Ending Greece’s Perpetual Debt Crisis

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
JUNE 1, 2017

The New York Times

For nearly a decade, Greece has struggled under suffocating debt, which now totals more than 300 billion euros ($338 billion), or nearly double its annual economic output. Waves of austerity measures to satisfy creditors have inflicted great suffering: More than a quarter of Greeks are unemployed, and vital services, like health care and transportation, are running as bare-bones operations. The economy is in recession, and there is virtually no way Greece can dig itself out of such a deep hole.

Germany's Gabriel condemned Berlin's handling of Greece in letter: report

Thu Feb 2, 2017 | 3:31pm EST

Reuters

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel criticised the German government's handling of Greece in a letter he wrote to Chancellor Angela Merkel last month, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

Handelsblatt newspaper said Gabriel - who swapped the Economy Ministry for the Foreign Ministry last week - had expressed his "great concern" about the talks on Greece's financial rescue and thought the government in Berlin should play a "more constructive role".

Germany wants the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to have a stake in Greece's bailout to give the rescue plan greater credibility, but also opposes granting Athens significant debt relief. The IMF says it will only join in if this rescue is the country's last and it includes significant debt relief.

This Ancient City Would Still Be Among The Wealthiest In The World Today

By Sovereign Man on February 1, 2017 2:02 pm

Value Week

In the year 440 BC, more than two decades into the reign of Pericles, an audit of treasury in Athens showed a massive surplus of more than 9700 “talents”.

A talent was a common unit of measurement in the ancient world, especially for gold and silver.

And, based on today’s precious metals prices and the traditional gold/silver ratio (14:1) used by the ancient Greeks, 9700 talents is equivalent to about $700 million today.

At the time, Athens boasted a population of around 43,000 citizens and 28,500 foreign residents… so on a “per capita” basis, the ancient Athenian surplus amounted to just under $10,000 per person in today’s money.

Escaping the Greek Debt Trap

5 JUL 27, 2015 2:00 AM EDT

By Barry Eichengreen , Peter T. Allen & Gary Evans

Greece's debt is unsustainable. The International Monetary Fund has said so, and it's hard to find anyone who disagrees. The Greek government sees structural reform without debt reduction as politically and economically toxic. The main governing party, Syriza, has made debt reduction a central plank of its electoral platform and will find it hard to hold on to power -- much less implement painful structural measures -- absent this achievement.

Moreover, tax increases and spending cuts by themselves will only deepen the Greek slump. Other measures are needed to attract the investment required to jump-start growth. Reducing the debt and its implicit claim on future incomes is an obvious first step.

What Happens if Greece Misses Payments?

The Wall Street Journal

7:05 pm ET

Jun 15, 2015

By  MATTHEW DALTON and  GABRIELE STEINHAUSER

With little sign of progress in talks on Greece’s international bailout, some European policy makers are considering whether Athens could default but stay in the eurozone. The whole situation is fraught with unknowns, however. Here are some of the complications:

Greece, Eurozone Seek to Resolve Differences as Deadline Looms

Finance ministers to meet in Luxembourg in effort to reach agreement on Greek bailout

The Wall Street Journal

By VIKTORIA DENDRINOU

June 18, 2015 2:27 a.m. ET

LUXEMBOURG—Eurozone finance ministers have another chance to break the deadlock in talks over Greece’s international bailout Thursday, but neither side has shown any sign of shifting its position, even as warnings grow of the potential impact of a Greek default and exit from the euro.

Opinion: How to know when Greece is about to exit the euro

MATTHEW LYNN'S LONDON EYE GET EMAIL ALERTS

Published: June 17, 2015 3:00 a.m. ET

Market Watch

Crunch talks in Athens. The IMF flying home in a huff. German ministers leaking that the eurozone can survive a Greek exit, and Greek ministers insisting that austerity can’t be tolerated any more.

