How the world sees Greece
Eurozone nations are negotiating a third bailout worth as much as 50 billion euros ($56 billion) for Greece, Spain's Economy Minister said. The post Euro-Dizzyness: Spain Says 50B Euro Bailout for Greece Hypothetical appeared first on The National Herald.
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A Greek finance ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of ministry policy preventing the official from being named, also denied ...
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Modern consumers are moving away from frozen processed foods and seeking healthier options. The trend is threatening big food brands from Kellogg to McDonald's. But sales of Hungry-Man are soaring, reports Rob Wile at Fusion. The frozen brand is notorious for its huge, unhealthy portions. For instance, the Classic Fried Chicken meal includes breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and a brownie. The meal is packed with sodium and saturated fat and has 970 calories — about half the healthy number for the entire day. Other popular meals include pulled pork, "Chicken Wyngz," chicken and waffles, and boneless pork ribs. "On all the conversations that we have about health and wellness and positioning for the future and millennials, it frequently gets pointed out as a brand that seems to be out of sync with the times," Bob Gangort, CEO of Hungry-Man parent company Pinnacle Foods, said on a recent earnings call. Frozen foods are notoriously difficult to sell right now. Sales of Nestle Lean Cuisines have dropped by more than 25% in the past five years, Matthew Boyle at Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, Hungry Man's sales were up between 4 and 6% last year. The brand's CEO said it understands the customer who loves the brand: young men who want big portions and aren't concerned with being healthy. "The demographic is a guy who works long hours, and when they get home they really want to eat right away," company executive Maria Sceppaguerico told Fusion. Hungry-Man embraces its big portions, using the slogan "eat like a man." Many fast food companies are also testing the unapologetic approach to marketing. In a recent McDonald's Big Mac ad, the company shows mouth-watering views of its signature burger. McDonald's emphasizes that the Big Mac is "not Greek yogurt" and "will never be kale." The unapologetic approach has also been effective for Arby's, which adopted the slogan "we've got the meats" in a series of humorous ads. Arby's sales grew nearly 6% in 2014.SEE ALSO: 3 reasons Americans aren't eating cereal Follow Us: On Facebook Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: 14 things you didn't know your iPhone headphones could do
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Domokos Prison inmates Nikos Maziotis, Costas Gournas and Dimitris Koufodinas announced on Monday they were going on a hunger strike in a call for the abolition of the Type C maximum-security prison wing at the penitentiary facilities in central Greece, among other demands.
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Police in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, have arrested two people after they were found to be carrying counterfeit passports and other bogus travel documents.
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The Hellenic Food Authority (EFET) released a warning on Monday regarding apricot kernels and bitter almonds.
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Three people died of flu complications over the weekend, taking the toll of patients with the illness dying this season to 70, according to a report released on Monday by the Greek Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO).
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Russia is mulling loosening its embargo on some European Union countries, including Greece, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
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The coalition government submitted a draft legislation to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Greece. The measures will benefit impoverished households unable to access to three basic goods: electricity, housing and food. The draft contains measures among others for free electricity, rent- and food allowances. But also free access to health […]
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The Eurogroup decisions on Greece still apply and do not contain ambiguities, German Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said on Monday. The spokesman said that every step in the implementation of the process agreed jointly with Athens will be carefully monitored. Referring to German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble‘s interview on Sunday, when he spoke of a “credit event” in the case that Greece failed to promptly make payments to the European Central Bank (ECB), Jaeger said that Schaeuble was simply explaining the facts. He also said that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had made a “very unusual mistake” by EU standards in accusing Spain and Portugal of wanting to drive Greece to “economic asphyxiation” during the recent negotiations, noting that such things were not done at the Eurogroup and that “we must not interfere in the affairs of our partners’ governments.” The spokesman said that Spain and Portugal were partners with whom there was very close cooperation and that Germany recognised their achievements in terms of reforms in recent years.
