Greece's Lefist SYRIZA Extends Lead over Conservatives Ahead of Sunday’s Vote

Greece’s snap parliamentary elections on Sunday could bring to power Europe’s first radical leftist government, polls have shown. The leftist anti-austerity party SYRIZA has widened its election lead, which is putting it on course for defeating the conservative New Democracy party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, the dominant force in a coalition government with Socialist party PASOK that has held power since June 2012. A poll released by pollster GPO on Thursday gave SYRIZA a six-percentage-point lead over New Democracy. A week earlier, GPO had the lead at four percentage points. According to an Alco poll released on Friday, Syriza has 32.9% support, giving it a 6.6 point lead - up from 5.2 points in a survey by the same pollster on Wednesday. Surveys by Kapa Research and MRB for Star TV put the difference between the two parties at 2.9 and 5.2 points, respectively. About 10% of those polled were undecided. Under Greece’s election rules, a political party generally needs to win between 36% and 40% of the vote to secure a majority in the 300-seat one-chamber parliament.To enter parliament, a party needs a minimum of 3% of the vote.  MPs are elected through a combined system of majority and proportional representation. The winning party is rewarded with a 50-seat bonus but needs 151 seats to form a majority. According to analysts, SYRIZA will find it difficult to win outright majority amidst growing pressure from the EU and IMF to respect Grece’s commitment to austerity measures made in exchange for the EUR 240B bailout programme of the so-called troika – the EU, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB). Media speculation has it that SYRIZA, or Coalition of the Radical Left, might prefer to enter a coalition government that would enable it to continue the structural reforms and budget cuts demanded by the international lenders. To Potami, a new centrist party, has been widely seen as a potential ally of SYRIZA. PASOK also could be an ally after Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos told Reuters earlier this week the party could support a government led by SYRIZA as part of a wider pro-euro alliance to steer Greece out of its bailout programme. According to opinion polls, the anti-bailout Independent Greeks party has emerged as a potential coalition partner for SYRIZA. Since 15 January, 16 of 18 opinion polls have given the partythe minimum of 3% needed to enter parliament.  Although it is centre-right party formed by rebels from New Democracy, the Independent Greeks share Syriza's opposition to the terms of the bailout programme. SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, who has declared his intention to renegotiate and write off part of Greece’s massive debt and cancel the austerity measures, said on Thursday his party would restore "dignity" to the country. Greece’s debt totalled EUR 320B last year, almost EUR 30,000 per resident. “History is knocking at our door,” he told thousands of cheering supporters in Athens on Thursday, appealing to all Greeks to vote to overthrow an establishment widely blamed for bringing the country to the point of economic and social collapse. Greeks saw their income considerably reduced by heavy taxation and slashing of wages and pensions in recent years. The economy has shrunk by a quarter in less than five years – a rate of decline unseen in the modern era. Unemployment rate remains around 26% and almost three in every five young Greeks is jobless. The possibility of a SYRIZA vote has sparked fears that Greece could default on its debt and exit the eurozone. Unlike Tsipras, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has called on the Greek voters to "stay the course", pledging to take Greece out of the bailout programme early albeit with an extended line of credit. Samaras has also said that that following years of austerity, Greece is now showing signs of recovery. Revenue from tourism is increasing, the government budget is showing a surplus and the country is no longer in recession.

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Who’s Who In Greece’s Elections

Greece goes to the polls Jan. 25 in a snap general election that has thrown into question whether the country will abide by bailout terms if SYRIZA comes to power. The post Who’s Who In Greece’s Elections appeared first on The National Herald.

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Is This The End Of Austerity For Greece?

The post Is This The End Of Austerity For Greece? appeared first on The National Herald.

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Worried Greek Americans sidelined as friends and family brace for critical vote

Around the corner at St Demetrios's Greek Orthodox cathedral, worshippers line up for a baptism. The rain pours down the pavement in waves, ...

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Eyes On Fed After ECB, Other Bank Stimulus Moves

By Caroline ValetkevitchNEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve could be key for Wall Street next week as investors get to hear from the U.S. central bank for the first time since a series of moves by its global peers, including the European Central Bank's massive stimulus plan.Thursday's larger-than-expected stimulus package from the ECB lifted U.S. stocks, helping indexes post gains for the week after three straight weeks of losses.But the increased stimulus measures from the ECB and elsewhere globally, including the Bank of Canada, may make it tougher for the Fed to move ahead with its own plan to start raising interest rates by mid-year, lest U.S. economic policy move out of sync with the rest of the world."Global central policy is not one of their mandates, but I think they have to acknowledge it, because this is not just global economic headwinds, this is actually the moves of other central banks. They've got to take that into account," said Erik Davidson, chief investment officer for Well Fargo Private Bank in San Francisco.Should the United States raise rates when other major developed economies are being more expansive, that could boost the dollar, putting further pressure on commodity prices - which because they are denominated in dollars become more expensive for non-U.S. investors - and adding to the threat of deflation.The Fed is expected to reiterate that those global risks have not yet put the U.S. recovery or the Fed's rate plans off track when it issues its policy statement at the close of its two-day meeting on Wednesday.The timing of the Fed's eventual rate move has been a top concern for investors. Stocks rallied when the Fed said after its December meeting that it would take a patient approach toward raising interest rates and gave an upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy.The sharp decline in oil prices that began last June and worries about deflation could keep the Fed on hold for longer, analysts said."It bodes well for the Fed to be patient," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. "There's no inflation here; the problem is deflation. If oil prices were to go lower, that could create more of a problem."THE ATTRACTION OF EUROPEAN SHARESAt the same time, more money has been moving from the U.S. market into European stocks as a result of the ECB measures, adding to concerns for U.S. stock investors.Sharp declines in the euro , which hit an 11-year low against the dollar on Friday, make European stocks cheaper, especially compared with U.S. equities.Flows into EPFR Global's European regional equity funds rose to one-year highs in the week leading up to the ECB announcement, EPFR Global said. Exchange-trade funds tied to Europe rallied following the ECB move this week. The SPDR Emerging Europe ETF jumped 3.7 percent this week, its biggest weekly gain since September.Investors will also be watching elections Sunday in Greece. With the leftist Syriza party - which has pledged to scrap austerity measures and secure a debt write-off - leading in polls, the euro may see further pressure.Underpinning the argument for U.S. stocks, though, is the growing strength of the U.S. economy while overseas economies have been weakening."European equities will likely improve in the short term, but in the medium term equity performance is likely to be tied to the performance of the real economy," Rob Waldner, chief strategist at Invesco, wrote in a note this week.Next week also marks one of the busiest weeks for fourth-quarter U.S. earnings, with 141 S&P 500 companies slated to report. Among them are several top technology names including Apple and Microsoft .With fourth-quarter earnings projected to grow 10.6 percent, tech is expected to be a bright spot in an earnings season that has been lackluster thus far.Profit growth expectations for S&P 500 companies, now at 3.3 percent, are down sharply since the start of the fourth quarter following a big drop in forecasts for energy company earnings.(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Leslie Adler)Join the conversation about this story »

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Greece isn’t taking a soft option – the people demand real change

The posters on Athenian bus shelters look like windows to another world: bright colours glimpsed through cut-out letters that read "Hope is coming". People walk past grey-faced, ...

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ECB quantitative easing plan brings rare Greek market relief

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's pledge to print new money delivered a rare boost to Greek markets on Friday, as investors heaved a sigh of relief that the country had not been ...

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