Softer Austerity Message As EU Sets New Budget Goals

The Wall Street Journal

By MATINA STEVIS and LAURENCE NORMAN

BRUSSELS—The European Commission confirmed Wednesday that it was giving France, Spain, the Netherlands and two other countries extra time to meet their deficit targets as Brussels softened its insistence on austerity-first policies.

France, the European Union's second-biggest economy, received two extra years to cut its deficit to 3% of gross domestic product, pushing the deadline to 2015. The commission is proposing a deficit target of 3.9% of GDP for this year and 3.6% in 2014.

Krugman Accused of ‘Uncivil Behavior’

May 26, 2013, 6:29 PM

The Wall Street Journal

The gloves are off in the roiling academic dispute over the merits of austerity and the dangers of debt.

In the latest round, Harvard economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart accused Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman of “spectacularly uncivil behavior” and the inaccurate allegation that they refused to share data supporting their work linking heavy debt levels to subsequent slow economic growth.

Luring Tourists Back to Greece

The New York Times

By LIZ ALDERMAN

Published: May 22, 2013

The sun was blazing above the Acropolis, draping the ivory pillars of the Parthenon in a golden sheen. The red-tiled roof of the ancient Agora museum glimmered in the heat, and a breeze ruffled the boughs of olive trees. On the rough cobbles of Plaka, a cafe-lined tourist area, crowds of camera-toting visitors paused to soak it all in.

Greece’s government: Up, but not out

Greece has performed better than expected, but still has much to do

May 25th 2013 | ATHENS

The Economist

WHAT a difference a year makes. Last May Greece seemed to be heading out of the euro. Lagging reforms, political in-fighting and violent protests had worn out creditors’ patience. An election failed to produce a clear winner. Athenians stashed euros in safety-deposit boxes and under mattresses amid fears of instability and a chaotic return to the drachma.

EU may give Greece more time to meet fiscal targets: Dijsselbloem

ATHENS | Thu May 23, 2013 3:20am EDT

(Reuters) - The euro zone may give Greece more time to meet fiscal targets agreed under its international bailout, the chairman of the euro zone finance ministers said in an interview published on Thursday.

UPDATE 1-Gazprom pushes for concessions in sale of Greece's DEPA

Tue May 21, 2013 2:28pm EDT

* Binding bids for DEPA due May 29

* Sintez, SOCAR to bid for DEPA's gas grid unit DESFA (Adds meeting between Gazprom chief and Greek Prime Minister)

By Harry Papachristou

ATHENS, May 21 (Reuters) - Gazprom is squeezing Athens for better terms to buy DEPA, Greece's sole retail gas distributor, a Greek official said, as the Russian gas export monopoly leverages its position as the only major player in the running.

Greece Isn’t Turning the Corner

By Megan Greene May 20, 2013 12:56 AM GMT+0300

Bloomgerg

 (Corrects Greece’s projected 2015-16 budget funding gap in 15th paragraph.)

Judging from the markets and English-speaking news media this week, Greece’s damaged economy has finally turned the corner. I doubt it.

UPDATE 1-Greece slow on asset sales but may tap bond market soon-EU/IMF

Fri, May 17 2013

* Pace of privatisations unsatisfactory - EU/IMF report

* Athens might try to tap bond markets in 2014 - EU official

* Country needs 4 bln euros extra savings to meet 2016 goals

BRUSSELS/ATHENS, May 17 (Reuters) - Greece's foreign lenders expressed concern at its slow pace of asset sales on Friday but praised the country for tackling its budget gap and said it may be able to tap bond markets in 2014.

Samaras Seeks China Investment to Revive Battered Greek Economy

By Bloomberg News - May 17, 2013

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras promised to give the “red-carpet treatment” to foreign investors as he visited China to help revive an economy that contracted for the 19th straight quarter.

Bond Rally Feeds Greek Recovery

The Wall Street Journal

Greek bonds rallied further today on news late Tuesday that Fitch was upgrading the country from CCC to B-minus, pushing yields to their lowest levels in nearly three years and adding fresh impetus to the first steps of recovery. After highs of 36.58% in 2011, the 10 year yield fell to 8.15% Wednesday, according to Tradeweb.