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A third bailout package for Greece amounting between 30 and 50 billion euros is currently being envisaged by the Eurozone member-states’ Finance Ministers, according to Spanish Finance Minister Louis de Guindos. As de Guindos highlighted, the terms of the third bailout program will be more flexible compared to the previous ones and will allow Athens to achieve its goals and implement reforms. Furthermore, while addressing voters in the city of Pamplona, the Spanish Finance Minister stressed that from his point of view he sees no other way for Greece beyond European solidarity. At the same time, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) has also renewed the scenarios regarding a new Greek bailout package, stating that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), on which the loan assistance to Greece depends, has no termination date, in what is seen as a clear contradiction with the newly elected Greek government’s claims that the Memoranda are over. According to the EFSF, the four-month loan extension agreement reached between Athens and its Eurozone partners requires “Greece’s compliance with policy reform measures set out in the MoU, which was agreed by Greece, the European Commission, and the ECB.” More importantly, though, EFSF clarified that the Memorandum does not need an extension as “it has no termination date.” The EFSF statement The Greek Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement (MFFA) is a legal contract between the EFSF, the Greek government, the Bank of Greece, and the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF), which is Greece’s national bank recapitalization fund. It specifies the terms and conditions of the financial assistance to Greece, regarding e.g. the loan amount, availability period, fees, interest and repayment. It is signed by the EFSF CEO and the Greek Finance Minister. The provision of financial assistance under the MFFA is conditional upon Greece’s compliance with policy reform measures set out in the MoU, which was agreed by Greece, the European Commission, and the ECB. The MoU is a separate and self-standing document, but is linked to the MFFA – no disbursement can be made without MoU compliance, which is assessed by the institutions. The Greek MFFA originally expired on December 31, 2014. But on December 19, 2014, the EFSF Board of Directors decided to grant a technical extension until February 28, 2015. On February 27, 2015, the EFSF Board of Directors decided to further extend the Greek MFFA by four months until June 30, 2015. In addition, it should be noted that the MoU is a document that is often updated when a review takes place, potentially reflecting new circumstances and the need to adapt the list of policy measures to be implemented. The MoU (unlike the MFFA) did not have to be extended because it has no termination date. Greek government’s reaction Following the above EFSF statement, the Greek government replied that the Memorandum in Greece ended on January 25 and calls on those in charge of the EFSF to get informed on the tough negotiations that took place during three consecutive Eurogroup meetings, designed especially for reaching a joint communique in which there is no mention of Memoranda, signed by the previous governments. Similarly, the representative of Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Simone Boitelle, has also ruled out such a development, underlining that the “Eurozone Finance Ministers are not discussing a third bailout.”
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The trial for the Vatopedi Monastery land swap scandal started on Monday without any of the politicians allegedly involved standing trial. However, it was adjourned for March 23 because the courtroom was deemed not sufficient. The main defendants are the Monastery’s Abbot Ephraim and monk Arsenios, along with the wife of former Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis, Katerina Peleki, who is a notary. Peleki’s father and brother, who are state mortgage company and State Legal Council officials, are among those charged. The courtroom was full of clergy who expressed their support to Ephraim and Arsenios. The defendants are facing charges of breach of trust and false property certification in regards to lakeside plots of Vistonida Lake in northern Greece. The Vatopedi Monastery claims it owns the properties based on documents from 1080 bearing imperial golden seals. In 2003, the monastery authority went to court over ownership of the land. However, shortly before the court was about to issue a verdict, the Finance Minister at the time withdrew the government’s claims, based on the decisions of the State Legal Council and other authorities. In the 2006-2008 period, plots of land around the lake were being swapped for high value state property. The deal is estimated to have cost the Greek state 100 million euros. That created a scandal as several politicians were involved in the deal. During questioning, charges were brought against Agricultural Development Minister Evangelos Basiakos, his Deputy Alexandros Kontos and Deputy Finance Minister Petros Doukas. When the case was referred to the court though, the judge decided that the charges’ limitation period the former Ministers faced had lapsed.
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A Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) research note wants to make it clear: Greece can't leave the Euro, at least not without a pound of flesh being ...
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Greece is preparing to tap its final pension reserves at the country’s central bank if needed to avert a devastating default to the International Monetary Fund and keep the government going over the next two weeks. The Greeks must pay the IMF €1.5bn in ...
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German Social Democrat Martin Schulz has found himself at the head of the European Parliament for this crucial stage of the Greek crisis – a hot seat ...
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European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (R) welcomes Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) ahead of a meeting at the EU ...
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Angeliki Spyropoulou_Salamina Greek Police on Monday arrested the 60-year-old mother of two detained Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei terrorist group ...
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MADRID — Eurozone nations are negotiating a third bailout for financially strapped Greece that would give the country as much as 50 billion euros ...
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The European Commission says it is trying to maintain EU unity after Greece accused Spain and Portugal of conspiring against it in bailout talks.
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MADRID/ATHENS (Reuters) - Euro zone countries are discussing a third bailout for Greece worth 30 billion to 50 billion euros, Spain's economy minister said on Monday, but EU officials said there were no such talks.
