LATEST NEWS ON DEBT CRISIS IN GREECE

a new bailout PACKAGE HOPEFULLY WILL BE AGREED TODAY OF120 BILLION EUROS FOR NEXT 3 YEARS, MANY FRENCH/GERMAN EVEN BRITISH BANKS COULD BE HIT HARD IF BAILOUT FAILS.

Badboy wrote:a new bailout PACKAGE HOPEFULLY WILL BE AGREED TODAY OF120 BILLION EUROS FOR NEXT 3 YEARS, MANY FRENCH/GERMAN EVEN BRITISH BANKS COULD BE HIT HARD IF BAILOUT FAILS.

Badboy, France and Germany are hoping the Banks will lend Greece more money including British and American Banks. One of the problems with that
is British Business is saying the Banks are too reluctant to lend money to to them to expand their manufacturing so can you imagine the uproar if Engish Banks lend to Greece which is Bankrupt. Apparently the debt amounts to 147% of GDP which means it will be impossible to repay any Loans.
There is concern that if Greece defaults the Euro will lose value and the rest of Europe will suffer. However, other Economists are saying it would be
better for Greece to default now rather than is a Year"s time. It"s all very worrying and yet another reson for a huge reform of the Banking System.

Just seen on Sky News they are preparing toy sell of bits of Greece - sharks circling for the best bits - talking about prime Coastal areas and some Islands - sucking the life blood of Greece. I bet they wish they had never heard of the EU - what does it matter if you don't produce as much as every other country at least your country is your own!

Osborne: 'UK Will Stay Out Of Greek Bailout'
Comments4:19am UK, Monday June 20, 2011

Britain should not be part of any new aid package to bail out the stricken Greek economy, Chancellor George Osborne will insist today.


Thousands have demonstrated against the Greek government's austerity measures


The UK was not involved in the original 110 billion euro (£96.5bn) deal approved a year ago, which was put together by the eurozone countries to help save one of their own.

The only UK commitment came from its share of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) contribution, in the form of loan guarantees which will only be called in if Greece defaults.

At the time that prospect was dismissed as scare-mongering.

But with the pace of Greek deficit reduction painfully slow and the economic crisis far worse than feared, a second bailout is now thought to be inevitable.

Germany and France have already indicated that Britain should not need to pay a share of a repeat bailout, which is likely to be finalised within weeks.


The consequences of a violent bankruptcy or exit from the euro would be immediately catastrophic for households, the banks, and the country's credibility.

George Papandreou, Greek prime minister
Mr Osborne has made clear at talks in Luxembourg that the issue remains one for the eurozone alone.

Ahead of today's meeting Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander set out the UK argument on Sky News.

He said: "It's the eurozone that is taking forward discussions now about the next stage of dealing with Greece's substantial problems.

"There's simply no proposition on the table for the UK to contribute beyond International Monetary Fund involvement and I don't expect there to be one."



Mr Papandreou called an emergency government meeting


However, a bailout fund was set up by the EU after last year's Greek crisis, specifically intended to finance future economic problems in the member states, and it involves all 27 member states.

And if a majority of the 27 vote to use the fund for a second Greek aid package, rather than repeat a eurozone-only rescue, the UK Treasury would be responsible for 12% of the new loan guaranteed to the Greek government.

One UK official admitted there is "theoretical risk", but no money will be involved unless Greece defaults.



Johnson thinks Greece should now be left to go its own way


Last night Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou insisted his country would not default and is determined to crack down on its mounting deficit. He said failure to do so would be a "catastrophe".

Meanwhile, London Mayor Boris Johnson has said Greece should be allowed to default on its debts and leave the euro.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson said the single currency is responsible for aggravating the international financial crisis.

"The euro has exacerbated the financial crisis by encouraging some countries to behave as recklessly as the banks themselves," he said.

IT IS NOW SAID THAT GREECE OWES 350BILLION EUROS,THE FIGURE SEEMS TO INCREASE EVERY DAY

Badboy wrote:IT IS NOW SAID THAT GREECE OWES 350BILLION EUROS,THE FIGURE SEEMS TO INCREASE EVERY DAY

Badboy, It"s looking increasingly likely that Greece will default and go back to their own currency, there is no way they can repay that debt so to
throw more money at them would be suicidal. Obviously Spain and Portugal would be more vulnerable but if you havn"t watched the video AnnaEsse posted, check it out. I can"t stand the interviewer, he is so RUDE, interrupting the Guest all the time, but interesting about the Banks part in all this.

I listened to Channel 4 News this evening and I still can't make head or tail of what they are doing. In one report they said it would be better to let Greece declare themselves bankrupt and go back to the Dracma and then following straight afterwards they are saying that its by no means certain that this will happen. Getting fed up now!

