Eurogroup Gives Greece 10 Day Ultimatum: Apply For Bailout Or Grexit - page 6
You are missing trading opportunities:
- Free trading apps
- Over 8,000 signals for copying
- Economic news for exploring financial markets
Registration
Log in
You agree to website policy and terms of use
If you do not have an account, please register
German Hardliners Against Greek Deal
Several conservative members of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, comprising politicians who have opposed bailouts in the past, have warned against being too lenient toward Greece and urged their fellow legislators to defend a hard line on Greece's request for a 4-month loan extension. The extension was approved by international creditors on Tuesday, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on Wednesday morning.
"A simple extension of the aid program, without effective terms, would mean that we are knowingly throwing further good money after bad," CDU committee head Kurt Lauk wrote in a letter to lawmakers, cited by the FAZ. CDU Secretary General Wolfgang Steiger joined Lauk in the initiative.
In a separate initiative, conservative Bavarian politician David Bendels also called on the Bundestag to reject Greece's request, the business daily Handelsblatt has reported.
"Anything else would be grossly negligent and a betrayal of the German taxpayer," Bendels told the paper.
Schaeuble in favor of Greece loan extension
However, Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble wrote a letter on Tuesday to the speaker of the lower house of parliament Norbert Lambert, requesting a vote this week on extending the bailout and recommending approval of Greece's request for a 4-month loan extension program if conditions are met.
"Provided Greece avows its obligations and provided there is an agreement in the Eurogroup, the German government would be in favor of the proposed extension," Schaeuble said in the letter.
The hardliners represent a small group within Merkel's coalition with the Social Democrats.
source
Greece is running out of options to fund itself
Greece is running out of options to fund itself despite a four-month bailout extension, raising pressure on Athens to quickly implement reforms it has vocally opposed or default on debt repayments in a matter of weeks.
Eurozone and IMF creditors gave Greece extra time until the end of June to complete the bailout program and receive the remaining 7.2 billion euros but it will not be allowed any funds until it passes a review that could take weeks to negotiate.
Shut out of debt markets and faced with a steep fall in tax revenues, Athens is expected to run out of cash by the middle or end of March. Its finance minister has warned that Greece will struggle to repay creditors starting with a 1.5 billion euro IMF loan repayment due in March.
Athens has been looking for quick fixes to tide it through the coming weeks but has not found one yet.
Euro zone officials hope the liquidity squeeze will force Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's nascent government to agree reform plans more quickly than the end of April deadline set by creditors, paving the way for bailout funding to be released.
"The liquidity squeeze is being used to push the Greeks to very quickly start discussions on the review and finish that as soon as possible – not even waiting for the end of April," one euro zone official said.
Other options all appear to have problems. One possibility - the transfer of 1.9 billion euros worth of profits that the European Central Bank made on buying Greek bonds - will not be allowed until Greece has completed the bailout program.
Greece had also hoped it could tap the almost 11 billion euros of leftover money in the Greek bank stabilization fund, but euro zone finance ministers have decided the money would be returned to the Luxembourg-based euro zone bailout fund.
While it would still be available for Greek banks, it could only be released on the say-so from the ECB.
read more
German finance chief Wolfgang Schaeuble softens tough tone against Greece
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has softened his hard-line attitude towards Greece, saying its new Left-wing Syriza government needs “a bit of time” but appears to be able to work towards resolving its debt crisis.
"The new Greek government has strong public support," Mr Schaeuble told German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.
"I am confident that it will put in place the necessary measures, set up a more efficient tax system and in the end honour its commitments. You have to give a little bit of time to a newly elected government," he told the Sunday paper. "To govern is to face reality."
Mr Schaeuble added that his Greek counterpart, Yanis Varoufakis, despite their policy clashes, had "behaved most properly with me" and had "the right to as much respect as everyone else".
It was an abrupt change in tone for Mr Schaeuble, who has repeatedly exchanged jibes with Mr Varoufakis since the Greek election in January brought in an anti-austerity government.
read more
Now all of a sudden the Greeks are the "best in the world"
Such a hypocrisy
Greece Delivers List of Reforms Before Eurogroup Meeting
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis (pictured) has sent a new letter to his peers in the Eurogroup detailing the six reform proposals that Greece is expected to present at Monday's meeting of euro zone finance ministers, officials in Brussels indicated on Friday.
According to an EU source, the Greek document was received after this week's meeting of the technical-level Euro Working Group. It hasn't been been evaluated by the creditor institutions and therefore cannot form the basis for a decision at Monday's Eurogroup. The official also indicated that there was still a significant gap between Greece and its creditors, noting that greater communication was needed.
