ECB - Christian Noyer said that Greece's debt cannot be restructured

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman says Germany sees no basis at present for entering negotiations on a new bailout program for Greece. Steffen Seibert said Monday that Germany respects the "clear 'no' vote" by Greeks against austerity measures demanded by creditors and that "the door for talks always remains open." However, he said the conditions are "not there at present to enter negotiations on a new program." He said the "no" vote is a vote against the principle - still supported by Germany - that solidarity requires countries to take responsibility. Seibert says Europe will explore what possibilities there are to help Greek citizens and "a lot will depend on what proposals the Greek government now puts on the table." Regarding requests by Athens to restructure its debt, finance ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said: "I can see no reason to enter into discussions."  Meanwhile, ECB governing council member Christian Noyer said that Greece's debt cannot be restructured. "Greek debt held by the Eurosystem is debt that cannot by its very nature be restructured because that would be monetary financing of a state," he said...The French advisor went on to say that Merkel had gone out on a limb to reach a compromise with Greece over a credit deal. 

"Merkel was very open to negotiations with Greece, showing patience and even a sort of maternal protection regarding Alexis Tspras," he said. France's Socialist government still hopes to avoid Greece leaving the euro, but France's opposition conservatives are now calling for Greece's orderly exit from the eurozone.  Alain Juppé from Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right Republicans party, said: "Greece is no longer capable of sticking to the disciplines of the eurozone."

"We must help it to organise its exit without any drama."...Angela Merkel displayed "maternal protection" towards Greece's Leftist prime minsiter Alexis Tsipras who betrayed the trust of the German Chancellor and François Hollande - despite France's more conciliatory line with Athens, according to a French presidential aide. The comment comes as the French and German leaders are to meet in Paris at 6pm local time (5pm BST) to discuss the Greek crisis, followed by a working dinner at 7.30pm at the Elysée Palace.  The Hollande advisor's comment to AFP suggests France is hardening its line as facilitator vis a vis Greece and aligning itself more with Germany in a bid to show a united Franco-German front.  The aide admitted Hollande got his fingers burned after seeking a compromise with Greek PM Tsipras, saying: "It will be difficult with Tsipras. There's a real problem of trust between him and us and us and him."    Brussels to Greece: we're going to make your life much harder That was quite the press briefing from Commission vice-president Dombrovskis. In short, Brussels will not be giving the Greek government anywhere near an easier ride after last night.

Some points:

• "The place of Greece is and remains in Europe", but when pressed, Mr Dombrovskis did not repeat that Greece's place remained in the single currency

• Brussels questions the legality of the referendum and the nature of the question: it is "neither legally nor factually correct"

• The Commission will not carry out any talks with Athens before they get a mandate from the eurozone's finance ministers who are meeting tomorrow

• Greece's vague promise of debt relief as agreed back in 2012 is now no longer on the table after the second bail-out expired last week

• The No vote has made life much more "difficult" for the Greek government, but the ball is in their court to now come up with some credible reforms

