EU, Greece to start technical loan talks Wednesday

BY JAN STRUPCZEWSKI AND RENEE MALTEZOU

BRUSSELS Mon Mar 9, 2015 4:47pm EDT

(Reuters) - Warning Greece it had "no time to lose", euro zone ministers agreed technical talks between finance experts from Athens and its international creditors would start on Wednesday with the aim of unlocking further funding.

"We've talked about this long enough now," an impatient-sounding Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said after chairing Monday's meeting of euro zone colleagues, their first since Feb. 20, when they extended Greece's bailout deal to June.

Euro Area Pushes Greece to Open Books as Talks Resume

by Rebecca ChristieCorina Ruhe, Jonathan Stearns

(Bloomberg) -- European finance ministers piled pressure on Greece to open its books and follow through with pledges agreed to in its rescue package, as the country tries to avoid running out of cash as soon as this month.

Οικονομία σε ελεύθερη πτώση

ΜΙΡΑΝΤΑ ΞΑΦΑ

Εφημερίδα Καθημερινή

Επικαλούμενος την ανάγκη ανάκτησης της εθνικής κυριαρχίας και αξιοπρέπειας, ο κ. Τσίπρας οδηγεί τη χώρα σε τρίτο Μνημόνιο. Οι πολιτικές που έχει εξαγγείλει αυξάνουν τις κρατικές δαπάνες χωρίς να διευκρινίζουν από πού θα βρεθούν οι πόροι. Η προηγούμενη κυβέρνηση έδωσε ένα «κοινωνικό μέρισμα» από το περίσσευμα που προέκυψε από την υπερκάλυψη του στόχου για το πρωτογενές πλεόνασμα. Η σημερινή κυβέρνηση δεν έχει μπορέσει να εξηγήσει πώς θα χρηματοδοτηθούν οι παροχές που σχεδιάζει, πέρα από αοριστολογίες περί πάταξης της φοροδιαφυγής. Ομως οι παροχές είναι μετρήσιμες και άμεσες, ενώ τα έσοδα από την πάταξη της φοροδιαφυγής είναι απροσδιόριστα και αβέβαια, επομένως το αυριανό Eurogroup δεν πρόκειται να εγκρίνει τέτοια έσοδα ως «ισοδύναμα» για κάλυψη δαπανών.

Creditors Reject Greece's Reform Proposals

by Nikolaos Chrysoloras

Eleni Chrepa

(Bloomberg) -- Greece’s provisional agreement with creditors to avert a default started to crack as European officials said the country’s latest proposals fell far short of what was put forward two weeks ago and Greek ministers floated the prospect of a referendum if their reforms are rejected.

The list of measures Greece’s government sent to euro-region finance ministers last Friday, including the idea of hiring non-professional tax collectors, is “far” from complete and the country probably won’t receive an aid disbursement this month, Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Sunday. German Deputy Finance Minister Steffen Kampeter said ministers are not expected to advance on Greece today.

Eurogroup's Dijsselbloem: Greece reform outline 'far from complete'

AMSTERDAM Mon Mar 9, 2015 4:22am EDT

(Reuters) - A list of reforms proposed by Greece last week to help it win creditor support is "far from complete," the head of the Eurogroup said.

Speaking at an event in Amsterdam on Sunday, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister, said the Greek proposal was "serious" but not enough.

Eight lessons for David Cameron from Syriza

Different context, different countries, asking for different things. But – irrespective of who’s right and wrong – in terms of negotiating change in Europe off the back of a democratic vote, here are eight lessons for David Cameron from Syriza’s, so far, rather poor

Greece hints at referendum over EU rescue demands

Market Watch

Published: Mar 9, 2015 2:45 a.m. ET

By MICHAEL KITCHEN ASIA EDITOR

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Greek officials say they may hold a referendum on whether to accept terms from the European Union over further aid to their country, according to various media reports. "We can go back to elections. Call a referendum ... But, as my prime minister told me, we are not glued to our seats yet," Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, in an interview that published Sunday.

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.

Wired-up tax snoopers could be unleashed in Greece

The Guardian

By Ian Traynor in Brussels and Helena Smith in Athens

Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis comes up with novel methods to reform Greek economy before meeting with eurozone ministers

The Greek government has told its eurozone creditors it has a novel way of tackling the country’s chronic tax evasion culture – wiring students, tourists, and housewives for sound and video to spy on tax dodgers while posing as shoppers and customers.

Greece sends EU reform list, more hurdles before early cash

BY RENEE MALTEZOU AND JAN STRUPCZEWSKI

ATHENS/BRUSSELS Fri Mar 6, 2015 3:18pm EST

(Reuters) - Greece sent its euro zone partners an augmented list of proposed reforms on Friday but EU officials said several more steps were required before any release of aid funds to a country that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says has a noose around its neck.

