Category: Greece

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is facing a tough battle to win support from coalition partners for the third bailout offered by eurozone leaders. Four pieces of legislation must be passed by the end of Wednesday including pension and VAT reforms. But Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, a junior coalition partner, has already said he will not support the measures. If the deal fails, Greece’s banks face collapse and the country could then be forced to leave the euro. The bailout is conditional on Greece passing all the agreed reforms – including raising tax revenue and liberalising the labour market – in parliament by Wednesday. Finance ministers from all 28 EU countries are holding a scheduled meeting in Brussels on Tuesday morning, where they will discuss the situation in Greece. Defence Minister Panos Kammenos likened the situation to a ‘coup’ by foreign leaders There were demonstrations at the Greek Parliament […]

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Photo Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece after reaching an agreement with European leaders in Brussels on Monday. Credit Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Associated Press BRUSSELS — European leaders said Monday morning that they had reached a deal meant to resolve Greece ’s debt crisis and avert a historic fracture in the Continent’s common currency project. “EuroSummit has unanimously reached agreement,” Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, wrote on his Twitter account shortly before 9 a.m. on Monday. The new bailout for Greece would involve “serious reforms” and “financial support,” he wrote. The deal announced early Monday allows only the start of detailed negotiations on a new assistance package for Greece. But the prospect of a new bailout program was expected to give the European Central Bank the leeway to continue channeling sorely needed emergency funding to Greek banks hollowed out by a long economic slump and the withdrawal […]

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BRUSSELS—Eurozone leaders said early Monday that they would give Greece another three-year bailout involving some €80 billion ($89 billion) in rescue loans, provided the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras manages to implement a round of punishing austerity measures in the coming days. “EuroSummit has unanimously reached agreement” Donald Tusk, who presided over the talks with leaders, said in a tweet . “All ready to go for ESM [European Stability Mechanism] program for Greece with serious reforms & financial support.” European stocks rallied early Monday on the news. In early trade, the Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.2%, building on Friday’s hefty gains . Germany’s DAX rose 1.3%, France’s CAC-40 added 1.5% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6%. The euro hit an intraday high of $1.1197 against the dollar before falling 0.4% on the day. The tentative rescue deal—hammered out after 22 hours of, at times acrimonious, negotiations between the […]

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The Greek parliament voted overwhelmingly on Saturday in favor of authorizing the left-wing government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to negotiate with international creditors on the basis of a reform program unveiled this week. A number of leftist members of the ruling Syriza party, including the speaker of parliament, Zoe Constantopoulou and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis called "present" – in effect abstaining from the vote in a sign of their opposition to the mix of tax hikes and spending cuts it included. However despite the dissidents, there was never any danger to the package, which was backed by pro-European opposition parties. A total of 251 voted ‘Yes’, 32 voted ‘No’ and 8 ‘Present’, while 9 deputies were absent. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou and Renee Maltezou; writing by James Mackenzie ; editing by Costas Pitas )

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Photo Euclid Tsakalotos, the Greek finance minister, on Friday at a meeting of the Syriza party, which was said to be tense because of serious objections among legislators over the additional austerity measures that are laid out in the proposals. Credit Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters BRUSSELS — Just hours after abandoning its anti-austerity position and accepting tough terms to try and secure another bailout, Greece ’s governing party struggled on Friday to rally domestic support for its abrupt reversal while influential voices in Germany and Eastern Europe expressed skepticism about whether Greece would really follow through on pledges to be more fiscally responsible. With a Sunday deadline looming for a decision on whether to cut Greece adrift, a crunch point that all sides see as Greece’s last chance to avoid bankruptcy and stay in the euro, the chances of a deal seemed to hang less on the precise details of Greece’s […]

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Photo Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece, seated, was applauded by members of his governing Syriza Party at the Parliament building in Athens on Friday. Credit Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters ATHENS — Did Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras betray his principles and cave in to Greece ’s creditors? Or did he fight valiantly and succeed in establishing that his nation’s debt load is not sustainable and has to be reduced? Those were the questions being asked across Greece on Friday in the wake of Mr. Tsipras’s abrupt decision to give the creditors nearly all of what they have sought throughout the long and contentious negotiations over keeping Greece afloat. From the halls of Parliament to streets filled with people who have suffered through five years of severe economic hardship, Greeks were struggling to process the news, gird themselves for further budget cuts and assess what they had gotten for their efforts to […]

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BRUSSELS—Greece will need €74 billion ($82.55 billion) in fresh funding, the three institutions overseeing the eurozone bailout program said in their assessment of the country’s request for a new aid package, according to three European officials. The €74 billion could include €16 billion from the International Monetary Fund, should the Washington-based institution decide to participate in the new aid program, the officials said. A fourth official said some funding could come from Greece raising money on debt markets. Two officials said the institutions—which, along with the IMF, include the European Commission and the European Central Bank— found Greece’s proposals for new overhauls and budget cuts to be a basis for negotiating a new bailout “under certain conditions.” The development indicates some of the struggles that could lie ahead this weekend, when eurozone finance ministers and leaders meet to decide on how much money they are willing to commit to […]

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Pro-Euro protesters gather in front of the parliament during a rally in Athens. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann LATEST: France says Greek proposals "serious and credible" Following is the latest news on Greece’s debt crisis after euro zone leaders set Athens a deadline of the end of the week to come up with convincing reform proposals. All times are in GMT. 0852 – Eurogroup chief Jeroen Djisselbloem says a "major decision" on Greece could be made at the planned meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Saturday. 0817 – French President Francois Hollande says negotiations between Greece and its international creditors must resume with the aim of reaching a deal after the country came up with "serious and credible" proposals. 0801 – French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron says he is reasonably optimistic that Greece will reach an aid-for-reforms deal with its creditors. 0746 – France’s European affairs minister says the latest proposals […]

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