The updated document is similar to the list submitted to the Eurogroup (euro zone finance ministers) but includes two new reform proposals: plans to activate a "fiscal council" to generate savings for the state and updating licensing of gaming and lotteries to boost state revenues.
The document also includes the already pledged moves to fight tax evasion, facilitate repayment of tax and pension fund arrears, measures to streamline bureaucracy and improve investment sentiment, a Greek government official said on Friday.
source
Greek Minister Threatens Europe With Flood Of Jihadists And Immigrants If Greece Fail
It wasn't even a full 24 hours after Greece raided at least some of the funds of its pension and other public entities in order to make a €310 payment to the IMF, the first of four this month (the balance is 350 million on March 13, 580 million on March 16 and another 350 million on March 20), that the insolvent country resumed doing what it does best: dispensing hollow threats. This time it was its foreign minister and leader of the Independent Greeks party - Syriza's junion coalition partner - Nikos Kotzias, who showed how to bluff like the best of them, when he threatened that "there will be tens of millions of immigrants and thousands of jihadists, if you take out Greece" the minister said on before EU foreign ministers meeting in Riga.
As quoted by enikos, the foreign minister continued his blustery threats saying that "the Western Balkans is not stabilized. Then you have the Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, North Africa. This is a sickle."
The left-wing politician Kotzias also said that "what the Europeans are doping to us is cultural racism...It is a necessity to find another way of behaving toward Greece. It is also a geostrategic necessity. Instead, they chose to crush the Syriza government in its early days...What will this bring?"
The last question was rhetorical, because the answer is the last trump card Greece has: "Right-wing extremism and chaos."
In other words, now that Syriza government, having run out of money as well as all leverage and bargaining power - because clearly it will no longer threaten with a Grexit, no matter how many game theory manuals Varoufakis may have written - its only threat is to warn with a hypothetical worst-case outcome of what will happen to Europe if and when Greece inevitably collapses should Syriza not get even the smallest concessions: a neo-nazi state, which will be a transit point for terrorists into Europe.
And in case that was not enough, in an interview with Agora newspaper on Saturday, the Greek minister of defense Kammenos said that if foreign creditors insist on a hard line toward Greece, the government might be tempted to respond with a referendum. “If [lenders] question the will of the Greek people and of the government, one response would be to carry out a referendum,” adding "those who need to be convinced that “democracy exists are the Germans; suzerainty is over."
As a reminder, it was precisely the threat of a referendum that cost former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou his post several years ago before he was replaced with the Samaras pro-Brussels government.
So how did Europe respond?
Not good. As Reuters reports, first it was European Central Bank governing council member Luc Coene, who said in an interview published on Saturday that Greece must realize there is no other way than to reform, telling Greeks they had been sold "false promises" by radical leftists now in power.
According to the ECB Greece has two choice: hell in Europe, or an even worse hell outside of Europe:
The Belgian central bank chief said that life outside the euro zone would be far worse for Greek people and warned that if Athens wanted to be financed by the euro zone, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund, it had to follow the rules.
Now that the ECB has regained all leverage over Tsipras, it can proceed to dispense with the verbal slaps on the face: "I do not believe there is a radically different way," he told Belgian daily De Tijd. "Syriza has made promises it can not keep," he said, adding that the Greek people "will understand quickly that they were deceived by false promises."
read more
Eurogroup head responds positively to new Greek letter: government
The head of the euro zone finance ministers responded positively to Greece's request for an immediate start to technical talks with international creditors to conclude the country's current bailout program, a Greek government official said on Saturday.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis sent a letter to Jeroen Djisselbloem on Friday, outlining the first batch of reforms that Greece would implement as a condition for further aid by its EU/IMF lenders.
"Eurogroup's head Djisselbloem sent a letter late last night responding to Finance Minister Varoufakis," the official said.
"He responded positively to the Greek minister, underlining the need for the negotiations to continue at the Euroworking Group and between the technical teams in order to implement the Feb. 20 decision."
Under a deal with its lenders last month, the new Greek government has until the end of April to specify the measures it will implement in turn for further aid. Euro zone finance ministers are meeting on Monday in Brussels to discuss Athens' letter of pledged reforms.
On Thursday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi added to pressure on Greece's government to implement promised reforms, saying the ECB would resume normal lending to Greek banks only when it sees Athens is complying with its bailout program and is on track to receive a favorable review.
He also made clear the ECB would not raise a limit on Athens' issuance of short-term debt to help leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras avert a funding crunch, since the EU treaty barred monetary financing of governments.
Tsipras' office said the prime minister had a constructive phone conversation with Draghi on Saturday during which he stressed that he respects the ECB's independence which is not influenced by political pressure.
source
EU aides play down Greek reform plan, no early progress
Euro zone officials played down plans submitted by cash-strapped Greece to its international creditors in a bid to secure fresh funds, a day after Athens' outspoken finance minister irked EU partners by raising the prospect of a referendum.