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Hellas Gold SA (part of Canadian Eldorado Gold Corp.) and the mining workers employed in the company's goldmines in Skouries, Chalkidiki, ...
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The Greek government and the ESM statements in a veritable tug-of-war
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London (AFP) - The British and German stock markets hit record peaks Monday on hopes that eurozone quantitative easing stimulus, due to be outlined later this week, will bolster economic growth.Investor sentiment was also given a shot in the arm after China cut interest rates over the weekend for the second time since November, but the rally quickly ran out of steam as oil prices dropped.London's benchmark FTSE 100 index slid 0.09 percent to close at 6,940.64 points, having reached 6,974.26 points in morning trade, its highest intra-day level on record.Frankfurt's DAX 30 index rose 0.08 percent to 11,410.36 points, having rallied during the session to an all-time peak at 11,455.08 points.In Paris the CAC 40 fell 0.69 percent to 4,917.32 points. Madrid was flat and Milan shed 0.18 percent.This Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) will unveil the details of the bond purchase programme it is kicking off this month.Greece is also likely to be at the top of the agenda, following the recent eurozone deal to extend aid to the debt-wracked country.Ahead of the meeting, official data showed Monday that the eurozone remained mired in deflation territory in February for the third month in a row, although the figure was an improvement.Consumer prices in the 19-nation eurozone were down 0.3 percent in February, easing from a 0.6 percent drop in January.Unemployment dipped to 11.2 percent to hit its lowest level since April 2012. - Oil prices cap rally - "Today's economic data was good in many respects but many of those positives seemed to have a slightly negative undertone which prevented anyone getting too carried away," said analyst Craig Erlam at online forex broker Oanda.However Michael Hewson at CMC Markets said "it was a sharp decline in Brent oil prices that served to cap the upside in European equity markets, dragging most of Europe's benchmark indices into negative territory, as the day progressed."European benchmark Brent North Sea crude for April delivery dropped $2.09 to $60.49 in late trading, as many traders took profits after bumper gains before the weekend and eyed plentiful world crude supplies.Oil prices, which have fallen by around half since last June, have been a major driver behind slowing inflation and the threat of a deflationary spiral.At its first meeting of the year in January, ECB chief Mario Draghi announced a programme to buy 60 billion euros ($67 billion) of private and public bonds each month starting in March 2015 until at least September 2016 in a bid to ward off deflation. In a deflationary spiral, businesses and households delay purchases, throttling demand, triggering recession and causing companies to lay off workers.The Frankfurt-based ECB's decision-making governing council will hold its meeting on Thursday in Nicosia, Cyprus.Meanwhile in foreign exchange activity on Monday, the euro dipped to $1.1190 from $1.1195 late in New York on Friday. - Nasdaq breaks 5,000 - Across in Asia, markets rose Monday after the People's Bank of China on Saturday cut interest rates by 25 basis points, citing "historically low inflation" among the factors behind its decision.The move is the latest aimed at helping the economy regain its lustre after it grew in 2014 at the slowest pace since 1990. Last month the central bank cut the percentage of funds that banks must hold in reserve to try to boost lending.Shanghai added 0.79 percent and Hong Kong advanced 0.26 percent.Tokyo climbed 0.15 percent, Seoul gained 0.55 percent and Sydney rose 0.51 percent.Wall Street stocks pushed higher Monday following merger announcements, with the Nasdaq Composite Index climbing above 5,000 for the first time in 15 years, recovering nearly all the ground since the massive dot-com crash of 2000.In midday trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.61 percent to 18,242.84 points and the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.42 percent to 2,113.39.The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index pulled back somewhat, showing a 0.73 percent gain to 4,999.57 points.The biggest deal was NXP Semiconductor's $16.7 billion purchase of Freescale Semiconductor, linking two big manufacturers of chips used in cars. NXP jumped 14.4 percent, while Freescale gained 9.4 percent.Join the conversation about this story »
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De Guindos first senior European to admit negotiations
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Greeces leftist government on Monday outlined a first batch of measures to combat poverty to be approved by parliament in coming days.
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The Greek cash crunch inflicted more losses on local lenders’ stocks on Monday, with the banks index losing almost 10 percent (down 9.91 percent) and the bourse benchmark declining for the fourth session in a row.