Greek PM Survives Crucial Confidence Vote
Comments1:58am UK, Wednesday June 22, 2011

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has survived a confidence vote in Parliament as politicians voted 155 to 143 to back him.

Mr Papandreou called the vote to stop an internal party revolt and help him pass unpopular austerity measures that have caused strikes, protests and a slump in his popularity.

A heated debate in the parliament saw some members of the opposition briefly walk out.

Earlier, riot police fired tear gas at thousands of people gathered outside the building protesting against the new measures.



Mr Papandreou was congratulated after he won the crucial vote


If the government had lost the vote, there would have been early elections and doubt over whether a new austerity bill could have been passed by the end of June, as demanded by the country's international creditors.

Greece's parliament has to pass the bill in order to receive the next instalment of 12bn Euros (£10bn) from its international bailout.

The country needs the loan to pay its debts.

On Friday, Germany and France called for a quick deal on a second bailout for Greece amid fears that the country's crippling debt problems could spiral into a global crisis.



Mr Papandreou met EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels


In talks in Brussels, eurozone ministers said they were ready to put together a second loan package of around 120 billion euros (£106bn), to support the country longer term.

But British Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to fight "very hard" to ensure UK taxpayers do not shoulder any of the cost of a European bailout of Greece.

Whatever happens at today's confidence vote, the eventual outcome of the austerity package is still unclear.

A vote on the budget measures is expected later in the week.

Panda

Thank you for the update.

I was planning to visit my Savings account to empty it before the Bank does - but it looks like after teetering on the edge they have stepped back from the abyss and grabbed the life line. Would expect the vote to go through now.

Angelique wrote:Panda

Thank you for the update.

I was planning to visit my Savings account to empty it before the Bank does - but it looks like after teetering on the edge they have stepped back from the abyss and grabbed the life line. Would expect the vote to go through now.

Hi Angeliena,

I don"t think it is all over and better Greece default now than run up more debt. The Greek population is outraged at the Government proposed sale of Greek assets, Airlines, Airports, Shipping etc. Papandreou has to convince the population to accept E78 Million cuts. Riots again in Greece last night.

The infamous George Soros who made a fortune on the devaluation of Sterling has said he thinks Greece will default, there is too much Public anger at the
prospect of all their being sold cheaply to foreign buyers. His view is the Euro was a big mistake trying to align every Country to one currency fits all.
He says instead of throwing money at Greece, thereby increasing it"s Debt , it should be allowed to default and the chaos which follows will mean the end
of the Euro and a slow but sure emergence of a new Economy.

Hi Panda

Scary stuff - but the Euro 'experiment' was, I think doomed from the start, with restrictions for joining often being relaxed in order to encourage more countries to join.

Problem is, I'm off to Northern Greece in August - Should I pack a hard hat, as well as a sunhat???

Alfiefinn wrote:Hi Panda

Scary stuff - but the Euro 'experiment' was, I think doomed from the start, with restrictions for joining often being relaxed in order to encourage more countries to join.

Problem is, I'm off to Northern Greece in August - Should I pack a hard hat, as well as a sunhat???

Iv"e been to Greece a couple of times, Halkidiki is lovely. As long as you stay out of the Major Cities you"ll be O.K

Apparently, Greece has never really had the work ethic and their problems have been building up for Years. However, the Vultures are out, trying to buy Public assets such as Airlines, Airports at knockdown prices which the Greek population will never accept.

IT WAS SAID THAT BECAUSE OF THE CRISIS,HOLIDAYS ARE CHEAPER,SOME ROOOMS ARE GOING FOR 15 EUROS IN CORFU

Badboy wrote:IT WAS SAID THAT BECAUSE OF THE CRISIS,HOLIDAYS ARE CHEAPER,SOME ROOOMS ARE GOING FOR 15 EUROS IN CORFU

BadBoy, I might be interested.!!!!

Greek MP In Austerity Vote Rebellion Warning
Comments5:38am UK, Tuesday June 28, 2011

Joel Hills, business presenter, in Athens

An MP from Greece's ruling party has told Sky News he intends to vote against the government's latest set of austerity measures unless concessions are made.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has told MPs another round of spending cuts and tax rise, coupled with the privatisation of a number of state-owned assets, is the only way for the country to avoid bankruptcy.

His government won a vote of confidence in last week, but has only 155 of the 300 seat in parliament.

The bill is due to be voted on by MPs on Wednesday and the European Union and the International Monetary Fund are threatening to withhold 12bn euros of emergency funding if it is voted down.


I don't accept it. I will not accept our country selling its jewellery, it's silverware simple to meet Europe's demands. There are other ways of doing this.

