Showing posts with label SYRIZA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SYRIZA. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Greece to Launch New Tender for Gas Grid Sale in June-Energy Minister

By REUTERSJUNE 6, 2017, 10:21 A.M. E.D.T.
The New York Times

ATHENS — Greece will launch a new tender competition for the privatisation of its natural gas grid operator DEFSA in June, Energy Minister George Stathakis said on Tuesday.

Stathakis announced the tender in an interview with Greek news website liberal.gr without disclosing details.

Friday, June 2, 2017

Greece Seeks Debt Clarity as Creditors Resist Concessions

by Alessandro Speciale  and Viktoria Dendrinou
31 Μαΐου 2017, 6:27 μ.μ. EEST 1 Ιουνίου 2017, 1:12 μ.μ. EEST

Bloomberg

Greece may not be offered a substantially improved debt-relief package when euro-area finance ministers discuss its bailout in Luxembourg next month, officials directly involved in the negotiations said.

Euro-zone creditors are unlikely to commit to further details of measures beyond the extension of maturities in rescue loans that they discussed last week, the officials said, asking not to be named because the ongoing talks are private. Such a deal on its own might still not be enough to convince the European Central Bank to start buying Greek bonds, they said.

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Greece denies report it may opt out of receiving more bailout money

Tue May 30, 2017 | 10:34am EDT

Reuters

By Renee Maltezou | ATHENS
Greece on Tuesday denied a German newspaper report it could refuse receipt of bailout loans needed to make a July debt repayment if its lenders fail to offer clear debt relief terms, despite it having passed more reforms.

Friday, May 26, 2017

Ex-Premier of Greece Is Hurt When Bomb Explodes in His Car

By NIKI KITSANTONISMAY 25, 2017

The New York Times

ATHENS — A bomb exploded on Thursday in a car carrying Lucas Papademos, a former prime minister of Greece, through central Athens, the police said. Mr. Papademos, 69, was injured in the explosion, along with the driver and another person in the car.

A government spokesman, Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, said Thursday evening that the three were in “stable condition, are conscious and are undergoing all the necessary medical tests.”

Thursday, May 25, 2017

No Greek debt relief needed if primary surplus above 3 percent/GDP for 20 years: paper

Wed May 24, 2017 | 9:24am EDT

Reuters

By Gernot Heller | BERLIN
Greece will not need any debt relief from euro zone governments if it keeps its primary surplus above 3 percent of GDP for 20 years, a confidential paper prepared by the euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), showed.

The paper, obtained by Reuters, was prepared for euro zone finance ministers and International Monetary Fund talks last Monday, which ended without an agreement due to diverging IMF and euro zone assumptions on future Greek growth and surpluses.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

New deadline for Greece set after another stalemate

By Pan Pylas | AP May 23 at 8:26 AM

The Washington Post

BRUSSELS — Hopes for a breakthrough in negotiations for cash-strapped Greece were dashed again and another deadline was set.

Greece once again failed to get approval from its European creditors to receive the next batch of bailout loans that it needs to meet a debt repayment hump this summer. It also failed to secure an agreement on the sort of debt relief measures it can expect to get when its current bailout program ends next year.

Greece Has the Resources to Heal Itself

But it will have to curb tax evasion or remain an eternal ward of the euro zone.
By Leonid Bershidsky

Bloomberg

23 May 2017

The euro area's finance ministers again failed to come to an agreement on debt relief for Greece. No surprise there. Hammering out the details would force them to accept an uncomfortable reality: Greece won't be ready to tap private debt markets for years to come. In the meantime, if it wants to get off life support, it will have to find a way to cut tax evasion.

Monday, May 22, 2017

Greek Creditors Seek to Break Impasse on Stalled Bailout Review

by Viktoria Dendrinou
21 May 2017, 4:11 μ.μ. EEST
Euro-area finance ministers gather in Brussels on Monday to try to clinch a deal on easing Greece’s debt burden, which would resolve a stalled review of the country’s bailout and pave the way for a new set of rescue loans.

While Greece and its bailout supervisors have agreed on economic overhauls, the completion of the country’s review has been held back by disagreements between key creditors over how much debt relief is needed.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Greece cuts 2017 growth forecast

Sat May 13, 2017 | 5:24pm EDT

Reuters

Greece cut its 2017 growth forecast to 1.8 percent from 2.7 percent, according to a mid-term budget plan unveiled late on Saturday, driven by uncertainty caused by delays in concluding the latest review of bailout reforms.

Greece and its foreign creditors reached a deal on reforms in early May after six months of tense negotiations but the wrangling hurt economic activity. The Greek central bank governor had warned the delays could hobble economic recovery.

