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Monday, January 21, 2013

Greece's New Loan Payment Cleared by Euro Area Signals Optimism


Homesgofast.com

Greece's New Loan Payment Cleared by Euro Area Signals Optimism
Bloomberg
Euro-area finance ministers blessed the next disbursement of emergency aid for Greece, highlighting the goodwill that led to the unblocking of loans last month for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's government. At a meeting today in Brussels, the euro ...
Why the tax on your property in Greece is set to riseHomesgofast.com
Greek banks' ECB funding rises in December, ELA downChicago Tribune
European debt crisis is not over, says Satyajit DasEconomic Times

all 17 news articles »

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Greece orders faster sale of its assets


Greece orders faster sale of its assets
Financial Times
Greece is committed to completing two important sales by the end of March: Depa, the gas utility, with its subsidiary Desfa, the grid operator; and Opap, the state-controlled gaming operator listed on the Athens stock exchange. International lenders ...

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Cyprus bailout delayed until spring

Outgoing Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker says decision on €17bn rescue package will be left until March at earliest

Eurozone finance ministers have told the government of Cyprus that a €17bn (£14.4bn) bailout must wait until the spring following concerns about the size of the rescue package, which is equivalent to the Mediterranean island's annual GDP.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the outgoing head of the group, said a decision on a rescue package would be left until at least March because "negotiations are ongoing".

Juncker warned that negotiations would be tough ahead of a decision to hand the Eurogroup's presidency to Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

Cyprus will be the next big battleground for the Eurogroup, which must also judge the progress being made by Ireland, Portugal and Greece in meeting targets to reduce their debts.

Only 11 weeks into his job with the new Dutch coalition government, Dijsselbloem said he wants to move on from simply fighting crises and focus on longer-term policies to cement fledgling confidence.

He also said he saw an enhanced role for his new job that included a roving brief to attend meetings on behalf of the Eurogroup.

In a letter to his eurozone colleagues outlining what he would focus on if chosen, Dijsselbloem said he would push to be invited to meetings of finance ministers and central bankers from the world's 20 biggest economies, the G20.

The Dutch minister, who is a Labour party representative in the coalition sworn in last November, said the eurozone should continue with reforms and fiscal consolidation that have pleased investors.

"We now need to keep the momentum going, to ensure we retain the confidence we have managed to regain in a lasting manner," he said. "Our focus needs to shift from crisis management to delivering and implementing sound medium-term policies."

But in a clear message that he intends to soften the hardline stance taken by the right-wing dominated group until now, he warned that such policies should be tailored to the individual circumstances of each country.

Allowing countries more time to repay debts is likely to be welcomed by the Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, who has resisted a bailout package until the eurogroup relents on strict repayment rules and high interest rates on any borrowing.

Ireland and Portugal are also keen to renegotiate their rescue packages after two years of austerity.

The Netherlands is one of only four eurozone countries to have retained the highest credit rating throughout the crisis and has been one of the hardliners, along with Germany and Finland on the need for tough austerity in countries benefiting from eurozone support.

However, the Dutch economy has begun to suffer in the last 18 months, dragged down by declines in demand for its goods and services from other eurozone members.

While Dijsselbloem has signalled his desire to take on a more expansive role, the crisis in Cyprus and ongoing instability in Greece, which on Monday suffered a bomb attack on the country's biggest commercial centre – a mall in the centre of Athens – are likely to absorb much of his time.

The attack on the mall unnerved government officials, with many expressing fears of a dangerous escalation in political violence, as the crisis-hit country endures a sixth straight year of recession.

For the first time the perpetrators chose to target a popular shopping centre, planting a bomb in a newspaper stand on the first floor of the mall.

A warning call to two local media outlets only 50 minutes before the blast triggered a panic-stricken evacuation of the building. Two security guards suffered minor injuries in the attack.

Many economists blame the Eurogroup's austerity policies for pushing Greece to the edge of collapse and argue a more sympathetic stance would have prevented the entire eurozone falling back into recession.

Dijsselbloem is expected to continue Juncker's work for deeper integration of the continent's banking system, which is seen by many officials as a necessary element in the eurozone's restructuring.

Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister, who has chaired meetings of the 17 eurozone finance ministers for the past seven years, said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung that his successor must have a feel for the problems of all of the countries in the currency bloc.


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Gemma Godfrey: What They Aren't Telling Us About European Unity

Huge strides forward in Europe and subsequent market rallies have raised hopes for the region. So is the road to recovery now clear or are significant risks still present? Crucially, what are the key areas of conflict we should be watching closely and which are 'red herrings'?