Alexandros Athanasiadis, MP with Greece's ruling party
Without the loan Greece will default on its debts, as it is unable to borrow money on the financial markets at anything other than punitive rates.

Alexandros Athanasiadis has been a member of the ruling socialist party since 1975. He is unhappy with the government's plans to raise 50bn euros by selling off so many state-owned assets.

He has warned the Prime Minister that unless plans to privatise PPC (an energy company which generates just over half of the electricity Greece consumes) and the Athens Water and Sewage Treatment Company are shelved, he will vote against his party in parliament.

"The Europeans are blackmailing us," he told Sky News.



The planned austerity measures have sparked riots in Greece


"I don't accept it. I will not accept our country selling its jewellery, it's silverware simple to meet Europe's demands. There are other ways of doing this."

Whatever the outcome of the vote on Wednesday, the consensus is that it will do little more than buy Greece time.

It is felt that at some point the Greek government will be forced to acknowledge it cannot repay what it has borrowed - prompting the question as to who pays.

On Monday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested his country's banks would be willing to help Greece by giving it 30 years to repay.

Such a plan would give Greece more time to find the money, but would not reduce the overall size of the national debt.

There is a General Strike in Greece today and it really is touch and go whether the deal will be passed by Parliament. There is a Meeting in Claridges
Hotel,London to discuss with potential buyers Greek Government assets. Trouble is, the Greeks have not kept proper records, one example is an old
Airport near the sea, abandoned years ago which a developer is interested in buying, but they can"t find the title Deeds. Greece lied about their economic
situation when it entered the EU....yet Croatia, another poor Country is expected to join in a couple of weeks.......they should suspend Membership until
this crisis is over.

Panda wrote:

There is a General Strike in Greece today and it really is touch and go whether the deal will be passed by Parliament. There is a Meeting in Claridges
Hotel,London to discuss with potential buyers Greek Government assets. Trouble is, the Greeks have not kept proper records, one example is an old
Airport near the sea, abandoned years ago which a developer is interested in buying, but they can"t find the title Deeds. Greece lied about their economic
situation when it entered the EU....yet Croatia, another poor Country is expected to join in a couple of weeks.......they should suspend Membership until
this crisis is over.

Exactly. Too many poor countries have already been let it. It's impossible to keep supporting them all.

Angelina wrote:

Panda wrote:

There is a General Strike in Greece today and it really is touch and go whether the deal will be passed by Parliament. There is a Meeting in Claridges
Hotel,London to discuss with potential buyers Greek Government assets. Trouble is, the Greeks have not kept proper records, one example is an old
Airport near the sea, abandoned years ago which a developer is interested in buying, but they can"t find the title Deeds. Greece lied about their economic
situation when it entered the EU....yet Croatia, another poor Country is expected to join in a couple of weeks.......they should suspend Membership until
this crisis is over.

Exactly. Too many poor countries have already been let it. It's impossible to keep supporting them all.

Hi Angelina, it really is touch and go whether Parliament vote in favour of the EU bailout conditions, if Greece defaults , which I think it will eventually ,
the Euro will collapse and I can see all the Members reverting to their own currency, it was a ridiculous concept anyway to have one Currency fits all.

Panda wrote:

Angelina wrote:

Panda wrote:

There is a General Strike in Greece today and it really is touch and go whether the deal will be passed by Parliament. There is a Meeting in Claridges
Hotel,London to discuss with potential buyers Greek Government assets. Trouble is, the Greeks have not kept proper records, one example is an old
Airport near the sea, abandoned years ago which a developer is interested in buying, but they can"t find the title Deeds. Greece lied about their economic
situation when it entered the EU....yet Croatia, another poor Country is expected to join in a couple of weeks.......they should suspend Membership until
this crisis is over.

Exactly. Too many poor countries have already been let it. It's impossible to keep supporting them all.

Hi Angelina, it really is touch and go whether Parliament vote in favour of the EU bailout conditions, if Greece defaults , which I think it will eventually ,
the Euro will collapse and I can see all the Members reverting to their own currency, it was a ridiculous concept anyway to have one Currency fits all.

Panda, can't see Greece ever being able to pay it's debts...there is so much corruption out there. As to the Euro collapsing, that would be a disaster...can you imagine how much investors must hold in Euros, it would be financial chaos

Hi Angelina,

There is currently a 48 hr General Strike in Greece, and if they default the run on the Euro will be inevitable, it is expected that Spain and Portugal would
be the next problem Countries and you have to ask, where is the EU getting all this money to help these Countries? If they are printing it the Euro gets
devalued anyway. The World is in a sorry state financiially....bloody banks started all this.!!!! Now , at a conference in Basle Banks have to hold more liquidity in two years time which means borrowing will be severely restricted so the recession will last a lot longer, the U.S.A. owes 4.3 Trillion so we might as well go back to the barter system .