"Eurozone: three countries have debt-to-income ratios of more than 300%Figures expose indebtedness of eurozone governments in relation to government revenues – UK is sixth with ratio of 212%  Germany must leave THIS Euro and give the leadership back to France. They  originated that non-working currency by linking every country together.  The Bundesbank WARNED and only by this pressure the Maastricht rules were established.... But this rules were until today 60 times! broken.  France and their socialists are the biggest danger in Europe, they  are be able to raise hate against countries by continuing the  non-working ideological driven politics. The development in Italy underlines the necessary split of the currency. Where is England to avoid this rising conflicts between the EWU countries? Why do they sit back and wait? In the end the Germans are (as always) the bad guys. Three eurozone countries – Ireland, Greece and Portugal – now have debt-to-income ratios of more than 300%. Ireland Greece and Portugal  are laboring under debt-to-income ratios of more than 300%, according to figures that expose the indebtedness of eurozone governments in relation to their government revenues. The measure, intended to show governments' abilities to pay debts, shows Ireland's total debt in 2012 was €192bn (£163.1bn), or 340% of the government's income. Ireland came a narrow second in the table to fellow bail-out recipient Greece, which has amassed an even worse debt-to-revenue total of 351%. Portugal – which has also received aid from the troika of the International Monetary Fund, the European commission and the European Central Bank – came third with a debt-to-revenue ratio of 302%, while Britain was sixth last year on the list of 27 EU member states, with a debt-to-revenue ratio of 212%, according to calculations based on European commission figures."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Cyprus not to "exhaust the patience of its eurozone partners", reports say. The head of one of Cyprus' biggest banks urged MPs to accept a levy on bank deposits. This was rejected on Tuesday, sparking a fresh eurozone confidence crisis. The eurozone is really turning the screw on Cyprus, and it's being led by Germany. The message is crystal clear - your economic model has to change. They will no longer accept the idea of a national economy within the eurozone that is dependent on its reputation as an offshore tax haven. There is huge irritation with the way the Cypriots have handled things, and that has led to the imposition of deadlines which mean big decisions need to be taken very quickly. The cost of cleaning up the Cypriot banking system must be borne by investors in the Cypriot banking system - like it or lump it. A much-delayed emergency session of parliament is due to vote on a new package of measures to raise the 5.8bn euros (£4.9bn; $7.5bn) needed to qualify for the 10bn-euro bailout. Averof Neophytou, deputy leader of the governing Democratic Rally party, said political leaders were nearing a compromise and a breakthrough was possible on Friday. Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said the authorities were engaged in "hard negotiations with the troika", referring to the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the AFP news agency reports. The BBC's Chris Morris in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia, says it is possible that the vote may be delayed once more but he says Cyprus is running out of time to rescue its economy. Banks have been closed since Monday and many businesses are only taking payment in cash.

Jens Weidmann said in the text of a speech that "politically brought about devaluations" do not lead to improved economic competitiveness. He also said indicators suggest the euro is "not seriously overvalued".

The euro has strengthened recently, raising concern it will hurt exports from the 17 euro countries, AP reported. French President Francois Hollande has suggested the eurozone needs to manage its exchange rate.

Weidmann sits on the ECB's 23-member rate setting council and heads Germany's Bundesbank national central bank.

ECB President Mario Draghi indicated the bank does not seek any particular exchange rate, which is set by markets, but is monitoring the stronger euro's effect on inflation.

Since the introduction of the single currency in 2002 the Euro has appreciated 35% vs the once once-great British pound. It's not that the Euro is overvalued but rather the fact that Sterling is in Terminal decline. Being the Nr1 private debt/Gdp% country in the world without any growth prospects, incompetent and destructive Tory politcians and a budget deficit worse than Spain the only way out for Sterling and the UK is further impoverishment & print print print...

There you go ...no dice ma'man...hihihihi

The Eu Parliament is refusing the budget as is.   Le Point:

"Le Parlement européen ne peut accepter en l'état l'accord trouvé aujourd'hui (vendredi) au Conseil européen. Nous regrettons que M. Van Rompuy n'ait pas parlé, ni négocié avec nous au cours des derniers mois", ont indiqué les parlementaires. Les chefs d'État et de gouvernement européens se sont mis d'accord vendredi, à l'issue d'un sommet marathon, sur un budget d'austérité pour les sept prochaines années, en baisse pour la première fois dans l'histoire de l'Union européenne. "C'est maintenant que les véritables négociations vont commencer, avec le Parlement européen", ont prévenu les parlementaires. True negotiations are starting... 

 

Joint Statement to the Press by Joseph Daul, on behalf of the EPP Group, Hannes Swoboda, on behalf of the S&D Group, and Guy Verhofstadt, on behalf of the ALDE Group and on behalf of the Greens/EFA Group Rebecca Harms and Daniel Cohn-Bendit.

"...This agreement will not strengthen the competitiveness of the European economy. It is not in the prime interest of our European citizens. The European Parliament cannot accept today's deal in the European Council as it is. We regret that Mr Van Rompuy did not talk and negotiate with us in the last months.

