mr. Thomsen. "I have no doubt that we will see a bottoming out and gradual recovery in output next year. The exact timing is where the uncertainty comes," the head of the IMF's mission said.  The report says that Greece needs debt relief worth 4% of gross domestic product to meet a 124% debt-to-GDP ratio by 2020.  Last week, a European Union official said that the country's bailout faces a shortfall of around €3.8 billion between now and the end of 2014. That gap is because of the refusal of national euro-zone central banks to buy new Greek bonds when the ones they hold mature. When the euro zone and the IMF sealed Greece's latest aid program last year, such a rollover was part of their calculations. But since then, several central banks have refused to follow through, claiming it would amount to financing a national government, which central banks aren't allowed to do under EU rules. The official said the shortfall will have to be closed this fall in order to continue with the bailout program.  The EU and Greek flags flew in front of the Parthenon on the Acropolis on February 17, 2012 in Athens, Greece.  A group of European Union finance ministers will have to meet and make commitments for the 2014 financing gap at the next bailout review—which likely wouldn't be considered by the board until October, according to Mr. Thomsen.   "I have no doubt that we will see a bottoming out and gradual recovery in output next year. The exact timing is where the uncertainty comes," the head of the IMF's mission said.  The report says that Greece needs debt relief worth 4% of gross domestic product to meet a 124% debt-to-GDP ratio by 2020.(source WSJ) 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. employers slowed their pace of hiring in July but the jobless rate fell anyway, mixed signals that could make the U.S. Federal Reserve more cautious about drawing down its huge economic stimulus program.

The number of jobs outside the farming sector increased by 162,000, the Labor Department said Friday.

That was below the median forecast in a Reuters poll of 184,000. Compounding that miss, the government also cut its previous estimates for hiring in May and June.

At the same time, the jobless rate fell two tenths of a point to 7.4 percent, its lowest in over four years. Gains in employment fueled some of that decline, but the labor force also shrank during the month, robbing some of the luster from the decline in the unemployment rate.

The data reinforces the view that the job market is inching toward recovery, with the broader economy still stuck in low gear

Anonymous said...

Spanish jobless figures down...a new man at the helm at RBS..Lloyds set to sell shares again...whoopy do..all is good with the world..except it isn't by a long long chalk. The apocalyptic headlines of last year concerning the Eurozone have now long since departed...all of that debt is now nothing to worry about and capitalism can keep dancing down the path merrily oblivious to any threat..after all the Fed and other central banks have the taps turned on and the life support machine is in full flow.

Is it not beyond the wit and imagination of human beings to create a much better approach to economics that doesn't result in the top 1% gaining an ever increasing share of the world's resources? It's 40% and counting folks and getting worse each year. It's on track to ensure feudalism returns with avengance. Of course there are amazing ideas out there..from the transformative approaches of Positive Money, ISEC etc to the more radical TVP and TZM..these ideas are out there and garnering more and more support with every passing day.

Unfortunately it's beyond the wit and imagination of pretty much every single politician on this planet to extricate themselves from the enslavement of financial markets. None can see further than their nose or the next bung and the case of Berlusconi - and indeed so many others - proves that the existing paradigm is terminally sick.

It's time to park egos, self indulgence and meaningless materialism and see beyond the short term...back in 2008 we were hours if not minutes away from seeing a shutdown of the banking sector in the UK...all savings lost with not a chance of reimbursement from vague EU and FSC savings protection schemes... and we've learnt nothing from that experience..nothing at all..little has changed bar tinkering with legislation here and there and the money markets continue to rule the roost until the next bubble bursts of which there's probably a...erm 100% chance of occurring.

It's a very sad state of affairs on an incredible and amazing planet that has enough resources for everyone and unlimited potential to 'explore both inner and outer space together' (Bill Hicks).

Time to help others squeedgie that third eye folks

Anonymous said...

WASHINGTON—The U.S. issued a world-wide terrorism alert due to intelligence indicating al Qaeda and its affiliates are plotting attacks against U.S. interests globally, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, U.S. officials said.

U.S. intelligence agencies have picked up heightened "chatter" between suspected al Qaeda operatives in recent weeks, suggesting they're pursuing plots against Americans, Obama administration officials said.

The travel alert cited threats "possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula," which suggested that the threat is from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Yemen-based terrorist organization which includes Saudi nationals among its leaders and has overseen two major plots against the U.S. in recent years.

"Current information suggests that al Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August," the State Department said in a statement.