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It is necessary to find a decision consistent with WTO norms, minister of economic development Alexey Ulyukayev says
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No, the Soviet Union isn't coming back. However, the Russian Federation is reasserting itself and a new Cold War has already opened. The first front in this war is Ukraine. How the United States responds now will influence how Russia acts and how Europe evolves for the rest of this century. Punishing Russia economically is poor consolation if we still allow Ukraine to collapse financially and militarily. Nearly a year since Russia invaded Crimea, only half the $118 million Washington approved has even reached Ukraine. When U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Ukraine earlier this month, he pledged an additional $16 million in non-lethal assistance. With the latest ceasefire, the International Monetary Fund has unlocked $17.5 billion in monetary assistance -- but even that amount is threatened by ongoing hostilities. And it won't deter Russia from turning its sights on other countries in the region. The European Union is outspending the United States, deploying military advisers, and leading repeated efforts at a ceasefire and some peace deal -- negotiations that bear little promise, because Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't invade Ukraine in order to achieve peace. As in the old Cold War, much of the onus falls on the United States, because it possesses the overwhelming military and economic strength, and also Americans don't live in Russia's shadow, relying heavily on its natural gas and its food exports. Yes, due to aggression against Ukraine, Russia's economy is imploding, investors are pulling out, and the ruble has lost nearly half its value in the past year. But Ukraine's economy is even worse off, not as a result of its own misdeeds, but purely due to Russia's invasion and intimidation; shooting down the Malaysian airliner has actually worked out very well for Moscow, as no one now dares overfly Ukraine. Failing to deliver even on modest commitments of non-lethal aid, not to mention general assistance or "lethal" military aid, has implications far beyond the fate of Ukraine. Despite strong rhetoric and sanctions against Russia, and amid training and mobilization of NATO forces around the region including the Baltic States, Washington has yet to provide any significant assistance to Ukraine. Ukrainians are willing to fight to keep Russia from annexing their territory. Helping their fight will likely escalate the confrontation and sharply increase Ukraine's casualties. President Putin may never back off from bullying and occupying his neighbor. But having received promises from the West over the years, and for taking the risks of asking to join us, Ukrainians deserve support in their fight. Morally, America should be backing Ukraine in deed and not just in word. Strategically, failing to do so tells Russia that U.S. threats and recriminations mean little beyond economic hardship. And Russia has survived much worse in living memory. Should Putin decide to annex a few Baltic islands, or expand the borders of Kaliningrad (the Russian enclave between Latvia and Lithuania), it's possible NATO would use all necessary measures to defeat him. But so far, all the West has done is allow him to enter and annex Crimea, and to occupy Eastern Ukraine, with no military response. As Russian mercenaries overrun regions of Ukraine, there has been little recourse to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which Ukraine abandoned its nuclear arsenal in exchange for Russian, U.S. and British security guarantees. If Washington will not fulfill that commitment, why should Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians believe NATO will put it all on the line for them? Why should Putin? Ceasefires are pointless in Ukraine, because Putin wants anything but. He didn't choose to violate Ukraine's borders in order to reduce hostilities. He struck in order to return Ukraine under Russia's yoke. The more Ukrainian cities are decimated and civilians killed, the more Ukrainian soldiers are captured and humiliated, the better for Putin politically. If this is the start of a new Cold War, then waiting for Putin to wear himself out is no strategy. The relatively stable balance of power held in post-war Europe until the Soviet collapse, but the late-1940s were marked by Soviet opportunism and U.S. military response, notably in Greece. During the rest of the Cold War, America had troops and nuclear weapons based in Western Europe, and the historic Berlin airlift defied Moscow's intention of cutting of West Berlin. And actual hostilities across Europe were very limited. Without the specter of nuclear brinkmanship and capitalist-communist rivalry, this new "cold war" will definitely be lower grade than the original. But conventional forces and nationalist ethos are hardly benign. Putin needs to bring Ukraine low for several reasons. First, he won't abide Russia's historical and strategic kin becoming the West's client. Second, he won't agree to concede Russian economic privileges there, in perpetuity. Third, he can't afford for Russians to see a genuinely democratic and Western-integrated Soviet successor state -- much like their own -- providing prosperity and security to its people, lest Russians start thinking Ukraine's mini-revolution was a good idea. Fourth, Putin sends a message to the region and world, that Russia will not be trifled with, and that veiled Russian threats are backed by unambiguous Russian guns; don't mess with Russia. Putin is sending a message to the world about the arbitrariness of national sovereignty and free markets, and Washington is responding with a message of powerlessness and empty rhetoric. The West will not bring Russia to its knees within any meaningful timeframe, nor can we really afford to. Nor do we need to: Russia really is too big to fail, and so is Western investment in its future. There's still time to avoid cycles of confrontation with the Russian Federation, and reasonable chance for resumed economic and cultural cooperation, but only if the United States backs up its own red lines. At the very least, Washington needs to show it's committed to upholding European sovereignty and free markets where it can -- at any cost. If it won't, then the cost ends up being much higher, for everyone.