.....We see with astonishment that EU leaders agree to a budget that could lead to a structural deficit. Large gaps between payments and commitments will only store up trouble for the future and not solve existing problems. We remain firm on the respect of Article 310 of the Treaty which requires a balanced budget.
In addition to this there are four important points that we will not abandon:

First, we are calling for increased flexibility using Qualified Majority Voting: between years and between categories of spending. It is a sensible approach which will allow us to make the best use of our financial resources.
Second, we are also standing firm on a compulsory revision clause with a Qualified Majority Vote in the Council, which should allow us to revise the financial framework in two or three years. We don't accept an austerity budget for seven years.
Third, with this same sense of responsibility we are calling for new, genuine own resources for the European budget to progressively replace the current system based heavily on national GNI contributions.  Fourth, we cannot accept a budget based solely on priorities of the past. We must maintain support for future-oriented policies, strengthening European competitiveness and research.
The outcome of the final budget will determine whether the second decade of the 21st century will be remembered as the time of further integration for the benefit of all Europeans or the time of a standstill for Europe, or even falling behind in a globalised world.

In conclusion....nada, nothing ...lots of hot air ...

European leaders wound up their final summit of 2012 on Friday in much the same manner as they started the year – kicking the euro crisis can down the road, playing for time, crossing their fingers, hoping the worst is behind them.

In almost three years since the Greek drama erupted in February 2010 and spread quickly around the fringes of the eurozone, the leaders have never quite managed to get ahead of the curve despite 22 summits and countless meetings of eurozone finance ministers.

This week's two-day summit in Brussels repeated the pattern. It was supposed to lay out a grand plan and timetable for reforming and stabilising the euro regime through a battery of federalising political and fiscal moves. In the event, the documents from the EU council president, Herman Van Rompuy, were shredded amid more clashes over fundamentals between Berlin and Paris, while an even more ambitious blueprint from the Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, was simply ignored.

"One wonders how these two gentlemen will enjoy Christmas," quipped Andrew Duff, the Liberal Democrat MEP and ardent European federalist.

Van Rompuy, who has had a very bad month, was told to come back in the middle of next year with a better, more modest plan. The mood was darkened further by German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissing claims that the worst was over for the eurozone and stressing that the bloc faced two years of painful reforms, slow growth and high unemployment.

"The changes we are going through are very difficult and painful," she said. "We have tough times ahead of us that cannot be solved with one big step."

Despite the stalemate and the seeming complacency, leaders concluded their summit keen to list the year's achievements. And they do have things to brag about

Just to complete my daily bit of good-natured German-bashing...

German media (in a complete misrepresentation of the facts) says the Greeks work less and retire early... yet the EU's own figures show that the average Greek works many more hours P/A than the average German.

And they overlook that Greece is largely in the trouble it is, because the one-size-fits-all interest rate of the Euro is essentially decided by Germany, for Germany.

Financial houses (many German) were lending to Greece at the same rate as they would lend to Germany.

Where was the German discipline there?

As Schäuble mentions, the population of Europe are not going to agree to German domination of Sovereign states until they have been "convinced" that the measures are necessary.

This is where the lack of leadership in solving the Euro crisis comes into play.

Markets are panicking because everyone is being told we need German leadership in Europe but we don't have it.

Merkel keeps going to meetings. Still no solid solution.

This game will continue to be played, and markets continue to take a hit, until European leaders BEG for Germany to take what she wants in return for German financial underwriting. UPDATE - European leaders have agreed a timetable to set up a single eurozone-wide banking supervisor run by the European Central Bank over the course of next year, a rapid pace that marks a victory for a French-led group that had pushed for a quick first step towards a banking union for the single currency.
But at an EU summit that stretched into the early hours of Friday morning, leaders failed to agree on the second key step in the process: when the eurozone’s €500bn rescue fund will be able to start injecting cash directly into failing European banks, giving in to German resistance.