Greece must reform and forget Syriza's 'false promises:' ECB's Coene

BRUSSELS Sat Mar 7, 2015 3:09am EST

(Reuters) - Greece must realize there is no other way than to reform, European Central Bank governing council member Luc Coene said in an interview published on Saturday, telling Greeks they had been sold "false promises" by radical leftists now in power.

The Belgian central bank chief said that life outside the euro zone would be far worse for Greek people and warned that if Athens wanted to be financed by the euro zone, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund, it had to follow the rules.

Opinion: Time for Greece to plan its exodus from the euro

Published: Mar 6, 2015 3:00 a.m. ET

By DARRELL DELAMAIDE POLITICS COLUMNIST

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Greece must now plan on a way to exit the euro EURUSD, -0.68%   if it is to have any chance of staying.

This is not a conundrum; it is the way negotiation works.

The new government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was forced to backtrack last month on its election pledges to get its foreign debt reduced and reverse austerity because it had no plausible alternative to European Union intransigence on extending the bailout.

Greece vs. Germany: Two Competing National Narratives

One reason behind the bitter turn in Greek talks is how the two countries view themselves

The Wall Street Journal

By STEPHEN FIDLER

March 5, 2015 4:34 p.m. ET

The tone of Europe’s political debate about keeping Greece afloat has turned bitter, particularly between Germans and Greeks. One important reason is the stories the two nations are telling themselves about their own recent history.

Germans see themselves as having built economic success from the ashes of World War II through self-sacrifice, personal reliance and hard work. When their economy started to underperform in the 1990s, they enacted a series of tough reforms more than a decade ago that laid the platform for economic strength today.

Greece: No escape from the inevitable

 http://www.voxeu.org/article/greece-no-escape-inevitable

by Lars P Feld, Christoph M Schmidt, Isabel Schnabel, Benjamin Weigert, Volker Wieland 

20 February 2015

Claims that ‘austerity has failed’ are popular, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world. This column argues that this narrative is factually wrong and ignores the reasons underlying the Greek crisis. The worst move for Greece would be to return to its old ways. Greece needs to realise that things could actually become much worse than they are now, particularly if membership in the Eurozone cannot be assured. Instead of looking back, Greece needs to continue building a functioning state and a functioning market economy.

Greece Struggles to Make Debt Math Work in Bailout Standoff

by Nikolaos ChrysolorasRebecca ChristieVassilis Karamanis

12:34 AM EET

March 5, 2015

(Bloomberg) -- As talks over the disbursement of bailout funds for Greece drag on into their seventh consecutive month, the deadlock threatens to pull the country back into a recession this quarter, or even a possible default within weeks.

Syriza’s worst capitulation so far?

It has now been confirmed that the Greek parliament will not get a formal vote on the extension of the financial assistance agreement with the Eurozone. Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel asks whether this is another sign of Syriza moving from its election commitments – in this case democracy and transparency.

2 March 2015

In announcing that the parliament will not get a vote Greek government spokesman Gavriil Sakellaridis said:

"There reason that the government chooses at this time not to bring the agreement to Parliament for approval has to do with the fact that it is just the extension of an already existing loan agreement.

This is a pretty extraordinary decision for a number of reasons."

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 Can Teach The World A Needed Lesson

This story appears in the March 23, 2015 issue of Forbes.

Steve Forbes

3/03/2015 @ 10:00AM

DEAR PRIME MINISTER Tsipras and Finance Minister Varoufakis:

You may have won a four-month reprieve of sorts from your creditors, but your situation is desperate, and everyone knows it, most particularly Europe’s paymasters, the Germans. As you just painfully learned, your ability to blackmail your creditors is a fraction of what it once was. Businesses, banks and others have had plenty of time to prepare for the worst-case scenario: Greece’s exit from the euro zone. Your own citizens have no faith in you, as evidenced by the massive cash withdrawals from Greek banks and the exodus of capital from Greece to supposedly safer havens.

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.

What Greece Won

FEB. 27, 2015

By Paul Krugman

The New York Times

Last week, after much drama, the new Greek government reached a deal with its creditors. Earlier this week, the Greeks filled in some details on how they intend to meet the terms. So how did it go?

Well, if you were to believe many of the news reports and opinion pieces of the past few days, you’d think that it was a disaster — that it was a “surrender” on the part of Syriza, the new ruling coalition in Athens. Some factions within Syriza apparently think so, too. But it wasn’t. On the contrary, Greece came out of the negotiations pretty well, although the big fights are still to come. And by doing O.K., Greece has done the rest of Europe a favor.