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Greece will outline the details of reforms agreed with its international lenders at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on March 9, the country's deputy prime minister said on Monday. Athens secured a four-month extension of its financial rescue in February when its euro zone partners approved an initial list of reforms. "(Greek Finance Minister Yanis) Varoufakis will present specific ...
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That’s an unbelievable challenge for the debt-ridden Greek society! The collective bargain signed between Greece’s Public Power Company and powerful union GENOP-DEH electrocutes large parts of the unemployment- and austerity-hit Greeks of the country’s private sector. Four unions of workers at Greece’s Public Power Company (DEH) signed a collective bargain […]
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BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers are not discussing a third bailout for Greece, the spokeswoman for Jeroen Dijsselbloem ...
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The Greek banking index fell nearly 10 percent, while lenders National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank and Alpha Bank fell 10.0 to 11.8 percent to ...
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BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers are not discussing a third bailout for Greece, the spokeswoman for Jeroen Dijsselbloem ...
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DUBLIN/MADRID, March 2 (Reuters) - Europe's tough treatment of Greece's new government has eased some immediate anti-austerity pressure in ...
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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece says Turkey has withdrawn a recent notice seeking to reserve a large swathe of airspace over the Aegean Sea for military maneuvers until the end of the year.
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Contrary to what it said last week, Greece leftist new government has revoked a key approval that Canada's Eldorado Gold Corp (TSX:ELD) ...
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What hopes and fears has the new government in Greece awakened, and how bad are relations with Germany? Four weeks after the election, SPIEGEL sat down to discuss the situation with six Greek people from different walks of life.
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United States Ambassador to Cyprus John Koenig has irritated Nicosia after asking on Twitter “What do people in Cyprus think about the week in Russia as seen from here? Anastasiades visit and statements, Nemtsov assassination?” linking Boris Nemtsov’s assassination with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades‘ official visit to Moscow. Anastasiades concluded his visit to Russia on Saturday, February 28, just hours after the iconic opposition figure’s assassination in downtown Moscow. Today, he sharply rebuked the US Ambassador for his tweet, characterizing it as “exceedingly undiplomatic” and saying that any diplomat who creates “icy” bilateral relations does not offer any service to either his country or the country he is posted to. On his behalf, Cypriot government spokesperson Nicos Christodoulides said that Koening’s choice was “unfortunate at the very least” and that it “exceeds the bounds of diplomacy.” The outrageous tweet caused even the reaction of the island’s Greek Orthodox Church Archbishop Chrysostomos II, who advised the Cypriot government to ask for Koenig’s recall. During President Anastasiades’ visit to the Russian Federation last week, eight bilateral agreements were signed between the two countries, along with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and the Central Bank of Russia. Moreover, another MoU was signed between the Cyprus Investment Promotion Authority (CIPA) and “Invest in Russia.” On Friday, Anastasiades visited St. Petersburg before returning to Cyprus on Saturday. US Ambassador Koenig: My tweet was misunderstood In a statement issued on Monday, Koenig excused himself saying that the “question on Twitter was misunderstood.” He noted that his intention was neither to provoke nor imply anything. “I would like to clarify that my intention was neither to provoke nor to imply anything. I simply wanted to get the reaction of the Cypriot people on two different issues: First, President Anastasiades’ visit and statements in Moscow and, second, another dramatic event in Moscow last week, the assassination of Boris Nemtsov.” Furthermore, he underlined that “it is unfortunate that some suggested that I linked the two issues. That was not my intention.”
