Pages

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Greece: Merkel travels to eurozone fault line





Many of Europe's leading politicians have avoided official travel to Greece and the risk of a hostile reception, as the debt-saddled country struggled to keep up with commitments needed to guarantee rescue loan payments and long-term euro membership.

Greece's debt crisis started in late 2009 after it misreported deficit figures, triggering fears that debts in other eurozone countries may also be at risk.

Since May 2010, the country has depended on bailouts from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund.

[...] to get the loans, it implemented successive pay cuts and tax hikes, while increasing retirement ages and facilitating private sector layoffs that are expected to push the rate of unemployment up next year to nearly one in every four workers.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.sfgate.com