If it is Wednesday, at least one of those factors must be threatening to dump Greece out of the euro EURUSD, +0.4234%   by the weekend. Or Monday. Or the end of the month.

Δηλώσεις της κ. Annika Breidthardt, Εκπροσώπου Τύπου της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής σχετικά με τη δέσμη μέτρων που περιλαμβάνονται στην πρόταση των θεσμών

Η δέσμη μέτρων που προτείνουν οι θεσμοί είναι ουσιαστική, ισορροπημένη και λογικότατη από οικονομική άποψη. Οι προτάσεις ανταποκρίνονται στις ανάγκες του ελληνικού λαού, της ελληνικής κυβέρνησης αλλά και των 18 κρατών μελών τα οποία επίσης λογοδοτούν στα κοινοβούλια τους.

15/6/2015

Υπάρχουν πέντε κύριοι πυλώνες.

Μια σημαντική και αξιόπιστη δημοσιονομική προσαρμογή: η Ελλάδα θα δεσμευόταν να επιτύχει στόχο πρωτογενούς πλεονάσματος 2 % του ΑΕΠ το 2016 που να ανέλθει σε 3,5 % του ΑΕΠ το 2018.

Σημαντικά μέτρα για τη βελτίωση της φορολογικής διοίκησης (για παράδειγμα μέσω της ίδρυσης μιας ανεξάρτητης φορολογικής και τελωνειακής διοίκησης, καθώς και μέσω της καταπολέμησης της φοροδιαφυγής).

EU preparing for 'state of emergency' after Greek talks collapse

Mon Jun 15, 2015 8:19am EDT Related: WORLD, GERMANY, GREECE

ATHENS/BERLIN | BY GEORGE GEORGIOPOULOS AND ANDREAS RINKE

Reuters

Germany's EU commissioner said on Monday it was time to prepare for a "state of emergency" after talks collapsed at the weekend to rescue Greece from default and ejection from the euro.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ignored a litany of pleas from European leaders to act fast and instead blamed creditors for the collapse in aid-for-austerity talks, the biggest setback yet in long-running talks to secure more aid for Greece.

Greece Raises Stakes in Showdown as Payment to IMF Deferred

by Nikos ChrysolorasVassilis KaramanisPaul Tugwell

June 5, 2015 — 9:53 AM EEST Updated on June 5, 2015 — 11:22 AM EEST

Bloomberg

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras raised the stakes in Greece’s showdown with creditors, rejecting demands for more austerity to receive bailout funds and opting for an unconventional deferral of International Monetary Fund payments.

Tsipras told German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande during a call Thursday night that a list of demands needed to unlock bailout funds hammered out earlier this week by officials from the IMF and the euro area can’t be a basis for a deal, said a Greek official, who asked not to be identified discussing private talks.

Greece delays IMF payment, PM to brief angry parliament

/BRUSSELS | BY RENEE MALTEZOU AND JAN STRUPCZEWSKI

Thu Jun 4, 2015 2:06pm EDT

Reuters

Greece delayed a key debt payment to the International Monetary Fund due on Friday as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, facing fury among his leftist supporters, demanded changes to tough terms from international creditors for aid to stave off bankruptcy.

The IMF said Athens had informed the global lender that it plans to bundle four payments due in June into a single 1.6 billion euro lump sum, which is now due on June 30.

IMF Works With Greece’s Neighbors to Contain Default Risks

Discussions with authorities in southeastern Europe aimed at girding for potential failure of bailout talks

 The Wall Street Journal

By GABRIELE STEINHAUSER

May 10, 2015 6:04 p.m. ET

0 COMMENTS

BRUSSELS—The International Monetary Fund is working with national authorities in southeastern Europe on contingency plans for a Greek default, a senior fund official said—a rare public admission that regulators are preparing for the potential failure to agree on continued aid for Athens.