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.huffingtonpost.com

Lagarde gunning for Greece, stresses tax reform


Kathimerini

Lagarde gunning for Greece, stresses tax reform
Kathimerini
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has been pleasantly surprised by the stance of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras since the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank disbursed the last ...
Lagarde: No More Measures for Greece if Reforms Carried OutNaharnet
Troika Puts More Greek Austerity in LimboGreek Reporter
Greece may have USD12.7b financing by 2016: IMFMENAFN.COM
Europolitics.info -Reuters UK (blog)
all 56 news articles »

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com

How Roubini got it wrong on a Greece eurozone exit


National Post

How Roubini got it wrong on a Greece eurozone exit
National Post
“People underestimated these factors,” Roubini, chairman of New York-based Roubini Global Economics LLC, said in a telephone call 12 months after predicting Greece's exit in remarks to the 2012 World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, ...
Greek eurozone exit still likely despite European leaders resolve, warn economistsTelegraph.co.uk
Despite Aid, Greek Eurozone Exit Fears LiveGreek Reporter

all 9 news articles »

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT business.financialpost.com

Greek lawmakers OK probe of former finance minister


Greek lawmakers OK probe of former finance minister
Southeast European Times
Former Greece Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou will be investigated over charges of removing the names of three relatives from a list of Greeks with secret Swiss bank accounts that hasn't been checked for tax evasion, but an analyst says is ...

and more »

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.setimes.com

Artists announced for Greek final


Eurovision.tv

Artists announced for Greek final
Eurovision.tv
Today the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) and the music channel MAD TV announced the names of the participants to the Greek Final for the 34th Greek entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, in Malmö, Sweden. Written by Gordon Roxburgh.

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Greek banks' ECB funding rises in December, ELA down


Greek banks' ECB funding rises in December, ELA down
Reuters
ATHENS Jan 21 (Reuters) - European Central Bank funding to Greek banks rose by 13.75 billion euros in December while emergency liquidity assistance from the country's central bank fell slightly, Bank of Greece data showed on Monday. Greek banks ...

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Partying all the way to the Parthenon: Cruising around gorgeous Greece


Daily Mail

Partying all the way to the Parthenon: Cruising around gorgeous Greece
Daily Mail
Nikos Kazantzakis, author of Zorba The Greek, wrote: 'Happy is the man...who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean sea.' The encyclopaedia tells us the Aegean is 'a body of water which lies between Turkey and Greece'. But there is so ...

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Risks lie ahead for the global economy

Painful deleveraging – less spending and more saving to reduce debt and leverage – remains ongoing in most advanced economies, which implies slow economic growth

The global economy this year will exhibit some similarities with the conditions that prevailed in 2012. No surprise there: we face another year in which global growth will average about 3%, but with a multi-speed recovery – a sub-par, below-trend annual rate of 1% in the advanced economies, and close-to-trend rates of 5% in emerging markets. But there will be some important differences as well.

Painful deleveraging – less spending and more saving to reduce debt and leverage – remains ongoing in most advanced economies, which implies slow economic growth. But fiscal austerity will envelop most advanced economies this year, rather than just the eurozone periphery and the United Kingdom. Indeed, austerity is spreading to the core of the eurozone, the United States, and other advanced economies (with the exception of Japan). Given synchronised fiscal retrenchment in most advanced economies, another year of mediocre growth could give way to outright contraction in some countries.

With growth anaemic in most advanced economies, the rally in risky assets that began in the second half of 2012 has not been driven by improved fundamentals, but rather by fresh rounds of unconventional monetary policy. Most major advanced economies' central banks – the European Central Bank, the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the Swiss National Bank – have engaged in some form of quantitative easing, and they are now likely to be joined by the Bank of Japan, which is being pushed toward more unconventional policies by prime minister Shinzo Abe's new government.

Moreover, several risks lie ahead. First, America's mini-deal on taxes has not steered it fully away from the fiscal cliff. Sooner or later, another ugly fight will take place on the debt ceiling, the delayed sequester of spending, and a congressional "continuing spending resolution" (an agreement to allow the government to continue functioning in the absence of an appropriations law). Markets may become spooked by another fiscal cliffhanger. And even the current mini-deal implies a significant amount of drag – about 1.4% of GDP – on an economy that has grown at barely a 2% rate over the last few quarters.

Second, while the ECB's actions have reduced tail risks in the eurozone – a Greek exit and/or loss of market access for Italy and Spain – the monetary union's fundamental problems have not been resolved. Together with political uncertainty, they will re-emerge with full force in the second half of the year.

After all, stagnation and outright recession – exacerbated by front-loaded fiscal austerity, a strong euro, and an ongoing credit crunch – remain Europe's norm. As a result, large – and potentially unsustainable – stocks of private and public debt remain. Moreover, given ageing populations and low productivity growth, potential output is likely to be eroded in the absence of more aggressive structural reforms to boost competitiveness, leaving the private sector no reason to finance chronic current-account deficits.

Third, China has had to rely on another round of monetary, fiscal, and credit stimulus to prop up an unbalanced and unsustainable growth model based on excessive exports and fixed investment, high saving, and low consumption. By the second half of the year, the investment bust in real estate, infrastructure, and industrial capacity will accelerate. And, because the country's new leadership – which is conservative, gradualist, and consensus-driven – is unlikely to speed up implementation of reforms needed to increase household income and reduce precautionary saving, consumption as a share of GDP will not rise fast enough to compensate. So the risk of a hard landing will rise by the end of this year.

