Jacob Lew Warns Time Is Running Out to Reach Greek Debt Deal

By JACK EWINGMAY 29, 2015

The New York Times

DRESDEN, Germany — The United States Treasury secretary on Friday once again warned eurozone countries that they should not delay reaching a deal on further aid for Greece, highlighting a growing sense that negotiations are moving too slowly to avoid the country’s disorderly exit from the eurozone, with repercussions for the global economy.

Jacob J. Lew, the Treasury secretary, has used meetings of Group of 7 finance officials and central bankers here this week to push for faster action for Greece. He repeated that message on Friday as the meetings concluded, warning of the risks if Greece and its eurozone partners do not reach an agreement soon.

Greece open to compromise to seal deal this week: interior minister

 May 30, 2015 7:47am EDT Related: WORLD, GREECE

ATHENS

Reuters

Greece's government is confident of reaching a deal with its creditors this week and is open to pushing back parts of its anti-austerity program to make that happen, the country's interior minister said Saturday.

Greece and its EU/IMF creditors have been locked in talks for months on a cash-for-reforms deal and pressure is growing for a deal, since Athens risks default without aid from a bailout program that expires on June 30.

Greece's Cuban Path to a Parallel Currency

8 MAY 28, 2015 7:24 AM EDT

By Leonid Bershidsky

The idea of a parallel currency for Greece is worthy of consideration, with even German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble broaching the possibility as Greece fails to reach an agreement with its creditors. It could work -- albeit not in the way suggested by the pretty models circulated by economists in recent months.

Only Greece Can End Its 'Groundhog Day' Misery

10 MAY 29, 2015 2:00 AM EDT

By Mark Gilbert

In the film "Groundhog Day," Bill Murray is condemned to relive the same 24 hours on an endless loop. The happy ending (he gets the girl) only comes when he changes his destiny by becoming a nicer person. If Greek officials want their own happy ending (they get the money and the country doesn't go bankrupt), they must change their behavior. The universe isn't poised to intervene favorably on Greece's behalf.

IMF's Lagarde considers Greek exit a possibility

Published: May 29, 2015 2:49 a.m. ET

Market Watch

FRANKFURT--The managing director of the International Monetary Fund considers a Greek exit from the eurozone a possibility, but such a step probably wouldn't mean the end of the euro, she told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Time Politicians Handed Greece an Ultimatum

Time may have come for the eurozone to offer Greece a political solution

By SIMON NIXON

May 27, 2015 4:43 p.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

The Greek government has spent the past four months demanding a “political solution” to its debt crisis. The time may have come for the eurozone to offer it one.

Until now, Europe’s political leaders have been reluctant to be drawn into the process, preferring to hide behind the officials in the institutions formerly known as the Troika: the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission. Partly, that reflects practical and legal reality: elected politicians do not have the capacity or capability to negotiate the details of bailout programs.

ECB Says Contagion Risk Exists If Greek Deal Not Reached Quickly

by Jeff BlackAlessandro Speciale

11:55 AM EEST

May 28, 2015

Bloomberg

Yields on sovereign debt issued by other euro-area countries could rise if an agreement on Greece’s bailout isn’t reached soon, the European Central Bank said.

U.S. urges EU, IMF to be flexible with Greece

Wed May 27, 2015 12:31pm EDT Related: GREECE

LONDON | BY DAVID MILLIKEN AND JEMIMA KELLY

Reuters

The United States urged international creditors to show more flexibility in negotiations with Greece's cash-strapped government to avert a possible Greek default and exit from the euro zone with incalculable consequences.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew issued the warning on Wednesday in a stopover in London on his way to a meeting of Group of Seven finance ministers in Dresden, Germany.

U.S. Urges Greece, Creditors to Strike Debt Deal

Treasury chief Jacob Lew warns against complacency

By JASON DOUGLAS

Updated May 27, 2015 10:08 a.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

LONDON—U.S. Treasury chief Jacob Lew on Wednesday urged Greece and its creditors to “double down” in their efforts to reach a deal to solve the nation’s debt crisis, saying no one should be complacent about the risks to the world economy from a Greek default and possible exit from the eurozone.

Addressing students in London before traveling to a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Germany, Mr. Lew said that although eurozone is in “a more stable place” than it was at the height of the currency union’s debt crisis in 2012, it would be wrong to assume that a disorderly Greek exit would be painless.

The G-7's Problem: Can the World Deal With a Greek Default?

by Paul GordonAlessandro Speciale

2:00 AM EEST

May 27, 2015

Bloomberg

When the world’s top finance ministers and central-bank chiefs meet in Dresden this week, they may struggle to stick to an agenda set by their German hosts that doesn’t mention Greece.

The Group of Seven meeting starting on Wednesday will officially focus on big-picture themes of economic growth, tax evasion and strengthening the global financial architecture. Yet the most pressing matter for many of the policy makers attending is whether Greece can stay in the euro, and whether the world can handle the consequences if it can’t.

Greece and creditors play down fears of imminent default

Tue May 26, 2015 6:51pm EDT Related: GREECE, IMF

ATHENS/BRUSSELS | BY LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS AND JAN STRUPCZEWSKI

Reuters

Greece and its European creditors on Tuesday sought to play down fears that Athens would default on a payment to the International Monetary Fund next week.

