Interior minister warns Greece will default on June IMF repayment
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Europe dampens Greek hopes of swift deal as clock ticks
ATHENS/BRUSSELS Greece’s European lenders on Tuesday played down Athens’s hopes of a swift end to negotiations on an aid agreement and said talks must speed up before the country runs out of cash. The sober outlook from Brussels and Berlin contrasted sharply with vigorous optimism displayed in Athens, where top officials from the new leftist government made a series of public appearances to promise that a deal was just days away. Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told a talk show overnight that a deal could arrive in a week, while Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said talks were in their "final stretch". The comments helped push Greek stocks up 2.6 percent on Tuesday. But euro zone policymakers said talks were not moving nearly as fast as needed to clinch a deal in a short time. "More time and effort is needed to bridge the gaps on the remaining open issues. We […]
Euro slides as Greek official says IMF repayment in doubt
LONDON The euro slid to a two-week low and a rally in European shares stalled on Wednesday after a Greek official said the country may not make an upcoming repayment to the International Monetary Fund. The euro’s fall follows remarks from a European Central Bank board member on Tuesday that the central bank could increase the pace of its bond-buying in May and June, bringing its losses against the dollar this week to more than 3 percent. The pause in European shares mirrored the sticky performance of Asian bourses, although the Nikkei in Tokyo jumped to a 15-year high after Japan posted surprisingly strong economic growth for the first quarter. European bank shares were in focus were in focus after Switzerland’s UBS ( UBSG.VX ) paid $545 million to settle with U.S. authorities over currency rigging. Four other global banks are expected to settle later on Wednesday. Ahead of […]
I.M.F. and Central Bank Loom Large Over Greece’s Debt Talks
Photo Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, right, at a session of the Greek Parliament. Finance officials from Greece and other European nations will meet Monday on its debt. Credit Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters Greek leaders have fought fiercely in recent months with politicians from other European countries over relief on Greece ’s vast debt load. Yet the power to decide the fate of Greece lies not just in the hands of these national governments, but also with unelected officials at two powerful institutions: the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund . Each is a creditor to Greece, and each is expecting the country to repay it billions of dollars of debt in the coming weeks. The influence of the E.C.B. and the I.M.F. will be felt behind the scenes on Monday, when finance ministers from Greece and other European nations meet in their latest effort to break an impasse that […]
U.S. Urges Greece to Reject Russian Energy Project
Photo Amos Hochstein, left, a State Department envoy, met with Nikos Kotzia, the foreign minister of Greece, in Athens on Friday to discuss a proposed pipeline that would carry Russian natural gas. Credit Yorgos Karahalis/Associated Press ATHENS — The United States, wading into the international efforts to shape Greece’s economic and geopolitical orientation, is pushing the leftist government in Athens to resist Russia’s energy overtures. A State Department envoy in Athens urged Greece on Friday to embrace a Western-backed project that would link Europe to natural gas supplies in Azerbaijan, rather than agree to a gas pipeline project pushed by Moscow. The dueling sales pitches, reminiscent of a Cold War struggle, come as debt-burdened Greece is desperate for new sources of revenue of the sort that a gas pipeline could bring. In an interview in Athens on Friday, before meeting with Greek officials, the State Department envoy, Amos J. […]
Greece cites progress in talks with EU/IMF lenders, aims for May deal
ATHENS (Reuters) – Negotiations between Greece and its international lenders over reforms to unlock remaining bailout aid have made headway and an agreement could be closer this month, a government official said on Sunday. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s three-month-old government is under growing pressure at home and abroad to reach an agreement with European and IMF lenders over reforms to avert a national bankruptcy. Talks have been painfully slow as the leftist-led government is resisting cuts in pensions and labour reforms that would clash with its campaign pledges to end austerity. "There were very important steps made at the Brussels Group (talks) which bring an agreement nearer," the official said, declining to be named. "All sides aim for an agreement at a Brussels Group level within May." The talks between technical teams from Athens and EU/IMF/ECB lenders are expected to resume on Monday, the official said after the country’s […]
Five Years After First Bailout, Greece Back on the Brink
Greece is once more on the brink of failing. Why now? What happens if it goes bankrupt? WSJ’s Jason Bellini has #TheShortAnswer. ATHENS—Five years into the biggest bailout of a debtor in history, Greece is closer to the brink than ever, with time running out to avert a bankruptcy that could destabilize not only the eurozone, but the global economy as well. When Europe and the International Monetary Fund first agreed to bail Greece out on May 2, 2010, the plan was to return Greece to growth and bond markets within three years. Instead, after half a decade and €245 billion ($274 billion) in promised loans, the two sides have reached an impasse. Although Greece has come close to financial meltdown before, the ideological divide has never been deeper. The government’s refusal to inflict on an exhausted society the further belt-tightening that creditors insist is needed has created a […]
Greece scrapes together pension payments
Kerin Hope in Athens Enter your email address Select an access level You may also be interested in our corporate or newspaper only subscriptions.
Greece Just Clipped Varoufakis’s Wings
Greece’s Plan "B" Needs Politics Over Theory: Fricke Greece reshuffled its bailout-negotiating team, reining in Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, after three months of talks with creditors failed to unlock aid and a meeting with his euro-area counterparts ended in acrimony. The coordination of the day-to-day efforts to strike a deal with creditors was handed to Deputy Foreign Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, a Greek government official said in an e-mail to reporters Monday. Varoufakis will supervise the political negotiations with euro-area member states and the International Monetary Fund. No change was announced to Greece’s representation in euro-area finance ministers’ meetings, which Varoufakis attends. A Eurogroup meeting in Riga, Latvia on Friday descended into name-calling as the currency bloc’s finance ministers hurled abuse at their Greek colleague, accusing him of being a time-waster, a gambler and an amateur. Still, the 54-year-old academic-turned-politician in the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras remains popular […]
Greece’s Day of Reckoning Inches Closer as Payments Loom
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. Greece is struggling to amass cash to pay its pensioners and employees this week, as the country and its creditors resume efforts to break the deadlock in bailout talks. Europe’s most-indebted state is counting on deposits of local governments, cities and other funds to meet end-of month payments of over 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) after euro area finance ministers on Friday said they won’t disburse more aid until bailout terms are met. That may further strain liquidity buffers at banks, after households and companies withdrew almost 1.3 billion euros in savings last week, according to a person who’s not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. “Despite the inelegant way the government did it, we will deposit our reserves at the Bank of Greece,” Yiannis Boutaris, Mayor of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, said in comments on Mega TV. As polls show that a […]