Interest rate on eurozone loans would be fixed for 30 to 40 years, say people familiar with IMF proposal
By MARCUS WALKER
Updated May 17, 2016 3:28 a.m. ET
3 COMMENTS
BERLIN—The International Monetary Fund is pressing the eurozone to let Greece skip paying interest or principal on bailout loans until 2040, say officials familiar with the talks.
The IMF wants the loans to Greece to fall due gradually in the following decades, and as late as 2080, according to the IMF’s proposal.
Greece’s interest rate on eurozone loans would be fixed for 30 to 40 years at its current average level of 1.5%, with all interest payments postponed until loans start falling due, under the IMF proposal.
"Ό,τι η ψυχή επιθυμεί, αυτό και πιστεύει." Δημοσθένης (Whatever the soul wishes, thats what it believes, Demosthenes)
Showing posts with label Debt crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Debt crisis. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Why Greece Still Needs Debt Relief
FORTUNE
COMMENTARY by Barry Eichengreen @b_eichengreen MAY 11, 2016, 3:29 PM EDT
The Greek debt crisis is the crisis that never stops giving. More than six years have now passed since the crisis broke, and the country is still struggling to get its finances under control. In the latest installment, Greek lawmakers agreed early Monday morning to a new set of pension and tax reforms.
Unfortunately, the new package will not be enough, by itself, to prevent the crisis from blowing up again. Its higher marginal tax rates for top earners, lower tax-free thresholds, and additional pension cuts are designed to reduce the budget deficit by 1.5% to 3% of GDP. This is an expression of good faith intended to reassure German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble and his constituents.
Saturday, March 5, 2016
Migrant Crisis Alters E.U. Calculations for Greece as Its Debt Struggle Continues
By LIZ ALDERMANMARCH 4, 2016
The New York Times
ATHENS — When Greece’s debt crisis threatened to sink the European Union’s single currency last summer, the rest of Europe, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, ganged up to deliver the Greek government a stern message: Overcome your domestic political problems and do what is necessary to hold the Continent together.
Eight months after Greece agreed to do its part, it is the rest of Europe that is failing to muster the will to address a threat to the bloc’s unity, this time the continued influx of migrants from the Middle East and beyond. And Greece, the main entry route for asylum seekers, has been largely left to fend for itself.
“We are now in the situation where Greece is essentially becoming a holding pen for refugees and is being asked to solve a problem created by other countries,” said Jens Bastian, an economics consultant based in Athens and a former member of the European Commission’s task force on Greece. “You are basically putting the management of Europe’s migrant crisis at the doorstep of Greece.”
The New York Times
ATHENS — When Greece’s debt crisis threatened to sink the European Union’s single currency last summer, the rest of Europe, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, ganged up to deliver the Greek government a stern message: Overcome your domestic political problems and do what is necessary to hold the Continent together.
Eight months after Greece agreed to do its part, it is the rest of Europe that is failing to muster the will to address a threat to the bloc’s unity, this time the continued influx of migrants from the Middle East and beyond. And Greece, the main entry route for asylum seekers, has been largely left to fend for itself.
“We are now in the situation where Greece is essentially becoming a holding pen for refugees and is being asked to solve a problem created by other countries,” said Jens Bastian, an economics consultant based in Athens and a former member of the European Commission’s task force on Greece. “You are basically putting the management of Europe’s migrant crisis at the doorstep of Greece.”
Labels:
Debt crisis,
Grexit,
Refugees,
SYRIZA,
Troika,
Write Down
Saturday, February 20, 2016
These 5 Facts Explain Why Turkey Is in Deep Trouble
Ian Bremmer @ianbremmer Feb. 19, 2016
TIME
As Turkey ramps up its involvement in the war in Syria, it risks being hit by serious international blowback
It’s been a bad week for Turkey. As the country intensifies its military campaign in Syria, a bomb ripped through Ankara in apparent retaliation on Feb. 17, killing 28 people and injuring 61 others. Sadly, it’s an all too familiar sight. These five facts explain the mounting threats Turkey faces from Syria’s war next door.
TIME
As Turkey ramps up its involvement in the war in Syria, it risks being hit by serious international blowback
It’s been a bad week for Turkey. As the country intensifies its military campaign in Syria, a bomb ripped through Ankara in apparent retaliation on Feb. 17, killing 28 people and injuring 61 others. Sadly, it’s an all too familiar sight. These five facts explain the mounting threats Turkey faces from Syria’s war next door.