Greek 3-month borrowing costs hit lowest in two years

ATHENS | Tue May 14, 2013 5:24am EDT

May 14 (Reuters) - Greek borrowing costs fell to their lowest since April 2011 in a sale of 1.3 billion euros ($1.69 billion) worth of government Treasury bills on Tuesday, the country's debt agency PDMA said.

The T-bills were priced to yield 4.02 percent, down from 4.05 percent in a previous auction last month. The sale's bid-cover ratio was 1.75, up from 1.65 in the previous auction. Monthly T-bill sales are Greece's sole remaining source of market funding. (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Writing by Karolina Tagaris; Editing by Harry Papachristou)

Cyprus Gets First Aid Tranche as Greece Cash Backed

By Corina Ruhe and Karl Stagno Navarra - May 13, 2013

Bloomberg

Cyprus received its first emergency aid payment and Greece won approval of 7.5 billion euros ($9.7 billion) of rescue loans.

Cyprus received 2 billion euros today and will get as much as 1 billion euros more in June as the Mediterranean island’s 10 billion-euro aid package was activated, the European Stability Mechanism, the euro area’s permanent backstop fund, said in a statement.

ECB says has tools left to act if needed

By Sakari Suoninen and Martin Santa

AACHEN, Germany/BRUSSELS | Wed May 8, 2013 1:45pm EDT

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank still has room to maneuver should the euro zone economy continue to worsen after it cut interest rates to a new record low last week, ECB policymakers said on Wednesday.

Krugman’s Still Wrong

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE

By Michael Tanner

Paul Krugman has never been shy about proclaiming that he is right and everyone else is wrong — and not just wrong, but “knaves and fools.” Lately, however, one begins to worry that he might actually hurt himself, so vigorously has he been patting himself on the back for his opposition to “austerity” (defined as any cut in government spending, anytime, anywhere).

IMF: Greece making progress but must do more on taxes

By Anna Yukhananov

10:04am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Greece has made progress in reducing government debt and improving its competitiveness, but needs to follow through on structural reforms to ensure its economy recovers, the IMF said on Monday after a mission visit to the country.

Three men charged with undermining Boston bombing probe

3:26pm EDT

By Scott Malone, Tim McLaughlin and Mark Hosenball

BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Wednesday charged three men with interfering with the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing, accusing two students from Kazakhstan of hiding a laptop computer and backpack belonging to one of the suspected bombers.

The third man, a U.S. citizen named Robel Phillipos, was charged with making false statements to investigators.

UPDATE 9-Oil tumbles on weak U.S., euro zone economic reports

Tue, Apr 30 2013
* Brent-WTI spread settles below $9 for first time since 2011
* Brent oil down over 7 pct, biggest monthly fall since May 2012
* Coming Up: EIA data, Wednesday 10:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT
By Anna Louie Sussman and Jonathan Leff

Greek Parliament Passes Plan for Layoffs

The New York Times

April 28, 2013

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

ATHENS — Greece’s Parliament late Sunday approved a contentious plan to dismiss 15,000 civil servants by the end of next year as part of a new package of economic measures that the country must enforce to clinch crucial financing from foreign creditors.

Euro zone set to approve 2.8 billion euros for Greece on Monday

ATHENS | Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:42pm BST

(Reuters) - Senior euro zone officials will meet on Monday to approve payment of another 2.8 billion euros (2.35 billion pounds) in rescue loans for Greece, on condition that the country's lawmakers approve a reform law the day before, the country's finance minister said on Saturday.

Greece is right to expose German loans hypocrisy

The Guardian
As the Athens-Berlin spat intensifies, both sides must approach the eurozone crisis with humility or face dire consequences

Adolf Hitler's military chief, Walther von Brauchitsch, centre, and colleagues at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, in 1941. Photograph: Roger Viollet/Getty Images
Greece forgets much of its history when it demands Germany repays loans made during the second world war.