There is no German help that can solve the basic problem in Spain. Money, or access to it, is not the problem for the Spanish sovereign. It has had quitre literally hundreds of billions of euros thrown at it since it joined the EU a quarter of a century ago and it has still failed to develop a sustainable and functional economic model.   Fully a third of people in Madrid are employed by the state, many in utterly futile positions which are duplicated at regional and local model. Spain would be better off if it offered redundancy to all such public sector workers, with a view to cutting down numbers by say a third. Those who take up the offer should in addition to their redundancy pay be assured of loan and equity funding for business start ups to generate wealth that the country badly needs. And I'm not talking about property development projects on the coast which seems to be the default Spanish notion of entrepreneurialism.  All this schlepping up and down from one European capital to another by leaders and finance ministers is utterly futile. The fundamental problem will not be solved by finding some ingenious way of getting "free money" funneled from North to South. The basic problem is that, given developments in the East, not enough wealth is being generated to sustain our current economic and social model in both South and North. Countries such as Greece and Spain are being picked off in the same way that we see the least fleet of foot in the herd being picked off by the predator on those BBC wildlife programmes.   But if the basic problem is not tackled, what is happening in those countries will surely happen in countries such as France and the UK, which because of their proud histories implicitly believe that they are somehow immune, in a few years time. Let's stop sloganeering about bankers and tax evaders - for whom incidentally I have not an ounce of sympathy - and stop putting our faith in the chimera of revolution. Let us rather face up to the simple fact that if we want to maintain our existing social model we must start to generate wealth or within a generation we ALL will be eking out our livings on the verge of grinding poverty.

Can anyone enlighten me?????

Can anyone enlighten me as to WHY Greece thinks that by getting more time they'll sort out their mess when in the short/miedium term we have the following:
- US Debt @ 16TN and rising rapidly
- US Debt fiscal cliff in Jan 2013
- US Election
- Japan debt @>200% GDP, rising rapidly and economy plummeting
- EU zone economies falling
- Spain/Italian bonds at 'danger levels' and no sigh of relief
- China economy cooling (rapidly?) according to over 16 indicators (as you cannot trust the official figures)

So where is the economic miracle that will help Greece recover???
Anyone??..... The meeting between Hollande and Merkel appears to be mainly about greece, according to an SZ article not (yet) online. They had agreed the "let's wait for the Troika report, before deciding" line some time back. Hollande is noticeably more open towards renegotiation or extension towards Greece than Merkel is, but recognises her extremely limited room for manoevre. The FDP are pretty solidly against an extension (exceptions: Lindner in NRW and Westerwelle at the Foreign Ministry). The CSU appear to be solid against it, as much for local reasons (a burgeoning eurosceptic local rival) as for economic ones. There have been a few cautious voices in the CDU who are prepared to say that minor changes in the timescale are possible, but for the moment, the more noisy euro-sceptics get to take the stage in the party. The SPD "co-leader" Steinmeier said recently that he thinks Merkel will eventually agree to some extension for Greece, assuming the plan looks solid, but mostly the opposition are quietly letting the coalition display its disunity. If the Bundestag were asked to ratify? At the moment, I don't think they can take it to the Bundestag, without breaking their coalition. So if they were to do it, it would have to be by shuffling money around, rejigging targets and so on.

STEP BY STEP ..." goose" step that is ...!!!

The German military will in future be able to use its weapons on German streets in an extreme situation, the Federal Constitutional Court says. The ruling says the armed forces can be deployed only if Germany faces an assault of "catastrophic proportions", but not to control demonstrations. The decision to deploy forces must be approved by the federal government. Severe restrictions on military deployments were set down in the German constitution after Nazi-era abuses. The court says the military still cannot shoot down a hijacked passenger plane - fighter jets would have to intercept the plane and fire warning shots to force it to land. After World War II the new constitution ruled that soldiers could not be deployed with guns at the ready on German soil, the BBC's Stephen Evans reports from Berlin. The court has now changed that, saying troops could be used to tackle an assault that threatens scores of casualties. The judges had in mind a terrorist incident involving armed attackers in public places. German troops have been deployed abroad since the war, but it has been a gradual process. German warplanes have been used in the Balkans and troops are on the ground in Afghanistan, protecting construction workers, but able to return fire if attacked.

Germany's main opposition, the Social Democrats, have upped the ante, saying that Chancellor Angela Merkel must assume greater risks to avert a breakup of the single currency.

Bloomberg has a report on an interview the SPD floor leader, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, gave to the Rheinische Post newspaper.

He raised the pressure on Mrs Merkel to agree to more burden-sharing to stem the euro crisis, claiming that Mrs Merkel, while rejecting euro-region bond sales, fails to say that Germany is already exposed to losses from the debt crisis through the European Central Bank’s bond purchases:

The government should finally be honest about it to the people. If we want to prevent the breakup of the euro zone, it won’t be without risks for Germany.....I have been following the EU. crisis for the last three years and the Muppets in Brussels still have no idea what to do. It gives me no confidence at all in our leaders in Brussels. The numpties in Westminster are not too bright but they beat the nutters in Brussels and Strasbourg hands down.

