'The problems in Greece won’t be solved in
2014, so something more will have to happen,' Dijsselbloem told Het Financieele
Dagblad.
Dijsselbloem, who heads the eurogroup of finance ministers, told Dutch
newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad: "The problems in Greece won't be solved in
2014, so something more will have to happen." He said the form and scale of
another rescue would depend on Greece's progress with economic reforms. His admission echoed that of the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble,
who told an election campaign event earlier this week that the bailed-out
country still needed more aid. The International Monetary Fund has suggested
that there is an €11bn (£9.4bn) shortfall in the current rescue package for
Greece. The spectre of destabilising negotiations over a new bailout, though they are
unlikely to get under way until after German elections next month, were a
reminder that the eurozone is still not out of the woods, despite an upbeat
survey suggesting economic recovery in the 17-member zone is gathering
steam.
The monthly purchasing managers' indices, which test the confidence of firms
across the 17 member-states, showed both manufacturing and services expanding at
their fastest pace since summer 2011.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at data provider Markit, which compiles the
indices, said: "The euro area's economic recovery gained momentum in
August." Apolline Menut, of Barclays, said: "The readings confirm that recovery is on
track and that GDP should continue to grow in the third quarter." However, while Germany scored a PMI reading of 53.4 – well above the 50 level
which marks expansion, suggesting recovery in the eurozone's largest economy is
gathering speed – output in France declined, and at a faster pace than during
July, according to the survey, with both manufacturing and services output
falling. Williamson said: "A big question mark still hangs over France's ability
to return to sustained growth."
Across the eurozone as a whole, export sales rose for the second month in a
row, Markit said, and new orders for manufactured goods jumped at their fastest
pace since May 2011. However, some analysts remain more sceptical about whether the nascent upturn
– after an 18 month recession – is set to last, particularly if the US Federal
Reserve's plan to "taper", or start reducing, its $85bn a month quantitative
easing programme continues to push up government bond yields on this side of the
Atlantic, raising the cost of borrowing.
A research note from City consultancy Fathom said: "The fundamental
structural problems facing the euro area have not gone away. In addition, the
potential spillovers from Fed tapering pose a threat to debt sustainability in
the periphery … we are a long way from calling an end to the euro area
crisis." Investors were cheered by a similar survey of China's manufacturing survey,
published by HSBC, which suggested output may be stabilising, after growth
deteriorated sharply at the start of the year. The reading on the purchasing
managers' index rose to a stronger-than-expected 50.1 for August, from 47.7 in
July – the largest monthly jump in three years.
Analysts said there were hopeful signs that China is succeeding in shifting
its growth model away from exports, towards consumer spending. "Domestic demand is strong enough to support 7.5% [growth] in 2013," said Ken
Peng, senior economist at BNP Paribas in Beijing. "Almost all of China's
economic data since July has shown improvements and suggests a rebound is under
way."
Fears about a so-called hard landing in China have exacerbated recent jitters
in financial markets over the fate of emerging economies when the Fed withdraws
from QE. Yields on US government bonds hit a fresh two-year high, as minutes from the
Fed's latest meeting, released on Wednesday night, confirmed that QE could start
to be phased out as soon as next month. However, the dollar's relentless rise was briefly checked after a
worse-than-expected labour market survey, which suggested new claims for
unemployment benefits had risen by 13,000, to 336,000, in the past week.
"The Fed tapering theme continues. The minutes reinforced expectations that
the Fed will taper its quantitative easing programme in September and Thursday's
jobless claims didn't really change that," said Greg Moore, currency strategist
at TD Securities in Toronto.
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Bank of America Merrill Lynch will review its working practices and culture of long hours following the death of a German intern last week, who colleagues said had pulled three all-nighters in a row before being discovered by emergency services.
One of the world's largest banks issued a statement on Friday afternoon expressing shock at the death of 21-year-old Moritz Erhardt, who was working in Merrill Lynch's investment banking division, and announced a review of working practices with a special focus on junior members of staff.
Erhardt, from south-west Germany, was found dead in a shower cubicle at his temporary accommodation in east London last Thursday evening.
