German Finance Ministry Rules Out New Debt Writedown for Greece

August 12, 2013, 6:48 a.m. ET

By Harriet Torry

BERLIN--Germany's finance ministry on Monday stuck with its steadfast rejection of further debt relief for Greece, despite a weekend news report suggesting even the country's central bank expects a new Greek aid package will be necessary by the beginning of next year at the latest.

Greece beats January-July budget target, helped by EU funds

ATHENS | Mon Aug 12, 2013 5:09am EDT

(Reuters) - Greece easily beat its fiscal targets in the first seven months of the year, propped up by aid from euro zone central banks and European Union funds, finance ministry figures showed on Monday.

The central government had a primary budget surplus - before interest payments - of 2.57 billion euros ($3.4 billion). That compares with an interim target for a deficit of 3.14 billion euros, it said.

Greece Needs a 21st Century Marshall Plan

By Dimitri B. Papadimitriou Aug 12, 2013 1:00 AM GMT+0300

At their White House meeting last week, U.S. President Barack Obama assured Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of his support as Greece prepares for talks with creditors on additional debt relief amid record-high unemployment.

Europe Heads Toward Recovery, but Slowly

German Growth Helps Drive Euro Zone to End of Longest Recession in Decades, Though Severe Unemployment Likely to Persist

By CHARLES FORELLE in London, NINA ADAM in Frankfurt and ILAN BRAT in MadridCONNECT

The Wall Street Journal

Europe's longest recession since World War II appears to be on the verge of ending, driven by a surge in German growth that is helping to blunt the severe economic pain faced by many in the region, but is too modest to lift the global outlook.

Obama to Show Support for Greece as Samaras Visits White House

By Margaret Talev - Aug 8, 2013

Bloomberg

President Barack Obama will show U.S. support for Greece at a meeting today with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras as Greece prepares for more talks with creditors on additional debt relief.

Cyprus unification, trade and counterterrorism initiatives also are on the agenda, the White House said in a statement ahead of the visit.

German Orders Gain Most in Eight Months in Recovery Sign

By Jeff Black - Aug 6, 2013

German factory orders increased by the most in eight months and U.K. industrial production beat forecasts in June, adding to evidence of a nascent recovery in Europe. Italy’s economic contraction slowed.

Exclusive: Saudi offers Russia deal to scale back Assad support - sources

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Amena Bakr

AMMAN/DOHA | Wed Aug 7, 2013 5:04pm BST

(Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has offered Russia economic incentives including a major arms deal and a pledge not to challenge Russian gas sales if Moscow scales back support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Middle East sources and Western diplomats said on Wednesday.

The proposed deal between two of the leading power brokers in Syria's devastating civil war was set out by Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week, they said.

The IMF's blunt assessment

Aug 1st 2013, 14:09 by K.H. | ATHENS

Charlemagne

European politics

The Economist

WITH Greece enjoying the best year for tourism since its six-year recession began, it has become easier to believe in official forecasts of a mild recovery next year. But the green shoots of optimism may soon fade if European leaders are unwilling to plug a widening gap in bailout funding for Athens over the next two years and help make its debt burden sustainable by writing off a chunk of bail-out loans.

Lagarde counting on Europeans to keep promises toward Greece

The Washington Post

By Katerina Sokou, Friday, August 2, 4:18 PM

Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, said Thursday that she counted on euro-zone countries to support the Greek effort to bring down its debt to sustainable levels.

Talking to reporters in Washington, Lagarde said the Europeans have promised to “consider any additional measures and assistance needed” as long as that Greece delivers on its commitments.

UPDATE 1-IMF approves $2.3 billion aid for Greece

Mon Jul 29, 2013 4:40pm EDT

(Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved a further 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in funds for Greece's bailout program after completing the fourth review of the cash-strapped euro zone state.