From debt crisis to food crisis. The UN's food agency has warned today that the world could face a food crisis like that of 2007/08 if countries restruct exports on concerns about a drought-fuelled grain price rally. In its latest update, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said its food price index climbed 6pc last month, after three months of decline, driven by a surge in grain and sugar prices.

Anxieties over extreme hot and dry weather in the US Midwest sent corn and soybean prices to record highs last month, driving overall food prices higher.  Grain markets have also been boosted recently by speculation that Black Sea grain producers, particularly Russia, might impose export restrictions after a drought there hit crops.

The FAO's senior economist and grain analyst Abdolreza Abbassian told Reuters:  There is an expectation that this time around we will not pursue bad policies and intervene in the market by restrictions, and if that doesn't happen we will not see such a serious situation as 2007/08. But if those policies get repeated, anything is possible.

Perhaps Finland will be the first Country to say enough is Enough and leave.

Frau Merkel knows well - and if she has forgotten, the many irate German taxpayers posting on German newspaper websites can inform her - that if she she is going to 'protect' anything, it is to follow the oath she took on becoming Chancellor. 'To protect the German people and to avert their harm." ("das deutsche Volk zu schuetzen, und von ihm Schaden abzuwenden.") There was a reason for this oath. A previous Chancellor (can't recall who) had pursued a policy that was likely to result in the wholesale death of German citizens and the destruction of their wealth. So the post-war founding fathers of the BRD worded the oath veeery carefully. Of course, being a socialist technocrat from (communist) East Germany, and a loyal citizen of the GDR, she may not have noticed the wording of this oath of what is, after all, for her a foreign country. I'd just like to remind her. 'To protect the German people and to avert their harm." Nichts zu ungut, Frau Kanzlerin. If she carries on like this, Mrs Merkel will have created the most misery in the whole of Europe since once of her predecessors tried to unify the continent under a single government. That failed, too..... The EEC/EC/EU was designed to be run by the French and paid for by the Germans. We know this. The German population are now finding this out and are beginning to object. With a few exceptions, the rest of Europe cannot keep up economically with Germany. The Germans should realize that as each of the various EZ countries come under pressure and needs a bail-out, then they will eventually be left trying to deal with the whole cost. They could not afford it and therefor want the rest of the countries to reform their economies. What the Germans also do not realize is that as more power goes to the center "More Europe" they will have less control over their future and their finances. They would be outvoted by the "club med/Latin" countries including France and Belgium. Position reinforced with France in charge and Germany paying. Their best route forward would be to leave the Euro, and for it to be based on the Latin Bloc led by France. Would involve losses but rest of existing EZ would have a better chance to paying for the debts. If, and it is a big if, Germany and a few other countries were planning this they would hardly say this. Perhaps Finland will be the first Country to say enough is Enough and leave.

With the EU there is no such thing as a bottomless pit.

The EU elites Barasso and Rumpy Pumpy included will never give up on their giant corrupt ponzi scheme, their mega salaries and mind blowing pension ; one way or the other the euro fall will be one of this biggest failure in modern history. It will end; when all the people from the austerity ridden countries rise up and topple their Governments. The EU will then collapse like a pack of cards. Good riddance, can't wait for the day!And so this ongoing financial analysis goes on! Stimulus, austerity or a combination of both? I can't see any of the above scenarios working. Austerity and the Western engine of the world economy spirals into decline, taking the BRICS with it. Stimulus and money printing and we end up like Zimbabwe. There's no magical growth on the horizon to pull us out of this spiral, at least nowhere near enough. Kicking the can ever further down the road won't work. You could save a lot of time and effort Ambrose and just tell us we're all bu**ered. One day the world will move on, but there will be a very different political and economic landscape. A New World Order: perhaps?? I think after a couple of years of frustrated viewing we are starting to see the 'markets' (whoever the people are that make up the 'market' they seem to be extremely gullible) FINALLY cottoning on to the fact that the pantry is bare and there is no solution to the Euro that doesn't involve the end of the Euro. As the saying goes "you can't fool all of the people all of the time"; well the time of fooling everyone except themselves seems to be running out for the EU 'elite' and they are going to be eating humble pie sooner now I think rather than later. Mind you they do have a remarkable capacity for dragging this out while they feather their own nests, but we do seem to be getting close to the end game finally...