The death of the "dedicated" student sent shockwaves through the world of global finance, as reports of his alleged extreme working habits sparked debate about the culture of punishing hours in some high-profile financial divisions.
A Bank of America statement said: "We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Moritz Erhardt's death. Moritz Erhardt was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a bright future.
"Our immediate priority is to do everything we can to continue to support the Erhardt family, our interns and impacted employees at this extremely difficult time. We have also convened a formal senior working group to consider the facts as they become known, to review all aspects of this tragedy, to listen to employees at all levels and to help us learn from them."
The IMF was wrong because it's economics are wrong and it's reason for being is to act as debt collector and enforcer for banks. The misery the IMF force upon country after country is deliberate, the price you pay for not following your masters orders.
The IMF aren't just wrong they are systematically wrong and always in the same direction. Unemployed people can't pay their debts which of course is great news for them as a firesale of assets ensues.
I have not seen one iota of evidence that anyone has lost a penny on Greece, the Northern European banks having been given under the table bail outs. The fact that Greek bonds were leveraged via hypothecation and re-hypothecation is hardly the fault of the Greek people.
Throw in an insane sub optimal currency and it's little wonder everything the Troika touches turns to sh1t.
Of course it is all down to the people of Greece and their poor implimentation of our great policies, nothing to do with our boss deciding to use and international system to step outside its remit and back a currency instead of a country.
Watch out for the next bail out in Greece it will be more of a bail in Cypris style.
How guilty is your average young Greek person hard working with a family, is he or she responsible for the government borrowing vast sums for German submarines?
I dont know but it would be a hard man who held them to account for things they did not think about or understand.
Their peers did it anyway and there is nobody to pay for it but the productive.
I dont know how they did it but if you are productive you are had by the proverbials.
The International Monetary Fund has admitted that it underestimated the impact of austerity on Greece, as it blamed a lack of government action on reforms and the impact of social unrest for the dire state of the economy. The latest confirmed figures i.e. hard data show the opposite.
The UK balance of trade is narrowing while that of Greece is worsening. When looked at as a proportion of overall GDP Greece is far far worse.
Where Greece looks good is in the current account figures. This includes transfers and foreign aid. If the bailout cash is excluded then the Greek current account figures are pretty awful.
A similar situation exists in terms of budget deficits. The UK is actually far better than Greece when compared like for like.
It is worth noting that budget deficit figures are usually quoted including debt interest. These are actually part of government spending after all.
Greece has started quoting budget figures excluding debt interest. That is how they manage to come up with a budget surplus. This is mainly for local consumption to show Greeks that they are making progress.
When the budget deficits are shown like for like then the UK is far better.
The reality is that Greece is making progress but not much. This is to be expected in the early years of what is likely to be a long recovery period.
The Greek economy is so far out of kilter right now that comparisons to other economies are pretty worthless. Many of the comparison figures are based on GDP and that of Greece is subject to wild swings at this point in time.
As far as the UK is concerned, we are doing better than most western nations right now. Progress is slow and there are problems but the momentum is building.
As jonbryce states we still have our own currency and that is worth a fortune right now.
We are still masters of our own destiny. Don't knock it.
if you want to protect your capital from the impact of inflation, you need to find investments which have the capability to generate a 20%+ return on capital and are priced reasonably. If you look at the history of various asset classes across countries and time periods, equities come closest to it.
"MSF can neither scientifically confirm the cause of these symptoms nor establish who is responsible for the attack," said MSF Director of Operations Bart Janssens.
"However, the reported symptoms of the patients, in addition to the epidemiological pattern of the events, characterised by the massive influx of patients in a short period of time, the origin of the patients, and the contamination of medical and first aid workers, strongly indicate mass exposure to a neurotoxic agent.
"This would constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, which absolutely prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons."
MSF's disclosure adds to mounting allegations that chemical weapons were used in suburbs to the east of Damascus on 21 August.
Unverified video footage posted soon afterwards shows civilians, many of them children, dead or suffering from what appear to be horrific symptoms consistent with a chemical attack.
Rebels and opposition activists accuse forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of carrying out such an attack.
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