All I can say is that I fully support the Greek people in their fight against these austerity measures which will only make matters much worse. This is about the EU wanting to get rid of the rights of the working class and to leave the riches in the hands of a very small minority. They want to end the redistribution of the country's wealth. I would like to remind everyone that their problems started when Germany sold the country military equipment that they did not need at ridiculous prices.
This is not a bailout or a remedy to the country's problems. It is a loan with draconian conditions and usurious interest rates which are criminal. Look what the IMF did to Argentina! They almost destroyed the country. Because of the conditions they imposed, such as a 0% deficit !!!, privatisations, less investment in public services, tax cuts, children died of malnutrition, millions lost their jobs and livelyhoods as well as their homes. At least, Néstor Kirchner had the courage to stand up to those vultures from the IMF.
BTW, Portugal, Spain, Greece, etc. aren't the problem countries, the problem is CAPITALISM!

Apparently there is alot of money being hoarded in the homes of wealthy Greeks. Greece did lie about it"s financial state when it entered the EU and have been very lax in collecting Taxes keeping records etc, but I side with the people about their Countries assets being sold to Vultures. As a sop, the EU,
aka France and Germany , have given an undertaking to release Funds to improve Greece"s infrastructure. I believe Germany had a loan for 4.5% interest,
Greece is paying 9.5% so they must default, there is no alternative because they will never be able to repay the loan when most of their assets will be in
Private hands.

Greece Gears Up For Austerity Cuts Vote
Comments6:43am UK, Wednesday June 29, 2011

Joel Hills, business presenter, in Athens

Greece's parliament is due to vote on a series of new austerity measures in a bid to sort out the country's finances and secure another bailout.

Proposed by Prime Minister George Papandreou's socialist party, the measures include lowering the income tax threshold from 12,000 to 8,000 euros.

They also feature a tightening of means-tested benefits, 150,000 redundancies in the public sector and yet another clampdown on tax evasion.

Other proposals being voted on are the privatisation of some of Greece' ports, airports, banks, railways and energy companies, as well as the part-privatisation of the postal service.

A peaceful protest by about 20,000 people degenerated into violence as the measures were being debated on Tuesday.


Plan B is to default and that would be a disaster for Greece, the Eurozone and the global financial system. There really is no alternative, however painful the measures are.

Miranda Xafa, leading Greek economist
Riot police fired volleys of tear gas and stun grenades to keep back several hundred hooded youths, who pelted them with thousands of chunks of ripped up paving stones and marble chipped from building facades and steps.

Hours of rioting outside Greece's parliament left 46 people injured, with 14 protesters arrested according to police.

The government's bill has enraged many ordinary Greeks who see it as unfair.

But Miranda Xafa, a leading Greek economist and former member of the International Monetary Fund's executive board told Sky News there was no plan B.


greece and the european domino effect
"Plan B is to default and that would be a disaster for Greece, the Eurozone and the global financial system," she said.

"There really is no alternative, however painful the measures are."

The new austerity measures must be passed in a two-part vote on Wednesday and Thursday if Greece's international creditors are to release the next 12bn euro batch of the country's 110bn euro emergency funding.

Some deputies within the Prime Minister's party have voiced dissatisfaction with the measures, with two of them indicating they might vote against the government.



A series of riots have been prompted by the austerity measures in Greece


But the Socialists hold a five-seat majority in the 300-member parliament, and the bills should muster the simple majority of 151 votes to pass.

In addition to seeking the next batch of bailout funds, Greece looks like it will need additional financial support.

Papandreou has said a second bailout would be roughly the same size as the first and on better terms.

But the general consensus is that rolling over Greece's debts is not the solution to this crisis.

[quote="Carolina"]All I can say is that I fully support the Greek people in their fight against these austerity measures which will only make matters much worse. This is about the EU wanting to get rid of the rights of the working class and to leave the riches in the hands of a very small minority. They want to end the redistribution of the country's wealth. I would like to remind everyone that their problems started when Germany sold the country military equipment that they did not need at ridiculous prices.
This is not a bailout or a remedy to the country's problems. It is a loan with draconian conditions and usurious interest rates which are criminal. Look what the IMF did to Argentina! They almost destroyed the country. Because of the conditions they imposed, such as a 0% deficit !!!, privatisations, less investment in public services, tax cuts, children died of malnutrition, millions lost their jobs and livelyhoods as well as their homes. At least, Néstor Kirchner had the courage to stand up to those vultures from the IMF.
BTW, Portugal, Spain, Greece, etc. aren't the problem countries, the problem is CAPITALISM!