La Signora No in Italy

HAVE NO DOUBT : EUROPE IS BEEING RULED BY THE FOURTH. REICH - - -THERE IS NO ESCAPE !!!!

Mrs Merkel -- or La Signora No in Italy -- doused hopes of a break-through on proposals by the "Latin Bloc" leaders of Italy, France, and Spain to deploy the funds (EFSF and ESM) to cap the bond yields of "virtuous" countries vulnerable to contagion, or to re capitalize banks directly to take the strain off sovereign states. "If I give moneystriaght to Spanish banks, I can't control what they do. That is how the treaties are written," she said, before racing off to Danzig to tonight for Euro 2012 quarter final between Greece and German.. Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, warned before the summit that the eurozone is under "acute stress" and at risk of a downward spiral. "The viability of the European monetary system is questioned. There must be a overcapitalization of the weak banks, with preferably a direct link between the EFSF/ESM and the banks, in order to break the negative feedback loop that we have between banks and sovereigns."

"Angela Merkel defies Latin Europe and the IMF on bond rescue". The headline says it all - AEP seeds hate between European nations to obfuscate the fact that people the as well in Latin Europe as in Germany are enslaved by a financial system that plays dirty against the people. And the people can't win the game because mathematics always wins, no chance against compound interest on hot-air-money. But wait - the lenders are only a few, and the people are millions, and the lenders reside in big buildings in the center of towns. Just like Alexander solved the Gordian knot without dealing with the mathematical intricacies, the people of Europe might solve their problem with extremely leveraged private banks that enslave whole populations to pay compound interests on money that was simply created by a keystroke with no productive effort whatsoever - with the sword.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Greece has already started printing Drachmas in secret and that Germany had been printing DMs

The Pew Global Attitudes Project polled 8,000 people in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Poland, Britain and the Czech Republic from mid-March to mid-April and identified unprecedented levels of discontent with the EU. "The European project, which began with the creation of a small common market in 1957, grew to a larger single market in 1992 and then created the single currency in 2002, is a major casualty of the sovereign debt crisis," the report concluded. "Majorities or near majorities in most nations now believe that the economic integration of Europe has actually weakened their economies." At a time when the EU is pushing closer to an economic and fiscal union for the eurozone, popular opinion is pulling the other way. That contradiction has led to electoral upsets across Europe, from Greece to the Netherlands and France in the past three months alone. Majorities in most countries now blame EU integration for damaging their economies, but the figures hit 70% in Greece, 63% in France and 61pc in Italy, all countries once regarded as staunchly pro-European. Just one third of the people – 34% – believe that economic integration, a central plank of the EU's raison d'etre, is a benefit.
De La Rue, the money printer, failed to dampen speculation that it has been secretly awarded a contract to start printing drachmas the moment Greece is forced out of the euro. The company said that its order book had increased by 14pc, to £248m, but its policy was to never reveal which specific contracts it was working on. The chief executive Tim Cobbold said: “We have people in every region in the world. We are very close to all geopolitical conditions that develop.”

He said, however, that in most circumstances it took six months between an initial order being placed by a central bank or government, and the notes being delivered. This was the time it took when South Sudan introduced the South Sudanese pound after it gained independence last year.

To print a new currency in the space of a couple of weeks “would be impossible”.

Sergey Shvestov, the vice president of Russia’s Central Bank, said that Greece already has a plan to introduce its own currency, in parallel to to the euro. He said it with high certainty.

Making contingency plans for different options is the right thing to do for anyone, but saying it about Greece and with such a degree of certainty is new.

Shvestov didn’t want to share more details, but said that leaving the euro-zone is a necessity for Greece. He said it would be a “good example” for other countries.

