Greece Beats 1Q Budget Targets for 2013

By Dow Jones Business News,  April 10, 2013, 08:25:00 AM EDT

ATHENS--Greek budget figures for the first quarter Wednesday were better than expected, a finance ministry official said Wednesday, with both primary and state budgets exceeding the goals set by the country's international creditors, largely as a result of government spending cuts.

Greece’s Unemployment Rate Increased to Record High in January

By Tom Stoukas - Apr 11, 2013 1:45 PM GMT+0300

Bloomberg

Greece’s unemployment rate increased to a record in January as the country’s economic downturn entered a sixth year.

The seasonally adjusted rate rose to 27.2 percent from a revised 25.7 percent in December, the Athens-based Hellenic Statistical Authority said in an e-mailed statement today. That’s the highest level since the agency began publishing monthly data in 2004.

UPDATE 1-Deposits flew into Greek banks during Cypriot crisis

Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:21am EDT

(Adds details)

(Reuters) - Greek bank deposits rose by more than 1.5 billion euros in March despite fears Cyprus's banking crisis would trigger deposit outflows in other indebted euro zone economies, Greece's central bank chief said.

More than 19 billion euros have returned to Greece since mid-June last year when the election of a pro-bailout government allayed fears of a messy Greek exit from the euro zone.

Greece enters deflation for first time in 45 years

Greek consumer prices fell year-on-year in March, taking the battered economy into deflationary territory for the first time since 1968.

By Denise Roland

1:58PM BST 09 Apr 2013

March prices slumped 0.2pc year-on-year, according to figures from the Greek government's statistical agency Elstat.

"Iron Lady" Thatcher mourned, but critics speak out

By Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton

LONDON | Mon Apr 8, 2013 6:32pm EDT

(Reuters) - Britain and admirers worldwide are mourning Margaret Thatcher, who has died aged 87, as the "Iron Lady" who rolled back the state and faced down her enemies during 11 years as Britain's first woman prime minister.

Her impact on the 1980s was such that opponents, including Labour's Tony Blair and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, led tributes to a legacy that radically transformed the British economy along free-market lines now widely taken for granted and includes her role in the peaceful end to the Cold War.

Greek Banks Suspend Merger Talks

The New York Times

April 8, 2013

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

 ATHENS — Shares in National Bank of Greece and Eurobank plummeted 30 percent Monday after the two banks suspended merger talks because they were unable to raise the required capital.

Cyprus Bailout Details Emerge After IMF Deal

By MATINA STEVIS in Brussels and ALKMAN GRANITSAS in Athens

The Wall Street Journal

Cyprus and the International Monetary Fund reached an agreement for a €1 billion ($1.28 billion) lifeline on top of the €9 billion bailout the island will get from its euro-zone peers, the IMF said in a statement Wednesday.

Greece to extend bank recapitalization deadline: central bank chief

ATHENS | Mon Apr 1, 2013 6:35pm EDT

(Reuters) - Greece will extend a deadline for the recapitalization of its banks by a few weeks, possibly until the end of May, Greek central bank chief George Provopoulos said on Monday.

Greek banks, which are being recapitalized with funds from the country's latest EU/IMF bailout, have been lobbying for the terms of the recapitalization scheme to be sweetened and also sought an extension to an end-April deadline for the plan.

Cypriots Cast Blame as Banks Open

Capital is Surprisingly Orderly as Branches Restart; President Calls for Probe Into Economic Crisis

NICOSIA—Cyprus's banks reopened from a nearly two-week hiatus on Thursday with little sign of disorder among depositors, even as the country's politicians pointed fingers over who was to blame for the financial sector's meltdown.

The Cyprus bail-out

This septic isle

Being tough on bank creditors could prove costly for northern European taxpayers

The Economist

Mar 30th 2013 |From the print edition

THE second deal to bail out Cyprus was much better than the first. For one thing, there was actually a deal: with the €10 billion ($13 billion) loan the prospect of the euro zone’s first exit has receded. An agreement among euro-zone finance ministers to wind up Laiki Bank, Cyprus’s second-biggest bank, and restructure Bank of Cyprus, the largest lender on the island, undid the worst elements of the initial botched agreement. Savers with accounts below the €100,000 deposit-guarantee threshold will be spared. Losses will hit creditors of weak banks in line with the normal hierarchy: shareholders and junior bondholders first, followed by senior bondholders and uninsured depositors.

