Greece borrows at steady rates as buy-back ends Jakarta Globe Greece raised 4.387 billion euros ($5.7 billion) at little-changed interest rates on Tuesday with a special bond issue to pay immediate bills amid indications a vital debt buy-back scheme had succeeded, exceeding the target. The debt agency borrowed ... |
Welcome, 77 artists, 40 different points of Attica welcomes you by singing Erotokritos an epic romance written at 1713 by Vitsentzos Kornaros
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Greece borrows at steady rates as buy-back ends
Philip Morris shows its faith in Greece
Kathimerini | Philip Morris shows its faith in Greece Kathimerini In another sign of confidence in the Greek economy, global tobacco giant Philip Morris International is planning to transfer some of its production from other plants in Europe to the unit of its Greek subsidiary Papastratos at Aspropyrgos, western Attica. |
IMF chief welcomes results of Greek bond buyback
IMF chief welcomes results of Greek bond buyback Reuters IMF chief welcomes results of Greek bond buyback. Tweet · Share this · Email · Print. Related News. Greece's lenders left to plug 450 million euro hole after buyback. 1:57pm EST. Greece extends buyback offer to reach 30 billion-euro target. Mon, Dec 10 ... |
Silvio Berlusconi's return: Why policymakers across Europe fear it
Telegraph.co.uk | Silvio Berlusconi's return: Why policymakers across Europe fear it Washington Post (blog) Italian Premier Mario Monti announced over the weekend that he's resigning early because former prime minister Berlusconi's party, the People of Freedom, pulled its support for his policies. The same day, Berlusconi announced he is running for the ... Berlusconi: who cares about Italian borrowing costs? Is Berlusconi really set to lead Italy again? News Summary: Italian premier defends austerity |
Greece Can Grow Again
Wall Street Journal | Greece Can Grow Again Wall Street Journal According to the European Commission, Greece's shadow economy amounted to a quarter of GDP in 2011. A complex administrative and tax system creates legal, bureaucratic and procedural obstacles that result in the government's failure to collect upwards ... How Debt-Ravaged Greece Aced a Financial-Literacy Survey |
Markets Hub: Give Greece a Chance
Markets Hub: Give Greece a Chance Wall Street Journal (blog) By Paul Vigna. For true risk takers, Greece beckons. The Global X Greece ETF has surged 72% since June, dwarfing the S&P 500′s 8% gain. Despite Greece's myriad problems, its stocks remain attractive. Barron's Jack Hough reports on Markets Hub. Give (Investing in) Greece a Chance |
Greece sells ?4.4 billion-worth of short term debt as it awaits bailout payment
Greece sells ?4.4 billion-worth of short term debt as it awaits bailout payment Fox News ATHENS, Greece – Greece has raised €4.4 billion ($5.7 billion) in two short-term debt auctions, needed to plug gaps as the country awaits a long-delayed rescue loan payment. The debt management agency said Tuesday it took €2.76 billion from one-month ... |
Is Berlusconi really set to lead Italy again?
Christian Science Monitor | Is Berlusconi really set to lead Italy again? - CSMonitor.com Christian Science Monitor He's back. Skip to next paragraph. In Pictures: Look Who's Back: Berlusconi. Related stories. Think you know Europe? Take our geography quiz. In quotes: 7 Berlusconi memorable moments · The 50-plus votes and allegations that failed to sink Berlusconi ... • Greece buyback programme misses target Berlusconi warned not to target Germany - FT.com Berlusconi: Bond Spread a 'Scam,' Monti Led by Germany |
Greece to announce bond buyback results Wednesday
Greece will reveal the results of a key debt buyback deal Wednesday, after an extended deadline for private investors to decide whether they will sell back their Greek bond holdings at a discount expired without any official announcements.