Labels:
Debt crisis,
Geopolitics,
Kurdistan,
Refugees,
Turkey
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Next Up for Greece: How to Shrink the Debt
Political
talks to begin after first bailout review is done
The Wall
Street Journal
By VIKTORIA
DENDRINOU
Jan. 14,
2016 1:44 p.m. ET
Thursday, December 10, 2015
What China Can Learn From Greece
By SERGEI GURIEVDEC. 9, 2015
The
New York Times
As a
political economist, I make my living studying the impact of politics on
economics. My friends and co-authors who are political scientists focus on how
economics affects politics. Which is more relevant in real life? Do countries
with bad politics suffer from poor economic outcomes because bad economic
policies are driven by bad politics? Or because persistent economic
difficulties make reasonable politics hard to sustain?
Every year
offers examples of both kinds. The year 2015 was no exception, producing two
very important stories: Greece
and China .
Both are dramatic and multifaceted.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Greece aims for debt relief deal in Feb 2016 after reforms done
Mon Nov 30,
2015 12:11pm EST
Reuters
Addressing
a conference of investors, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said on Monday
that making the ailing euro zone country's debt sustainable was the key to
liberating the economy and restoring confidence among depositors and companies.
Labels:
Debt crisis,
Grexit,
Structural Reforms,
SYRIZA,
Third Memorandum,
Write Down
Monday, November 23, 2015
A disagreement in Europe
The euro
crisis was not a government-debt crisis
Nov 23rd
2015, 9:43 BY R.A. | LONDON
The
Economist
THE
euro-zone crisis has transitioned from an acute phase to a chronic one. At just
this moment the fear that market panic might force one or several economies out
of the single currency is low. Yet few analysts believe the euro zone has
solved its fundamental problems. In a piece published at Vox EU last week, a
cadre of prominent economists made the very sensible point that unless
euro-area leaders can agree on the fundamental causes of the crisis, they will
struggle to craft long-run fixes. The authors set out their view of the crisis,
in hopes that it will prove a foundation for consensus building.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Eurozone Finance Ministers Won’t Release $2.15 billion Loan to Greece
Disagreements
over new foreclosure rules continue, two European officials say
The Wall
Street Journal
By GABRIELE
STEINHAUSER and VIKTORIA DENDRINOU
Updated
Nov. 9, 2015 4:05 a.m. ET
Senior
officials from the currency union’s finance ministries were updated on Greece ’s
implementation of around 50 promised overhauls, known as milestones, during a
conference call Sunday afternoon. While progress has been made on some
issues—including measures to substitute a tax on private education, the
governance of the country’s bailed-out banks and the treatment of overdue
loans—Athens
and its creditors will need more time to sign off on all overhauls, the
officials said.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
The Hidden Debt Burden of Emerging Markets
OCT 9, 2015
8
Carmen
Reinhart
Carmen
Reinhart is Professor of the International Financial System at Harvard University's
Kennedy School of Government.
LIMA – As
central bankers and finance ministers from around the globe gather for the
International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings here in Peru, the emerging world
is rife with symptoms of increasing economic vulnerability. Gone are the days
when IMF meetings were monopolized by the problems of the advanced economies
struggling to recover from the 2008 financial crisis. Now, the discussion has
shifted back toward emerging economies, which face the risk of financial crises
of their own.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
EU to Assess Greek Debt Burden, Servicing Costs After Review
Rebecca Christie
Bloomberg
The
European Commission said it will assess Greece ’s debt burden and servicing
costs once Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras shows his nation will meet the commitments
under its new bailout program.
For debt
relief talks to proceed, Greece
needs to implement the reforms it has already passed, enact further required
measures and pass its first program review, European Union Economic Affairs
Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told reporters Monday in Brussels . At that point, he said, authorities
can review “under what conditions the Greek debt will be sustainable” and how
to “reduce the servicing of the debt.”
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Once Unthinkable, Economists Now Say Debt Relief for Greece Is a Given
A new
Bloomberg survey shows a sea-change in how economists view Greece
Bloomberg
By Andre
Tartar
September
15, 2015 — 9:51 AM EEST
What a
difference two months make.
Back in
July, things looked so bad for Greece
that 71 percent of 31 economists polled by Bloomberg could see the country out
of the euro by the end of 2016. Debt relief was a pipe dream for the EU's most
indebted nation.
Fast
forward to September, a similar survey shows that 94 percent of respondents
think it's not only possible, but very likely. The sample of 36 economists was
interviewed Sept. 4-11.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Greece's Debt May Not Be So Daunting
11 JUL 20,
2015 3:13 PM EDT
By Leonid
Bershidsky
Bloomberg
The
assertion comes from a June 26 International Monetary Fund document that Greece 's former
finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, called a "fascinating read." In
his bombastic style, he went on to assert: "Never before has a veritable
institution advocated policies that clashed so mercilessly with its own
research. Never before has the IMF agreed, on economic analysis, with a government
it sought to devastate."