Fourth, many emerging markets – including the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), but also many others – are now experiencing decelerating growth. Their "state capitalism" – a large role for state-owned companies; an even larger role for state-owned banks; resource nationalism; import-substitution industrialisation; and financial protectionism and controls on foreign direct investment – is the heart of the problem. Whether they will embrace reforms aimed at boosting the private sector's role in economic growth remains to be seen.

Finally, serious geopolitical risks loom large. The entire greater Middle East – from the Maghreb to Afghanistan and Pakistan – is socially, economically, and politically unstable. Indeed, the Arab Spring is turning into an Arab Winter. While an outright military conflict between Israel and the US on one side and Iran on the other side remains unlikely, it is clear that negotiations and sanctions will not induce Iran's leaders to abandon efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

With Israel refusing to accept a nuclear-armed Iran, and its patience wearing thin, the drums of actual war will beat harder. The fear premium in oil markets may significantly rise and increase oil prices by 20%, leading to negative growth effects in the US, Europe, Japan, China, India and all other advanced economies and emerging markets that are net oil importers.

While the chance of a perfect storm – with all of these risks materialising in their most virulent form – is low, any one of them alone would be enough to stall the global economy and tip it into recession. And while they may not all emerge in the most extreme way, each is or will be appearing in some form. As 2013 begins, the downside risks to the global economy are gathering force.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2013.


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Greece seen as the tourism destination for 2013


DigitalJournal.com

Greece seen as the tourism destination for 2013
DigitalJournal.com
Ekathimerini reported Verkehrsbuero, Austria's largest tourist organization, said interest in classical destinations, particularly in Greece, is high for this summer. In addition to the famed sites in Athens Greece boasts such classic attractions as ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.digitaljournal.com

Number of jobseekers in Greece rises close to 800000


Kathimerini

Number of jobseekers in Greece rises close to 800000
Kathimerini
The number of people registered with Greece's unemployment office rose by 9 percent to almost 800,000 in December compared to a year earlier. The OAED Manpower Organization said that 797,578 are registered with the agency as being in search of work.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com

In Uncertain Times, Greek Security Agencies Boost Monitoring Capabilities


In Uncertain Times, Greek Security Agencies Boost Monitoring Capabilities
Balkanalysis.com
Although some Greeks regard the increase in security monitoring as excessive, it is apparent that the country could not sustain itself in terms of domestic security without a monitoring apparatus of significant size and capacity. In addition to keeping ...


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.balkanalysis.com

You thought it was safe to forger Greece?


Independent Online

You thought it was safe to forger Greece?
Independent Online
Not so in Greece, a country that international creditors have repeatedly lambasted for its tolerance of rampant tax evasion. While the Lagarde list included about 2 000 Greek depositors, successive Greek governments did not use it to collect a single ...
Greece to probe ex-finance minister over tax scandalThe Guardian
Greece In Tax Evasion Probe Of Ex-ChancellorSky News
Greece to probe ex-minister over tax scandalAljazeera.com
Yahoo! News (blog) -New York Times
all 387 news articles »

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.iol.co.za

Morgan Stanley: Greece from shake-up to shape-up?


Morgan Stanley: Greece from shake-up to shape-up?
Capital.gr (press release)
Uncertainty around Greece's future in the eurozone has diminished since last summer, Morgan Stanley says in a report published today. This is a key factor for economic stabilisation. The 'temporary' official support to Greece is becoming semi-permanent.


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT english.capital.gr

Ireland's secret for surviving austerity: emigration

The countries of the European Union, particularly those belonging to the less powerful "periphery," have faced a common political challenge: getting their citizens to go along with austerity measures. Putting aside the economic wisdom of those policies, the politics can be tricky. In a number of those countries, most notably Greece, outrage against austerity measures has exacerbated public protests and even accelerated the rise of political extremism, particularly on the far right. It's bad news for the health of those countries today and for their long-term prospects.

Read full article >>


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Greek eurozone exit still likely despite European leaders resolve, warn economists


Telegraph.co.uk

Greek eurozone exit still likely despite European leaders resolve, warn economists
Telegraph.co.uk
Mr Roubini warned that the debate over a Greek exit easily could reignite by the end of the year after Germany's election, if Greece's coalition government wobbles or if Spain and Italy appear less at risk of contagion,. Dr Doom was not alone in his ...

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Eurogroup to approve 9.2bln loan tranche for Greece and pick Juncker's successor


Kathimerini

Eurogroup to approve 9.2bln loan tranche for Greece and pick Juncker's successor
Kathimerini
Greece expects eurozone finance ministers to rubber stamp on Monday its 9.2-billion-euro loan tranche, although the Eurogroup is expected to focus on who will preside over its regular meetings in the future. The Euro Working Group has already ...

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READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.ekathimerini.com