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Greece said on Monday it will not have any problem meeting its financial obligations this month, after reports indicated that the country might have difficulty repaying its international creditors in the coming months. “The public should not be concerned … the Greek government has been looking for solutions to ensure there are no problems in paying the IMF and the other financial commitments we have in March,” Greek government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis said. He stressed that the government would not have any trouble meeting its financial obligations, including a 1.5-billion-euro International Monetary Fund (IMF) repayment this month. Over the weekend, Athens hinted that it may face difficulties meeting a major debt repayment to the European Central Bank (ECB), and other creditors this summer. (source: dpa)
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By Sarah Morris and Lefteris PapadimasMADRID/ATHENS (Reuters) - Euro zone countries are discussing a third bailout for Greece worth 30 billion to 50 billion euros, Spain's economy minister said on Monday, as Athens sought to quell fears it might run out of money before the end of March.Speaking at an event in Pamplona, in northern Spain, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said the new rescue plan would set more flexible conditions for Greece, which had no alternative other than European support.Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras used a televised address on Friday to deny his country would need another international program."Some have bet on a third bailout, on the possibility of a third bailout in June. I'm very sorry but once again we will disappoint them," Tsipras said.Euro zone officials involved in preparation for euro zone finance ministers' meetings were nonplussed by De Guindos's remarks."A third bailout is news to me," one senior official told Reuters.Greece has acute and immediate funding problems to overcome, despite the four-month extension to its existing bailout it negotiated with the euro zone last month. To win that, Tsipras had to give up on key pledges made during his election campaign.The extension averted an imminent banking meltdown. But Greece still faces a steep decline in revenues and is expected to run out of cash by the end of March, possibly sooner.The new government in Athens sought to assure it can cover its funding needs this month, including repaying a 1.5 billion- euro loan to the International Monetary Fund."The Greek government has been exploring solutions ... to ensure there won't be a single problem with repaying the IMF loan, or its funding obligations in March," government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis told Greek radio.Most of its options appear to have been shut off, for now at least.A request for 1.9 billion euros in profits the European Central Bank made on buying Greek bonds will not be granted until Greece has completed promised reforms.Athens has also sought permission to issue more short-term treasury bills, having reached a cap of 15 billion euros set by its lenders. The euro zone has made clear it does not want to see that limit lifted.Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the group of euro zone finance ministers with whom Greece must negotiate, offered a potential escape route.He told the Financial Times that Greece's international creditors could pay part of the 7.2 billion euros remaining in its bailout pot as early as this month if Athens started enacting necessary reforms."There are elements that you can start doing today. If you do that, then somewhere in March, maybe there can be a first disbursement. But that would require progress and not just intentions," Dijsselbloem was quoted as saying.Greece is due to receive the 7.2 billion in remaining EU/IMF bailout funds if it successfully completes the program. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said last week no further aid would be paid out until Athens fulfilled all the conditions.Berlin has also ruled out any debt write-down.Longer-term, EU officials say Greece -- shut out of the bond market and unable to borrow -- will inevitably need a third support program to buy time to get back on its feet.BLAME GAMEHaving negotiated a bailout extension and backed off major campaign pledges such as ending austerity and renegotiating its debt pile, markets are confident Greece will not bomb out of the euro zone.But diplomats talk of a lack of patience with the mixed messages coming from the new government about its economic reform intentions and its finger pointing at European partners.The European Commission said it was seeking to maintain EU unity after Tsipras accused Spain and Portugal of conspiring against it, triggering complaints from Madrid and Lisbon.Tsipras accused Madrid and Lisbon of leading a conservative conspiracy to topple his anti-austerity government because they feared the rise of the left in their own countries."By European standards, this was very unusual foul play. We don't do that in the Eurogroup, that's not appropriate," a spokesman for Schaeuble told a news conference in Berlin.Countries that had to implement their own reforms in return for outside help, such as Ireland, Portugal and Spain, have joined Germany in arguing Greece should not get preferential treatment.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Greece needed to give more details on the reforms it promised in return for the extension of its aid program.(Additional reporting by Jan Strupczewski in Brussels; Writing by Mike Peacock; Editing by Larry King)Join the conversation about this story »
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The Greek government confirmed on Monday that the four-month loan extension agreement will not be submitted to parliament since it is not required. SYRIZA parliamentary spokesperson Konstantinos Fylis said that MPs have an opportunity to discuss the agreement but not vote for it. Speaking to Greek TV, the new SYRIZA Central Committee general secretary, Tasos Koronakis, said that the list of reforms and measures presented to the Eurogroup was a generalized text and that the parliament will vote on specific legislations and measures after the four-month bridge program, when the final agreement will be reached. The government statements came after opposition parties criticized it for not bringing the matter to parliament. There were claims that the new government was afraid to bring the agreement to the Greek parliament because the new agreement is, in essence, a continuation of the existing bailout program. The government decision not to bring the agreement to parliament was criticized by SYRIZA members as well. MEP Dimitris Papadimoulis tweeted that it is not a legal but a political obligation to bring the agreement to the Greek parliament. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that since this is an extension of an agreement, it is not required by law to get the parliament’s backing. However, Tsipras pledged that after the four-month extension is over, he will ask for the parliament’s approval over specific legislations required by the bailout agreement to be signed then. “The Prime Minister is determined to have a discussion on this… we are not afraid of dialogue,” said government spokesperson Gavriil Sakellaridis. “There is a reason that the government chooses at this time not to bring the agreement to parliament for approval, for it has to do with the fact that it is just the extension of an already existing loan agreement,” he added.