Greece last week adopted the last piece of legislation its international lenders required to release the next batch of rescue loans, after two months of wrangling over unpopular measures to overhaul the economy. The total funds from the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank comprise 5.8 billion euros.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Lew urges Greece to stick with reforms

ATHENS | Sun Jul 21, 2013 11:15am EDT

(Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urged Greece on Sunday to persevere with tough economic reforms during a one-day trip to Athens designed to demonstrate Washington's support for the crisis-plagued country.

Detroit, the New Greece

The New York Times

July 21, 2013

By PAUL KRUGMAN

…, the truth was that Greece was a very special case, holding few if any lessons for wider economic policy…

Greek PM unveils tax cut ahead of vote on job losses

By Karolina Tagaris

ATHENS | Wed Jul 17, 2013 10:17am EDT

(Reuters) - Prime Minister Antonis Samaras announced Greece's first major tax cut since its crisis began nearly four years ago, highlighting a hard-won concession just hours before lawmakers vote on a bill to eliminate thousands of public sector jobs.

U.S.'s Lew to visit Greece, discuss its reforms

(Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will visit Greece on Sunday to discuss the euro zone country's economic reforms and Europe's policies to support recovery, the Treasury said on Wednesday.

Lew will visit Athens after attending the Group of 20 gathering of finance ministers and central bankers in Moscow this weekend. Greece's debt crisis has roiled the euro zone and raised doubts about the currency bloc's future.

The Surprising Relationship Between Corruption and Economic Growth

Posted By Park MacDougald   Tuesday, July 16, 2013 - 7:45 PM

Foreign Policy

Another day, another ballooning corruption scandal in southern Europe. On Monday, the former treasurer of Spain's ruling center-right Popular Party (PP), Luis Bárcenas, admitted in court to authoring handwritten ledgers detailing the secret flow of cash from private firms to top-level officials in the PP. Bárcenas also alleged, after months of speculation in the media, that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy accepted regular payments from the illegal slush fund.

Greece privatisation: Myth or reality?

BBC

15 July 2013 Last updated at 23:17 GMT

By Nigel Cassidy

Business correspondent, BBC News, Athens

Visit any one of the Greek state's Opap betting shops and it's pretty hard to fathom quite what is going on.

Groups of mainly men who can probably ill afford the price of a lottery ticket sit around staring at electronic screens showing grids of random figures, all hoping against hope that their numbers will come up.

It's a fine metaphor for Greece's wider - and so far wildly unsuccessful - drive to raise billions of euros to help offset the country's punishing debt repayments.

Parliament Votes to Indict Ex-Official in Greece

July 15, 2013

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

ATHENS — Greek lawmakers voted early Tuesday in favor of indicting former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou over the way he handled a list of more than 2,000 Greeks with Swiss bank accounts, a possible source of much-needed tax revenue that was never exploited by the authorities.

In a secret ballot that followed a contentious debate, a majority of lawmakers in Greece’s 300-seat Parliament said that Mr. Papaconstantinou should stand trial on three charges: breach of trust, tampering with an official document and breach of duty.

UPDATE 2-Greece picks Eurobank to buy Postbank ahead of mid-July deadline

Sat Jul 13, 2013 7:29pm EDT

By George Georgiopoulos

(Reuters) - Greece's bank rescue fund picked Eurobank to buy New Hellenic Postbank as part of consolidation in the sector and to meet a condition for the next tranche of Greece's bailout, it said after a board meeting on Saturday.

Wrong Prescription for Greece

The New York Times

July 9, 2013

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Greece and its financial overseers agreed on terms for continued bailout payments on Monday. The agreement is cause for relief — without it Greece would go bankrupt. But, at the same time, it is no cause for celebration — indeed, quite the opposite. Greece must eventually carry out painful reforms. But the precondition for these reforms is not the austerity demanded by the agreement but economic revival.

EU Agrees to Keep Aid Flowing to Greece

By MATINA STEVIS, MATTHEW DALTON and FRANCES ROBINSON CONNECT

The Wall Street Journal

BRUSSELS—Greece's international creditors reported Monday that all isn't well with the country's mammoth bailout program, but euro-zone finance ministers decided the problems weren't enough for them to stop the flow of financial aid to Athens.