Running short of cash to pay public sector salaries, pensions and debt obligations, senior members of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's government have said openly that Greece does not have the money to pay 300 million euros to the IMF on June 5.

The threats have spooked financial markets, which fear a default could forces Greece out of the single currency, pushing the European and global economies into uncharted territory.

Greece, The EU And The IMF Are Dancing With Death

MAY 25, 2015 @ 11:50 PM

By Frances Copolla , contributor

The Forbes

Over the last few months, the world has been watching with interest and growing concern the intricate moves in the deadly dance of Greece, the EU and the IMF. The latest move in the dance comes from Greece itself. The Interior Minister has announced that Greece cannot meet scheduled debt repayments to the IMF in June.

This does not mean that Greece intends not to pay. Rather, it is warning that intransigence by the EU may force it into an IMF default.

Greece’s Governing Syriza Party Divided Over Debt Terms

Faction of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s left-wing party says it favors default and a eurozone exit over swallowing measures creditors are demanding

The Wall Street Journal

By STELIOS BOURAS

Updated May 25, 2015 9:08 p.m. ET

ATHENS—As financial pressure mounts on Greece to sign a deal with its foreign lenders, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is facing what may be his biggest problem yet: the struggle within the ruling Syriza party over whether to swallow creditors’ tough terms or default.

Dissent is spreading within left-wing Syriza against the economic policies Greece is likely to have to enact in return for fresh bailout funding from other eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund.

Grexit and the Morning After

 MAY 25, 2015 9:24 AM

The New York Times

By Paul Krugman

We just had another electoral earthquake in the euro area: Podemos-backed candidates have won local elections in Madrid and Barcelona. And I hope that the IFKAT — the institutions formerly known as the troika — are paying attention.

The essence of the Greek situation is that the actual parameters of a short-run deal are clear and unavoidable: Greece can’t run a primary budget deficit, because nobody will lend it new money, and it won’t (and basically can’t) run a large primary surplus, because you can’t squeeze even more blood from that stone. So you would think that an agreement for Greece to run a modest primary surplus over the next few years would be easy to reach — that is what will happen, so why not make it official?

Greece Rules Out Capital Controls if Bailout Talks Fail

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMAY 25, 2015, 8:24 A.M. E.D.T.

The New York Times

ATHENS, Greece — Greece's government on Monday ruled out restricting access to bank accounts and the free movement of money if there is no breakthrough soon in tortuous talks with bailout creditors and its dwindling cash reserves dry up.

The possibility of imposing capital controls — part of a chain of events that could lead to Greece leaving the euro if things take a disastrous turn — "simply does not exist," said Gabriel Sakellaridis, spokesman for the radical left-led government.

Less Than Surprising News; Greece Can't Make The June IMF Payments, Default Looms

By Tim Worstall, Contributor

MAY 24, 2015 @ 5:57 PM

Forbes

This isn’t exactly the most surprising news we’re going to be told today but Greece is announcing that it simply won’t be able to meet the upcoming repayments due to the IMF in June. We’ve all known that at some point this moment would come: without the unlocking of the final tranche of the earlier, seconed, bailout there was no imaginable manner in which Greece could make all the payments due over the summer. Not unless some miracle happened with tax revenues that is, and as the country’s back in recession that’s not going to happen either.

Greece Urges Creditors to Compromise as IMF Payment Nears

Bloomberg

by Marcus Bensasson

4:41 PM EEST

May 23, 2015

Greece called on the country’s creditors to compromise on demands to break an impasse over the release of funds for its cash-strapped economy as a deadline neared for payments due next month to the International Monetary Fund.

The Heat Is on Greece’s Alexis Tsipras, From Inside and Out

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

MAY 24, 2015

The New York Times

ATHENS — With Greece in the final stretch of negotiations with its creditors, aimed at unlocking rescue loans the country needs to avert an imminent default, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faces growing pressure from the ranks of his own party.

Greek Talks Break Up as Earlier Optimism Evaporates

by Arne DelfsJonathan StearnsHelene Fouquet

(Bloomberg) -- Late-night negotiations between the Greek, French and German government leaders ended without any sign of a breakthrough that will unlock bailout funds and ensure Greece’s future in the euro region.

With time running out for a deal to free up the remaining 7.2 billion-euro ($8 billion) tranche of aid, talks between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, President Francois Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel broke up shortly before 1 a.m. on Friday in the Latvian capital Riga with the three agreeing only to stay in close contact.

Greece To Be Granted A Bailout Extension; Eurozone Lacks Credibility

MAY 22, 2015 @ 1:22 AM

Stephen Pope

CONTRIBUTOR

Forbes

Since the general election of January 25th when the Syriza led coalition government  was elected it has has failed on six occasions to present to its international creditors a meaningful set of reforms that would have paved the way for the next tranche of bailout money to be advanced and so avoid a default.

The far left of centre government has known the timetable and yet has been totally shambolic in the propositions its has offered to the European Union. It has argued against austerity whilst expecting international sources of finance to simply let the struggling nation off the hook.