Former European commissioner Stavros Dimas fails to secure 180 votes required to be elected president, triggering snap general election that could put Greece’s bailout at risk. 10.35am GMT Greece heading for snap elections - MacropolisCONFIRMED: #Greece heading to snap elections (Jan 25 or Feb 1) after Parliament fails to elect a new president #PtD 10.17am GMT The vote is underway.Current vote tally. Dimas needs to get to 180 votes. pic.twitter.com/laMCONVMSiNo sign so far that there will be any surprises in final presidential vote. #Greece on way to snap elections, it seems #PtDThree MPs who could protentially vote Yes to Dimas have voted against. Game over. #PtD 10.15am GMT Greek ferry update: rescue teams are working to save 149 people from the burning ferry, according to the latest from Reuters.A tug boat was expected to reach the ship to make another rescue attempt by 10 am local time, Greece’s shipping minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis told Skai TV. 10.10am GMT Labour MP Chris Bryant gives his verdict on Mervyn King’s interview of Ben Bernanke. 10.07am GMT Greek vote - timeline 9.56am GMT Greek bond yields are rising this morning, reflecting investor concern that the government is more likely to default on its debts.Greek 10-year bond yields are up 29 basis points to 8.82% 9.49am GMT The latest polls show that Stavros Dimas will fall just short of the 180 votes he needs to be elected Greek president.@TheStalwart Predictions for the Greek prez vote from @MacroPolis_gr pic.twitter.com/Ykw0zR8oiY 9.46am GMT Today’s Greek vote comes as the country waits anxiously for the rescue of more than 200 people trapped on a burning ferry.Rescue teams working through the night have pulled 265 people off the car ferry, but more than 200 are stranded on board, the Italian navy said on Monday. 9.29am GMT With just over half an hour to go until Greek deputies vote, investors are still selling.Greece’s ATG index has extended its losses, and is now down 7.76% on market opening. 9.24am GMT Russia’s economy contracted in November for the first time since the global financial crisis hit the country in 2009.Data from the economy ministry showed that November GDP was down 0.5% on 2013. 9.20am GMT The global financial crisis that tipped the western world into the longest downturn since the 1930s. We remember that. Mervyn King, former governor of the Bank of England, also remembers the crisis as something of a career high.He has been recalling the UK’s response to the financial crisis on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.It was exciting and it was fascinating and it was the sort of problem that we had trained to deal with over many years. So I think both Ben [Bernanke, then chair of the US Federal Reserve] and I felt that having spent a good deal of time thinking through the intellectual foundations of what to do with a banking crisis and the opportunity to deal with one was one that we were well prepared for. It certainly was a lot of stress; the crisis was so complicated, there were so many different aspects to it and the response of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England was so complex and so many moving parts that I felt like a pilot in a cockpit, always trying to keep my eye on every light that was going red. So by focusing so much on the individual task, we tried not to be thinking all the time about the consequences for the world of these decisions and that seemed to help somewhat. Greece did not prevent something terrible happening, Greece has been through a repetition of the Great Depression as far as it’s concerned. 9.08am GMT The TUC has called on the government to reverse laws that make it easier to sack workers, following the City Link collapse.Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC said: The fast track sackings at City Link are a prime example of the unacceptable face of casualised Britain, with workers denied even basic rights to proper consultation. But there is nothing inevitable about this company going bust. Too many employers are using insolvency to take the money and run, leaving the taxpayer to foot the redundancy bill. 8.52am GMT Investors are in a jittery mood ahead of this morning’s presidential vote in Athens.Greece’s main stock market, the ATG index, is down 5% this morning. 8.50am GMT Private equity firm Better Capital has mounted a defence over the timing of the City Link collapse, after unions demanded an investigation into the announcement. In a statement issued to investors issued today, the firm said the decision to appoint administrators was leaked to the media, leading to employees finding out the bad news on Christmas day.Unfortunately the appointment of an administrator was leaked to the media ahead of the intended announcement. The directors very much regret the impact on the employees of City Link receiving such bad news on Christmas Day. 8.33am GMT The private equity owner who oversaw the collapse of City Link has delivered a combative message, as it emerges that the taxpayer will pick up the bill for redundancy payments to nearly 3,000 workers at the parcel delivery firm.Jon Moulton, the founder of Better Capital, the private equity firm that bought City Link for £1 in 2013, said he had nothing to apologise for.“I don’t feel any need to apologise for the process that we’ve followed. That doesn’t make it a pleasant process — or a nice outcome.”We chased every possible way to save this company.He says the company had simply failed, and that delaying the closure over Christmas had not been an option, as trading while insolvent was a criminal offence. Not particularly, no.It says everything about the state of industry in Britain today that a donor to the party of government can wreck the lives of thousands of people, walk away and leave the taxpayer to pick up the redundancy costs. 8.12am GMT The Russian rouble has fallen 3.6% against the dollar this morning.The rouble was trading at around 57 to the dollar and 68 to the euro in early trading. 7.53am GMT Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and the business world.Greece is on the verge of a crucial vote that will determine the future of the country’s international bailout, with consequences that will reverberate around Europe.What happens in parliament on Monday will not only define the course of Greece but of Europe. If Samaras wins, it will be a huge vote of confidence for a man who, despite being a critic of austerity, has implemented policies at the behest of other EU lenders to keep his country solvent. But if the presidential election fails to deliver his man, and snap polls are called as the Greek constitution stipulates, radical insurgents bent on overturning that order are on course to triumph. Continue reading...
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