Thursday, February 12, 2015
The Greek Austerity Myth
FEB 10,
2015 23
Daniel Gros
One critical difference lies in economic
fundamentals. Over the last two years, the eurozone's other peripheral
countries have proven their capacity for adjustment, by reducing their fiscal
deficits, expanding exports, and moving to current-account surpluses, thereby
negating the need for financing. Indeed, Greece is the only one that has
consistently dragged its feet on reforms and sustained abysmal export
performance.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Europe’s Greek Test
JAN. 30, 2015
Paul
Krugman
The New
York Times
In the five
years (!) that have passed since the euro crisis began, clear thinking has been
in notably short supply. But that fuzziness must now end. Recent events in Greece pose a fundamental challenge for Europe : Can it get past the myths and the moralizing, and
deal with reality in a way that respects the Continent’s core values? If not,
the whole European project — the attempt to build peace and democracy through
shared prosperity — will suffer a terrible, perhaps mortal blow.
A major step towards a Greek compromise
- Finance
Minister Varoufakis’s proposal provides a good basis to start discussions
by Zsolt
Darvas on 3rd February 2015
Following a
week of fright after the Greek elections, during which various statements by
the new Greek government have raised the spectre of Grexit, Finance Minister
Varoufakis made a surprising proposal yesterday: the government will no longer
call for a headline write-off of Greece’s public debt, but instead proposes to
change the terms of current European loans to Greece, to aim for a primary
surplus (much) smaller than the Trokia target and fight against tax evasion.
Greek Finance Minister Heads to Germany After Retreating From Tough Stance
By James
Hertling
(Bloomberg) -- Greek Finance
Minister Yanis Varoufakis arrives in Germany with the wind at his back:
the biggest rally in stocks since the days of the drachma and a plunge in the
week-old government’s borrowing costs.
All he had
to do was drop a demand for a debt writedown, retreating from a central
campaign promise.
Monday, February 2, 2015
France Offers Support, but No Debt Relief, to Greece
By LIZ ALDERMANFEB. 1, 2015
The New
York Times
“France is
more than prepared to support Greece,” Michel Sapin, the French finance
minister, said during a news conference after a two-day visit by Yanis
Varoufakis, his new Greek counterpart. “Greece needs time to put things to
work,” he said. But he added, there was “no question” of forgiving Greek debt.
Closed
businesses in Athens .
The European Central Bank will meet this week to discuss emergency loans for
some Greek banks.For Greece ,
Bank Trouble Looms Again as New Government Takes ShapeFEB. 1, 2015
Mr.
Varoufakis was beginning the first of a series of visits to European capitals
this week after the leftist Syriza party won power in elections last month in a
populist backlash against austerity. He said that although Athens was “desperate” for money, it would
not seek a 7 billion euro installment on its 240 billion euro international
bailout package because that would require the nation to adhere to austerity
terms.
Economists
say Greece
needs the money to cover looming funding needs and debt obligations, and to
help a recovery after the economy contracted around 25 percent in five years.
“We have
resembled drug addicts craving the next dose. What this government is all about
is ending the addiction,” Mr. Varoufakis said, adding it was time to go “cold
turkey.”
President
Barack Obama, in his first remarks on the situation since the Syriza government
came to power, cast doubt on the soundness of Europe ’s
austerity policies during an interview with CNN that aired on Sunday.
“You cannot
keep squeezing countries that are in the midst of a depression,” he said of Greece . “At
some point, there has to be a growth strategy in order to pay off their debts
and eliminate some of their deficits.”
Mr. Obama
added: “More broadly I’m concerned about growth in Europe .
Fiscal prudence is important, structural reforms are necessary in many of these
countries. But what we’ve learnt in the U.S. experience is that the best
way to reduce deficits and restore fiscal soundness is to grow.”
France Supports Greece in EU Debt Battle
Sympathy in
Paris for Athens
Adds to Pressure on Berlin
The Wall
Street Journal
By MARCUS
WALKER, INTI LANDAURO and ANDREW ACKERMAN
Updated
Feb. 1, 2015 4:42 p.m. ET
8 COMMENTS
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Greece's Crazy Leftists Have a Good Idea
172 JAN 27, 2015 12:01 AM EST
By The Editors
Bloomberg
Amid the
populist rhetoric that propelled the far-left Syriza party to victory in Greece 's parliamentary elections, there's one
idea that Germany
in particular should take to heart: revive growth in the euro area by giving
the hardest-hit countries a break on their debts.
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