Eurozone finance ministers debate Greek buyback
Cyprus Court Orders Retrial Regarding Plane Crash
Financial Mirror | Cyprus Court Orders Retrial Regarding Plane Crash ABC News Greek investigators have blamed the accident on human error after inadequate cabin pressure knocked out everyone aboard, including the two pilots, after takeoff from Cyprus' main airport of Larnaca. The aircraft — on its way to the Czech Republic ... Cyprus high court orders retrial over Greek air disaster |
European Markets Steady Ahead of ZEW, US Trade
Economic Times | European Markets Steady Ahead of ZEW, US Trade - WSJ.com Wall Street Journal Europe's financial markets are opening mostly a little higher ahead of two data releases: Germany's ZEW economic sentiment survey and U.S. international trade. "The early data focus will be on the German ZEW. A small improvement is expected in both the ... European stocks climb on German data German data, U.S. fiscal hope lift stocks, euro: Thomson Reuters Business News ... Forex: Euro Boosted by Greek Debt Buyback, Strong German ZEW Survey |
Greece Exceeds Target in Debt Buyback Plan
Greece's lenders left to plug 450 million euro hole after buyback
Reuters Blogs (blog) | Greece's lenders left to plug 450 million euro hole after buyback Reuters BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's bond buyback scheme failed to meet its target by a relatively narrow margin on Tuesday but still left international lenders with a 450-million euro hole in their plan to cut the country's huge debts to a more ... Greece Confident Bond Buyback Needed for Aid Succeeded Greece raises 4.4 billion euros in short-term debt Greece set for aid payout after bond sale - FT.com |
Greek austerity measures make for a lower-key Christmas in Athens
City is spending a tenth of the usual budget on fairy lights and fir but promises to spread the 'real meaning of Christmas'
When you are bankrupt, you have to do Christmas on a budget. And so it is in Greece, starved of cash thanks to the country's great economic crisis. Only years after it had basked in the glory of erecting Europe's biggest Christmas tree, city hall in Athens is now forced to be more thrifty with its display of fairy lights and fir.
"This year's Christmas events do not aim at an easy and ornate spectacle and they are not based on thoughtless waste," declared Giorgos Kaminis, the capital's mayor, as a very different kind of tree was unveiled in Syntagma square.
They would, said Kaminis, spend only a tenth of the budget of previous years. Although "young and old alike" would be entertained with music, theatre, dance, carols and clowns, it would be merry-making in the age of austerity.
With the municipality barely able to pay its bills, only three central squares and Athens' biggest boulevards are to be illuminated, in stark contrast to years gone by when spendthrift authorities had given it their all. "Our goal this year," said city councillor Vasilliki Georgiou, "is to spread the real meaning of Christmas – solidarity, love and fraternity."
In the spirit of such times, Syntagma square – which has been the focus of mass protests against punishing austerity measures required to secure international rescue funds – will be adorned with not one but 16 miniature trees carved by fine arts students in Athens. An ice-rink sponsored by Wind, the mobile telephone company, will also grace the plaza.
"There's also going to be a light show so the tree will look very different at night," enthused a municipal employee overseeing last-minute preparations ahead of the unveiling. "And there'll be music too," she said as trumpeters and saxophonists with the town hall's orchestra got into the mood with a jazzy rendition of Christmas carols.
Athens is home to almost half of Greece's 12 million people, but with poverty and unemployment on the rise it is not the only city that will look different as the festive season approaches.
Authorities in the western port city of Patras have had to dramatically shrink celebrations partly because they have been deluged with requests for help over the Christmas period.
"Last year we fed 800 families living below the poverty line," said Theoharis Massaras, who as deputy mayor directs the municipality's social services. "This year that number has gone up to 1,300 families and every day sees the birth of yet more new poor, We're finding it very difficult to cope," he told the Guardian.
In Thessaloniki, the country's second-biggest city, mayor Yiannis Boutaris, a popular businessman, caused shockwaves this week when he announced that, like most Greeks, he could not afford to heat his eighth-floor rented apartment, being forced instead to keep warm under a blanket.
The Associated Press: Greece raises 4.4 billion euros in short-term debt
The Associated Press: Greece raises 4.4 billion euros in short-term debt The Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece raised €4.4 billion ($5.7 billion) Tuesday in two short-term debt auctions, needed to plug gaps as the country awaits a long-delayed rescue loan payment. The successful sale results were announced shortly before the ... |
Gloves come off in Italy's election contest
NDTV | Gloves come off in Italy's election contest - FT.com Financial Times The German government has warned Silvio Berlusconi not to target Berlin in the run-up to elections early next year after the former Italian prime minister attacked the “German-centric” economic policies of his successor Mario Monti. Mr Berlusconi, preparing ... Berlusconi: Bond Spread a 'Scam,' Monti Led by Germany Silvio Berlusconi launches election campaign with attack on Mario Monti Berlusconi shouldn't be counted out in Italy - The Tell - MarketWatch |