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The need to face the humanitarian crisis caused by the Memoranda comes first, before the institutions, noted Greece’s Deputy Health Minister Dimitris Stratoulis speaking to ANT1 TV on Monday referring to the draft laws to be tabled, starting from today, in parliament. Referring to the funding of the humanitarian crisis draft laws, Stratoulis clarified that “they are separate from whatever negotiation we are doing.” The issue is not whether Greece’s loan partners and the institutions agree with the specific bills but “that SYRIZA and Independent Greeks MPs will vote for them,” he said, expressing also the hope that “New Democracy and Communist Party MPs will also vote for them.” He underlined that there will be no problem with the country’s commitments and that as a Minister he will send “nothing to the institutions since the bills have no fiscal cost.” Stratoulis explained that “each Minister is not obliged to talk to the institutions. There is no Troika anymore and the Finance Minister talks to the institutions.” The Deputy Health Minister also revealed part of the regulations such as free electricity to up to 300,000 households and clarified that the specific measure will be applied under conditions, saying that the cost will reach 58 million euros, which, as he said, is easy to find. He also referred to a rent subsidy to 30,000 families that will stand at 70 euros per person and 220 euros for four-member families and will be offered to those close or under the poverty line as well as coupons for food to up to 300,000 citizens in cooperation with the local authorities. Stratoulis said that all tax payers are eligible for these measures regardless of their nationality. Referring to the zero deficit clause, he said that it will be included in one of the next bills, noting that there will not be more cuts in the supplementary pensions. According to Stratoulis, there will be no additional taxes to cover the latter but those “who have never paid” will pay and referred to the so-called Lagarde and Lichtenstein Lists. (source: ana-mpa)
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com |
The Athens Stock Exchange dropped 2.45% Monday, closing at 858.95 points. The stock market closed lower for the fourth consecutive session. It has lost 8.42% over these sessions. Banks, as usual, were hurt the most, with the sectoral index dropping 9.91%. Further losses ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.enikos.gr |
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, elected in January, said Friday his government won’t need another bailout. Greece has received pledges of 240 billion euros ($269 billion) in aid from its two rescue packages, and Tsipras’s government must meet creditor demands to tap remaining funds. Speculation over whether Greece would need a third bailout has been swirling for a year or more -- German Finance ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT finance.yahoo.com |
This week, I'm attending The Future of Work Conference being held in London sponsored by The WorldPost. One panel I am on is "Mind the Skills Gap." Discussions about the skills gap have usually included questions such as "How serious is it?" and "What can we do about it?" and "How can we get our schools and employers to work better together?" But now more serious questions are being raised -- questions about whether the skills gap exists at all. Less than a year ago, New York Times columnist and economic heavyweight Paul Krugman wrote that it does not. He called it a skills myth. And he said it again just last week. And while I'm hesitant to disagree with someone as well-versed and well placed as Krugman, there's really little debate that we have a skills gap -- or maybe, better said, an employment gap. Call it a skills gap, a wage gap, an education gap -- it's a gap. The space between chronically open jobs and frequently unemployed in the workforce exists in many places. A recent McKinsey report on education and employment in the EU found that, "In Greece, where the unemployment rate has been above 55 percent in 2012, employers still complain they cannot find suitable entry-level hires; the same is true for Sweden and Germany." Across the eight European countries surveyed, the majority of employers -- 61 percent -- reported concerns about being able to find sufficient numbers of employees to meet their business needs. Likewise, employers in Latin America, Europe, Central Asia, and Africa reported feeling there was a skills gap at 20 percent, 19.7 percent and 18 percent respectively. And it's not just those hiring who see this gap. Udemy, one of the leading platforms to offer online courses, recently polled over 1,000 Americans between 18 and 65 years old. Sixty-one percent of those in the survey said "today's workforce is plagued by a skills gap." Because so many people in so many places are seeing it, maybe we can get back to talking about why it exists and how we can help solve it. THE FIX As someone who's spent their career in education reform and pioneering innovative instruction programs designed, at least in part, to address this challenge, here is what I see and what I think we can do about it. First, when people -- employers, job seekers and professionals alike -- hear "skills," we think technology or highly technological or refined skills such as engineering and computer coding. And while part of the gap in the workforce is attributable to these high-training and learning skills, that's only part of it. In 2013, the top job skills in demand on LinkedIn were dominated by technical skills but also certain soft skills and entrepreneurial approaches. These softer, in-demand skills included: communications skills (social media, digital and online marketing) and relationship skills (business development and relationship management). Other