IMF's Lagarde To Greece; Pay Us Or Else

APR 17, 2015 @ 11:44 AM 1,865 VIEWS

Opinion

FORBES

Tim Worstall

CONTRIBUTOR

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/04/17/imfs-lagarde-to-greece-pay-us-or-else/

It’s long been true that welshing on debts to the International Monetary fund is just something that a civilised country just doesn’t do. Thus there’s little surprise when Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF, points out to Greece that there’s really no mileage in that country thinking about not paying the IMF back the money it’s owed. Because, you know, that’s just not something that civilised countries do.

Greece is probably already defaulting on its debt. Here’s why

Forbes 

by Geoffrey Smith  @Geoffreytsmith 

APRIL 7, 2015, 12:53 PM EDT

Avoiding a ‘hard’ default doesn’t rule out the softer forms, and there seems little reason to suppose that they won’t become visible soon.

The bad news is that Greece is already (probably) defaulting.

The good news is that it’s not going to be on you, dear taxpayer (and indirect contributor to the International Monetary Fund).

Greece’s Worst Option: IMF Default

APR 6, 2015 3:00 AM EDT

By Mohamed A. El-Erian

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis's surprise decision to meet with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde in Washington on Sunday added to the suspense over whether Greece would make its April 9 debt payment to the fund.

This is a consequential question because defaults on loans from the IMF, one of the world’s few “preferred creditors,” are extremely rare. When they have occurred, the debtors have tended to be fragile or failed states in the developing world and not advanced countries, let alone members of the euro zone, one of the world’s elite economic groups.

Greece Grabs Cash as More Than $2 Billion in Payouts Loom

by Nikos Chrysoloras, Vassilis Karamanis, Christos Ziotis

(Bloomberg) -- Greece will begin debating measures to boost liquidity as the cash-starved country braces for more than 2 billion euros ($2.12 billion) in debt payments Friday.

Unable to access bailout funding and locked out of capital markets, the government will outline emergency plans to parliament Tuesday to increase funding. Payments due March 20 include interest on a swap originally arranged by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified publicly discussing the derivative.

In Greece, Desperate Times and Offbeat Measures

By LIZ ALDERMANMARCH 7, 2015

The New York Times

PARIS — Despite the European accord last month to extend a financial lifeline to Greece, Athens is rapidly running out of cash.

So it is scrambling to find new, even radical ways to fill the shortfall — including a proposal to recruit citizens and tourists to spy on suspected tax evaders.

Greece Likely to Raid Pensions and EU Subsidies to Meet IMF Payments

BY LUKE HURST 3/3/15 AT 6:10 PM

Greece may be forced to tap into state pension and social security funds and even EU farming subsidies to meet their scheduled repayments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this month. It is expected to repay €1.5 billion in March, with €310 million due this Friday.

While short-term solutions for the March payments may be available to the new Greek government led by the left-wing Syriza coalition, experts say meeting further repayments scheduled this year to the European Central Bank (ECB) will require agreeing to a third bailout package.

Greece Faces Cash Crunch as IMF Payments Come Due

New Greek government stands little chance of receiving help from eurozone soon

The Wall Street Journal

By MATTHEW DALTON and  VIKTORIA DENDRINOU

March 2, 2015 4:37 p.m. ET

BRUSSELS—Greece faces a cash crunch in the coming weeks with little hope of financial help soon from the rest of the eurozone, threatening a serious blow to the country’s fragile economy.

Though the Greek government secured an extension of its bailout program last week, that doesn’t give Athens access to cash pledged to it from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund. To unlock that money, it will need to agree on a revised program of austerity measures and economic overhauls with its creditors, and pass them into law.

Greece runs out of funding options despite euro zone reprieve

Fri Feb 27, 2015 9:22am EST

* Greece faces 1.5 bln euro debt payment to IMF in March

* Lenders rule out three short-term funding options

* Pressure on Athens to quickly complete bailout review for aid

By Jan Strupczewski and Deepa Babington