Speaking before finance ministers of the currency area meet in Brussels on Monday, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said steps outlined by Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis in a letter last week were serious but "far from complete".
"This is a process that's just going to take a long time," the Dutchman said, adding that it would be very difficult to complete Greece's reform program during the four-month extension of its EU/IMF bailout that runs until end June.
Varoufakis, who wants a negotiated restructuring of Greece's debt to official lenders, said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday the leftist-led government could call a referendum or early elections if European partners rejected its debt and growth plans.
The Finance Ministry later clarified that the Marxist former academic had been replying to a hypothetical question and that any referendum would "obviously regard the content of reforms and fiscal policy" and not whether to stay in the euro.
A senior politician in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc said on Monday that Greece would be better off outside the 19-nation euro zone, suggesting that Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble privately shared that view.
"By leaving the euro zone, as Finance Minister Schaeuble has suggested, the country could make itself competitive again from a currency perspective with a new drachma," former transport minister Peter Ramsauer, a member of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), wrote in Bild.
Merkel and Schaeuble have both said publicly they want to keep Greece in the currency area. But in a sign that German sentiment may be shifting, Ramsauer said a temporary "Grexit" would be a "great opportunity" for the country to boost its economy and administration "making it fit to return to the euro area from a position of strength".
read more
Greek Alternative Reality Clashes With Euro Area Losing Patience
Ask Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis about his country’s predicament, and you’re likely to get a very different response from the one echoing around the euro region.
The Athens University professor said on Monday he’s convinced the six-week-old government is doing what’s needed to secure more funding and avoid bankruptcy. His counterparts, during a euro-area finance ministers’ meeting, spoke of mixed messages, dawdling and a lack of detail over Greece’s deteriorating financial situation.
Impressions aside, Greece is running out of time, money and friends. France’s Michel Sapin, whose government had made the most conciliatory noises toward Greek calls for less austerity, expressed frustration with Varoufakis. Spain’s finance minister, concerned about an anti-austerity insurrection at home, also hardened the rhetoric.
“The time comes when what’s needed is not declarations of intentions or slogans, but figures and verifiable data,” Sapin said in Brussels.
Greece is seeking the disbursement of an aid payment totaling about 7 billion euros ($7.5 billion) amid speculation its coffers could be empty by the end of the month. With technicians representing the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund set to begin work Wednesday to assess the nation’s needs, officials around the euro zone have complained about the lack of progress.
Much of the negotiations of the past few weeks have been a “complete waste of time,” according to Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
‘How Serious?’
“Not so much has happened,” in Greece since the euro area in February allowed the government’s loan agreement to be extended by four months,’’ he told reporters after the meeting. “So the question arises: how serious are they?”
For Varoufakis, 53, an economist whose expertise is game theory, all is working well and the government is on course to meet all its debt obligations.
“I believe that we are doing our job properly,” Varoufakis said at the conclusion of Monday’s talks. “Our job is to start the process which is necessary for the European Central Bank to have confidence.”
After promising the electorate it would break free from the conditions tied to the country’s bailout, the government committed to coming up with a package of economic reforms in exchange for the aid. It now has to give more details of how it will implement them.
read more
War of Words Continues: Greece vs Germany
Accusations, verbal attacks, anger and outrage characterize the current relationship between Germany and Greece, while their officials try to solve Athens' desperate financial crunch.
Greece's Social Security Minister Dimitris Stratoulis severely criticized Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Wednesday for being "obsessive" and allegedly treating Greece as a "protectorate" state.
His comments followed emerging speculation that Germany had pressured the Greek government to replace its now notorious Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis.
"Who do they think they are to ask for the replacement?," the minister asked while speaking for Antenna TV on Wednesday.
"Greece is not a banana republic, it is not a protectorate," he said.
Germany "cannot dictate to us who will be our ministers," Stratoulis said, calling Schaeuble "obsessive."
Schaeuble vs Varoufakis
His comments came a day after Schaeuble said Varoufakis was being "foolishly naive on communication issues," referring to Varoufakis saying that foreign media had repeatedly distorted the positions of the Greek government.
He was also critical of Varoufakis' conduct during Eurogroup negotiations on Greece's debt and loan extension program.
At the same time, Varoufakis infamously said in a documentary made by German broadcaster ARD that his country might never repay its debt, sparking a massive backlash in the German press on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, fresh reports from Germany suggest that German Chancellor Angela Merkel only narrowly averted a big rebellion among her lawmakers last month during Greece's bailout extension vote in the country's parliament, thanks to the persuasive powers of Finance Minister Schaeuble.
source