The Russian Center for Strategic Studies in Moscow said that a Grexit will ignite a global crisis affecting the price of oil. They see a a chance of more than 50% that Greece will leave the euro-zone and that it will cause other countries will leave as well. El Economista brings this report. Rumors about fresh polls show that anti-bailout SYRIZA is in the lead, with 30% support. The situation in Greece is so bad that the country may leave the zone even if pro-bailout parties win.

EUR/USD is struggling between 1.25 and 1.26. Is another fall coming?

We are constantly told that if we don't all neoliberalize everything, screw the poor to give to the rich and destroy all civilized parts of our society then the clever wizards say that TERRIBLE THINGS will happen. The "markets" and the "euro" and other abstractions will PUNISH US. No mechanisms are ever explained. Funny how much this resembles the wizards and magical shamans of the middle ages saying that God is on their side. If we don't give our tithes to the church then God will punish us, little children. ... One estimate put the cost to the eurozone of Greece making a disorderly exit from the currency at $1tn, 5% of output. This is exactly the kind of economic prediction that I'm talking about. How on Earth can they predict this with any degree of remote accuracy? It's like trying to predict the exact results of every match at the upcoming European Championships. Still, you can be virtually certain about one thing in both the football and the economy. Greece will eventually get knocked out.  ----  THE FACTS ARE :...If Greece decides to leave the euro it'll certainly make sense in the longer term-- the macroeconomic conditionality attached to the euro by the ECB is a 'one size fits all' framework designed to promote the economies of the EU's richer countries, and Greece is never going to derive any benefit from being in the euro. But for now economic catastrophe looms since Greece's current debt is denominated in euros, and the new drachma will involve a swift and drastic devaluation. There is no way Greece can pay its euro debt using the new drachma. The humane solution would be for the richer nations to cancel Greece's debt the moment it leaves the euro. To not do so would be to punish millions of ordinary people who did nothing to cause this crisis.

Outgoing PM Lucas Papademos has warned it would be "disastrous" for Greece to reject the austerity measures, which come as a condition of its bailout cash: Any modification... must be pursued in a spirit of consensus and with the full agreement of European peers. A unilateral rejection of the country's contractual obligations would be disastrous for Greece, leading unavoidably outside the euro and possible outside the European Union....The decisions we take could seal Greece's course for decades. They could lead the country to the fringe, canceling historic national achievements of the last 38 years.

GREECE HAS A GERMAN GOVERNOR - HORST REICHENBACH ...IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW !!!!

 THE PEOPLE OF GREECE SHOULD KEEP VOTING OUT THESE TRAITORS - Panos Kammenos, leader of a conservative party that opposes Greece's international bailout deal, emerged from the presidential mansion where the talks had been held and said that no deal had been reached. Greek socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos ( who is not a socialist in fact, but more of a Merkel slave infiltrated among the real socialists) backed up the report. "We are going again towards elections, in a few days, under very bad conditions," he said, while a statement from the president's office noted simply that efforts to form a government had failed.. Left-wing leader Fotis Kouvelis added: "I did everything I could to avoid new elections. From the very first moment some parties had chosen to go for new elections."...The leaders of Greece's main political parties have been trying to form a coalition since elections nine days ago. The anti-austerity Left Coalition party Syriza, which is widely expected to win the new elections in June, refused to take part in this week's discussions.

Party spokesman Panos Skourletis said: "It is obvious that there is an effort to bring about a government that will implement the bailout. We are not participating in such a government."

It is "not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe",

It is "not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe", said Francois Hollande, the frontrunner to replace Nicolas Sarkozy as French president.

If elected, Mr Hollande says that he will not pass the fiscal austerity pact agreed by the leaders of 25 European nations, unless it contains measures to spur on growth.

His stance puts him on a collision course with Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. She hit back at the French Socialist candidate's plans, warning the deal is "not open to new negotiations".

"The fiscal pact is negotiated, it was signed by 25 government leaders and has already been ratified by Portugal and Greece," she told a German newspaper.

"Parliaments across Europe are on the verge of passing it. Ireland is having a referendum at the end of May."

ABOUT GREECE....!?!?