frequently cited in-demand soft skills are: problem solving, teamwork, creativity, time management and persistence. In the U.K., the Confederation of British Industry's annual Education and Skills survey shows the workplace value in these soft skills clearly. According to their 2014 survey, 85 percent of employers reported they valued young people's attitudes towards work the most while 63 percent valued their actual aptitude to do the actual work. Similarly, a recent survey of more than 400 employers, cited noted "...employers in the United States indicate that the four most important skills are oral communication, teamwork/collaboration, professionalism/work ethic, and critical thinking/problem solving. More than 90 percent of employers surveyed declared these skills to be "very important." In contrast, writing, mathematics, science, and history/geography were ranked 6th, 15th, 16th, and 19th, respectively, out of 20 skills." This insight isn't meant to dismiss technology and related STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) training. But it should highlight that today's and tomorrow's workers will need both strong job ability and strong soft skills. Few things we can do will have more impact on future employment and workforce outcomes than teaching young people how to deploy both skill sets the way entrepreneurs do. Thinking and acting like an entrepreneur connects skills such as math, engineering and technology with communications, collaboration and problem solving. There are models to follow. In the U.K., the government has launched a pilot program called the Fiver Challenge, where students are given £5 to set up their own mini-business with the goal of making a profit. Its goal is to teach primary school children about the role of business and help them learn the entrepreneurial skills to launch their own mini-business and make a profit. My organization -- Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) -- works with school districts in 10 different countries to teach the entrepreneurship mindset. Our research shows that students who take entrepreneurship classes are more likely to start their own business, more likely to be employed and earn more on average than their peers. Another truth is that while education systems are not investing enough in teaching young people to think like entrepreneurs, school systems are also lagging when it comes to teaching the harder, tech skills by themselves. In the information technology industry, nearly all technologies become obsolete within 10 years. As a result, education expires much faster than it used to. And because digital technology permeates all industries, no field of employment is spared the pressure of accelerated innovation. A recent TATA report about youth perceptions on work and the future found that 63 percent of European youth did not feel the education system had prepared them with the necessary skills or knowledge to find a job that involved technology. Not teaching quality job skills -- technology or otherwise -- may be why that Udemy survey also reported that only about half of Americans said higher education helped them get their first job and "more than a third believe they use less than 10 percent of what they learned in college in the workplace." So what can we do about it? In the U.S., teaching entrepreneurship skills is left largely to colleges and only non-profit organizations are working to bring these skills to younger students before they make choices that are likely to predestine them to poverty. Fortunately, European leaders seem to see the opportunity more clearly. The European Union has a plan, which states: "Education is key to shaping young people's attitudes, skills and culture and it is vital that entrepreneurship education is addressed from an early age. Entrepreneurship education is essential not only to shape the mindsets of young people but also to provide the skills and knowledge that are central to developing an entrepreneurial culture." But even in Europe, the embrace of entrepreneurship is seen as an add-on to other education tracks. The concepts have yet to embraced and enacted as wholly and deeply as other teaching reforms, such as teaching STEM. We need schools and programs that can connect strong STEM and other academic skills with entrepreneurial skills and mindsets which are rich with these productive soft skills such as communications, creativity and persistence. Blended and project based learning needs to be the rule not the exception. Even if you're in the Krugman camp when it comes to the skills gap -- there's no harm in having education systems which do both things well. Maybe that's something everyone can agree on and we can get started making it happen.
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Eurozone nations are negotiating a third bailout for financially strapped Greece that would give the country as much as 50 billion euros ($56 billion), ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT abcnews.go.com |
Eldorado Gold Corp., battling to develop a mine in Greece in the face of government opposition, said it was blocked from completing construction of a ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theglobeandmail.com |
General Mills has applied to patent a method it claims produces prebiotic oligosacchride from Greek yogurt by-product, acid whey.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dairyreporter.com |
TORONTO — Greece has revoked authorization that Eldorado Gold Corp needs to complete its Skouries project, the Canadian miner said on Monday, ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT business.financialpost.com |
BRUSSELS — The European Union (EU) said on Monday it is trying to mediate in a simmering row between Greece and its eurozone partners Spain ...
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.bdlive.co.za |