The Euro Zone’s Slinky Economy

March 27, 2013, 11:32 AM EST

ByAlen Mattich

The Wall Street Journal

Remember the Slinky, the toy spring that compresses and extends to walk down stairs, bounce off tables and generally amuse children for minutes at a time?

Well, the Slinky is a fair mechanical approximation of the euro zone economy.

Except it’s not so entertaining.

Cyprus, Seriously

The New York Times

MARCH 26, 2013, 4:42 PM

Paul Krugman

A correspondent whom I respect has (gently) challenged me to say plainly what I think Cyprus should do — leaving aside all questions about political realism. And he’s right: while I think it’s OK to spend most of my time on this blog working within the limits of the politically possible, and relying on a combination of reason and ridicule to push out those limits over time, once in a while I should just flatly state what I would do if given a chance.

So here it is: yes, Cyprus should leave the euro. Now.

Draghi Wins Cyprus Chicken Game in Bailouts Test Run

By Jeff Black - Mar 26, 2013 3:42 PM GMT+0200

Mario Draghi’s brinkmanship has worked -- for now.

The European Central Bank’s ultimatum to Cyprus to commit to a 10 billion-euro ($12.9 billion) rescue showed Draghi playing a harder and more public game than in any bailout before. While that’s easy enough with a country like Cyprus, officials may shirk from such tactics with bigger nations, said economists from Citigroup Inc. to ABN Amro Bank NV.

UPDATE 3-Oil pressured by Cyprus worries

Tue Mar 26, 2013 5:34am EDT

* Euro zone faces tough banking regime after deal -official

* Brent-WTI spread over $13, up from narrowest since July

* Coming Up: API oil inventory data; 2030 GMT (Updates throughout, changes dateline from SINGAPORE)

By Simon Falush

LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - Brent oil fell slightly on Tuesday, remaining within its range of the past two weeks, as the effect of the Cyprus bailout faded and traders saw little direction for the market.

Brent crude futures slipped 8 cents to $108.08 a barrel by 0932 GMT, in the middle of its recent $107 to $109 range. U.S. crude gained 40 cents to $95.21.

Some facts about Cyprus crisis.

25-3-2013

From the press.

• Total deposits in banks in Cyprus ~ 68 bn Euros

Cyprus Refuses to Learn From Its Mistakes

By HUGO DIXON | REUTERS

Published: March 24, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/business/global/25iht-dixon25.html?_r=0

The New York Times

Cyprus will pay dearly for its sins. The Mediterranean island has committed many follies over the years — and is still making mistakes.

The Cypriots always seem to overestimate their negotiating position. In recent years, their first big mistake was to reject in 2004 the U.N. plan for uniting their island. That irritated their E.U. partners, put Cyprus in a weak strategic position vis-à-vis Turkey and left a jagged scar across the island.

There’s a Reason for Deposit Insurance

By ROGER LOWENSTEIN

Published: March 23, 2013

The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/business/deposit-insurance-and-the-historical-reasons-for-it.html?src=recg#h[Fatpfd,2]

  FOR all the criticism of bailouts since the financial crisis struck, virtually no one has suggested that depositors in banks be made to suffer along with their investors, employees and customers. Until this week, when the euro zone proposed that, in return for a bailout of the failing banking system in Cyprus, depositors pay a “tax” of 6.75 percent of their deposits — 9.9 percent for deposits above 100,000 euros.

Anxious, angry Cypriots face uncertain future

By Karolina Tagaris and Costas Pitas

NICOSIA | Sun Mar 24, 2013 2:12pm EDT

(Reuters) - Dora Giorgali says she has to go back almost 40 years, when Cyprus was at war, to recall such a feeling of anxiety.

Cyprus seeks 11th-hour deal to avert meltdown

By Michele Kambas and Karolina Tagaris

NICOSIA | Sun Mar 24, 2013 5:14am EDT

(Reuters) - Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades was expected in Brussels on Sunday to seek an 11th-hour reprieve from financial meltdown, with a bailout from the European Union and the island's place in Europe's single currency bloc hanging in the balance.

Underlining the gravity of Cyprus' position, the EU's economic affairs chief said there were now "only hard choices left" for the latest casualty of the euro zone crisis.

Cyprus weighs big bank levy; bailout goes down to wire

By Karolina Tagaris and Laura Noonan

NICOSIA | Sat Mar 23, 2013 4:34pm EDT

(Reuters) - Cyprus conceded on Saturday to a one-off levy on deposits over 100,000 euros in a dramatic U-turn as it raced to satisfy European partners and seal an 11th-hour bailout deal to avert financial collapse.