China's Xi offers indebted Greece strong support

Sat May 13, 2017 | 12:50am EDT
Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping offered the prime minister of deeply indebted Greece strong support on Saturday, saying the two countries should expand cooperation in infrastructure, energy and telecommunications.

Xi told Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that Greece was an important part in China's new Silk Road strategy.

"At present, China and Greece's traditional friendship and cooperation continues to glow with new dynamism," China's Foreign Ministry cited Xi as saying.

Monday, May 8, 2017

PM Tsipras says Greece has done its bit, now wants debt relief

Thu May 4, 2017 | 4:46pm EDT

Reuters

By Renee Maltezou | ATHENS
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called on Greece's international lenders on Thursday to reach an agreement on easing its debt burden by May 22, when euro zone finance ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the bailout progress.

Athens and its creditors reached a long-awaited deal this week on a series of bailout reforms Greece needs to unlock loans from its 86-billion euro rescue package, the country's third since in 2010.

Friday, May 5, 2017

PM Tsipras says Greece has done its bit, now wants debt relief

 Thu May 4, 2017 | 4:46pm EDT

Reuters

By Renee Maltezou | ATHENS
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called on Greece's international lenders on Thursday to reach an agreement on easing its debt burden by May 22, when euro zone finance ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the bailout progress.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Pledging more austerity, Greece cuts deal with lenders

Tue May 2, 2017 | 3:47am EDT

Reuters

By Renee Maltezou | ATHENS
Promising to cut pensions and give taxpayers fewer breaks, Greece has paved the way for the disbursement of further rescue funds from international lenders and possibly opened the door to reworking its massive debt.

Officials from both sides reached a deal early on Tuesday on a package of bailout-mandated reforms, ending six months of staff-level haggling. Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos announced it with a term associated with papal elections.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

I.M.F. Torn Over Whether to Bail Out Greece Once Again

By LANDON THOMAS Jr.APRIL 21, 2017

The New York Times

WASHINGTON — As the International Monetary Fund approaches the seventh anniversary of the contentious Greek bailout, it is torn over whether to commit new loans to a nearly bankrupt Greece.

For more than a year, I.M.F. officials have been saying — loudly — that they cannot participate in a new rescue package for Greece unless Europe agrees to ease Greece’s onerous debt burden.

Greece will legislate reforms but implementation hinges on debt relief: PM

Tue Apr 25, 2017 | 1:08pm EDT

Reuters

Greece will legislate additional reforms sought by its lenders but implementing them in 2019 and 2020 is contingent on securing further debt relief, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Deutsche Invest highest bidder for Greece's Thessaloniki Port

 Mon Apr 24, 2017 | 8:49pm IST


Reuters

German private equity firm Deutsche Invest Equity Partners was the highest bidder for a majority stake in Greece's Thessalonki Port with 231.9 million euros, the country's privatisation agency HRADF said on Monday.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Greece Hits a Bailout Target. The IMF Is Not Convinced

by Sotiris Nikas
20 Απριλίου 2017, 10:19 π.μ. EEST

Bloomberg

Greece achieved a 2016 primary surplus almost seven times higher than its bailout target, but the International Monetary Fund is skeptical the country can sustain that performance.

The Hellenic Statistical Authority is set on Friday to unveil data on last year’s primary surplus, which Eurostat is expected to validate on Monday. The surplus will be close to 4 percent of gross domestic product, according to a finance ministry official who asked not to be identified in line with policy. The bailout target was for a primary surplus of 0.5 percent of GDP.

Greece attains primary surplus of 3.9 pct of GDP in 2016- stats service

Fri Apr 21, 2017 | 5:24am EDT

Reuters

Greece improved its public finances last year, achieving a general government surplus of 0.7 percent of gross domestic product compared to a 5.9 percent of GDP deficit in 2015, the country's statistics agency ELSTAT said on Friday.

Venezuela opposition plans silent procession, road sit-ins


The Washington Post

By Joshua Goodman | AP April 21 at 12:04 AM
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s energized opposition is planning sit-ins on roads, silent marches in white to commemorate the dead and other nontraditional protests as it tries to build on the momentum of recent street demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of the South American country again Thursday to demand elections and denounce what they consider an essentially dictatorial government. They were met by curtains of tear gas and rubber bullets as they tried to march to downtown Caracas.

Thursday, April 20, 2017

At Least 3 Die in Venezuela in Violent Protests Across the Country


By NICHOLAS CASEY and PATRICIA TORRESAPRIL 19, 2017

The New York Times

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Protesters demanding elections and a return to democratic rule jammed the streets of Caracas and other Venezuelan cities on Wednesday. National Guard troops and government-aligned militias beat crowds back with tear gas, rubber bullets and other weapons, and at least three people were killed, according to human rights groups and news reports.