ABOUT GREECE  - "I personally believe there's no chance for Greece to become competitive [while] in the eurozone," Hans-Werner Sinn, president of Ifo, said in a luncheon speech in New York on Monday. "If Greece is kept in the eurozone, there will be ongoing mass unemployment. But if they exit, they will see a very sudden recovery," he said, as lower prices boost competitiveness. He also cited risks of other indebted eurozone countries facing severe spending cuts and tax hikes. "Cutting wages and prices to the extent necessary in some southern European countries is impossible, whatever the politicians say," Sinn said. "Policy is unable to overcome the laws of economics." Greece has received more than €100bn in aid since its debt crisis began, and last month creditors agreed to trade their Greek bonds for lower-valued securities.Sinn said it would have been better to use that money to help Greece manage its exit from the eurozone. Complicating matters are the various European Central Bank lending operations that Sinn said amount to "unlimited credit" for troubled countries. The ECB has extended more than €1 trillion in low-cost, low-collateral, three-year loans to eurozone banks. Some of that money has in turn been loaned to eurozone governments to help bring down rising borrowing costs. Sinn said these operations circumvent parliaments and will eventually lead to a common European government bond that removes interest rate risk and allows countries to borrow at below-market rates rather than pay down their debt and reform their economies. "Uniform interest rates will lead to another mis-allocation of capital in Europe," Sinn said. He said Ireland has been successful in cutting its prices and trimming debt, relative to other troubled eurozone countries, because its housing bubble began to deflate before the ECB and the European Union rolled out cheap loans and rescue programs. (SOURCE: THE TELEGRAPH.UK)

The People’s Bank of China said that from Monday it will double the trading band, so that the yuan can fluctuate by 1pc every day from a mid-point, compared with its previous limit of 0.5pc. The move demonstrates Beijing’s belief that the yuan is now stable enough to handle major structural reforms, despite slowing growth of the Chinese economy.  Analysts said the slowdown may have actually spurred Beijing to make the change, because the Chinese government knew it could introduce the larger band without causing a spike in the yuan’s value. "The central bank chose a good time window to enlarge the trading band. The market's expectation for a stronger yuan is weakening," said Dong Xian'an, chief economist at Peking First Advisory in Beijing.  Nonetheless, The People's Bank of China took the unusual step of issuing its announcement in English rather than Mandarin. Sources said China wanted to deflect criticism of its currency policy ahead of the International Monetary Fund's annual spring meeting in Washington next week.
Datele anunţate de Banca Spaniei au împins costul de asigurare a datoriilor ţării la un nou nivel record şi ar putea influenţa planurile guvernului de la Madrid de a vinde săptămâna următoare obligaţiuni.   În februarie, băncile spaniole au împrumutat 169,8 miliarde de euro de la BCE.
BCE a împrumutat băncilor din zona euro aproximativ 1.000 de miliarde de euro prin două licitaţii în decembrie şi februarie.  Chiar dacă programul de lichidităţi al BCE s-a dovedit un sprijin important pentru instituţiile de credit din Spania, finanţarea nu poate fi decât o rezolvare temporară a expunerii puternice pe piaţa imobiliară şi a declinului încrederii, consideră economiştii.

"Condiţiile de finanţare s-au îmbunătăţit ca urmare a lichidităţilor nelimitate oferite de BCE, dar nu tot ce străluceşte este aur. Lichiditatea ieftină şi nelimitată poate rezolva parţial problemele de lichiditate pe termen scurt, dar a te baza pe BCE pentru finanţare este, în opinia noastră, un model de afaceri discutabil, care pe termen lung impune un cost mai ridicat al capitalului", potrivit unei note către investitori a Exane BNP Paribas. Analiştii consideră că Spania a intrat deja în a doua recesiune din ultimii trei ani, în contextul recuperării dificile a economiei după prăbuşirea pieţei imobiliare în timpul crizei financiare din 2008. Guvernul a cerut băncilor să-şi consolideze nivelurile de capital, lovite puternic de criză. Vulnerabilitatea băncilor este, alături de îndatorarea ridicată a statului, printre principalii factori care ar putea forţa Spania să ceară ajutor european.
Spania a revenit puternic în centrul crizei datoriilor suverane din Europa, ca urmare a încercărilor noului guvern de a convinge investitorii că îşi poate controla deficitul bugetar, iar băncile spaniole se pot refinanţa singure, fără ajutor de stat sau european.