Fearing euro exit, thousands of Greeks rally for 'Yes' vote

Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:53pm EDT Related: GREECE

ATHENS | BY DEEPA BABINGTON

Reuters

Thousands of Greeks worried about the prospect of crashing out of Europe's currency union rallied in Athens on Tuesday behind a "Yes" vote in a referendum on whether to accept tough terms demanded by creditors to keep the country afloat.

One banner read: "We will not become the last Soviet state". Many carried flags of the European Union. They chanted "Greece, Europe, democracy!"

As default looms, Merkel rules out more negotiations with Greece

Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:04pm EDT Related: GREECE

ATHENS | BY RENEE MALTEZOU AND LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS

Reuters

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out new negotiations with Greece until after it votes on a proposal from creditors, leaving virtually no hope left to avert a midnight default despite a plea from Athens for a last-minute bailout extension.

As the clock ticked down on Tuesday toward midnight, when billions of euros in locked-up bailout funds are due to expire, euro zone finance ministers called a conference call (1:00 a.m. EDT) to discuss the Greek request.

Greece’s Future, and the Euro’s

By THE EDITORIAL BOARDJUNE 29, 2015

The New York Times

The referendum called by Greece’s prime minister is a bad idea, but at this stage it’s about the best available. Greek banks have been shut down to avoid a meltdown; bailout talks with European creditors are frozen; Athens does not have the money to pay 1.6 billion euros due to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, threatening default and withdrawal from the euro.

So, confronted with conditions from the lenders that he dismissed as “insulting,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made the surprise announcement on Saturday that he was putting the matter before Greek voters in a referendum to be held July 5.

Bank of America Strategist: Humanitarian Disaster Is Looming in Greece

by Hugh Son

June 29, 2015 — 10:47 PM EEST

Athanasios Vamvakidis, Bank of America Corp.’s head of European currency strategy, is in a difficult spot: He advises clients from London on how to make money -- or at least minimize losses -- as his homeland unravels.

His view: Greek banks will soon exhaust cash supplies, leading to shortages of imports including medicine unless the European Central Bank expands assistance, he said in an interview. A July 5 referendum on austerity measures probably will usher in August elections and a potential new government.

Greece Can Stay in Euro Even With ‘No’ Vote, Schaeuble Tells Lawmakers

by Brian ParkinBirgit JennenRainer Buergin

June 30, 2015 — 3:12 PM EEST

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told lawmakers in Berlin that Greece would stay in the euro for the time being if Greek voters reject austerity in a referendum scheduled this week, according to three people present.

Schaeuble also said the European Central Bank would do what’s needed to protect the euro if Greeks voted against the bailout terms in the July 5 referendum, according to the people, all of whom participated in the closed-door meeting on Tuesday. They asked not to be identified, citing the private nature of the discussion.

The German Finance Ministry declined to comment.

The Day The Euro Died

JUN 29, 2015 @ 12:34 PM

Frances Coppola

Forbes

On the evening of Friday June 26th, talks broke down between Greece and its creditors. The creditors had once more rejected Greece’s proposal and put forward their own version including tax and pension changes that Greece had already said it would not accept.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, June 27th, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced that the people of Greece would be asked to decide whether they wished to accept the creditors’ proposal. A referendum will be held on July 5th.

How much Greece owes to international creditors

Sun Jun 28, 2015 3:02pm EDT Related: GERMANY, GREECE, IMF

BRUSSELS

Reuters

Greece, which may default on an International Monetary Fund debt repayment due on Tuesday after talks with creditors broke down, owes its official lenders 242.8 billion euros ($271 billion), according to a Reuters calculation based on official data, with Germany by far the largest creditor.

That figure includes loans made under two bailouts from European governments and the IMF since 2010 -- worth a nominal 220 billion euros so far, of which some has been repaid -- as well as Greek government bonds held by the European Central Bank and national central banks in the euro zone.

Greece Comes to a Sudden Stop. Now What?

JUN 29, 2015 2:00 AM EDT

By Mohamed A. El-Erian

Sadly, the “Graccident” has happened.

 Bloomberg

The Greek economy is now in intensive care, as its parts -- and notably its banking system -- grind to a halt. The economy that eventually comes out of intensive care will be smaller and uncomfortably different in form, but it will also have the potential to prosper over the longer term if some important decisions are made rapidly and consistently.

Greece Will Shut Banks in Fallout From Debt Crisis

By JIM YARDLEYJUNE 28, 2015

The New York Times

ATHENS — Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced Sunday night that Greece’s banks would be closed as of Monday, as the fallout from ruptured debt negotiations with the nation’s creditors began inflicting pain on ordinary people while raising alarm in Washington, Brussels and Berlin.

The emergency measures escalated the confused and unpredictable state of a crisis that some analysts say could ripple through global financial markets and undercut European unity. Most Asian markets opened lower on Monday.

Greece Will Close Banks to Stem Flood of Withdrawals

By LANDON THOMAS Jr. and NIKI KITSANTONISJUNE 28, 2015

New York Times

ATHENS — Greece will keep its banks and stock market closed on Monday and place restrictions on the withdrawal and transfer of money, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a televised address on Sunday night, as Athens tries to avert a financial collapse.

The government’s decision to close banks temporarily and impose other so-called capital controls came hours after the European Central Bank said it would not expand an emergency loan program that has been propping up Greek banks in recent weeks while the government was trying to reach a new debt deal with international creditors.

Euro zone readies for Greek default after Tsipras referendum call

Sat Jun 27, 2015 1:22pm EDT Related: GERMANY, GREECE

ATHENS/BRUSSELS | BY KAROLINA TAGARIS AND ROBIN EMMOTT

Reuters

The euro zone got ready to deal with a Greek debt default next week after refusing to extend credit following Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's surprise announcement of a referendum on an offer from creditors that his leftist government rejected.

Athens asked for an extension of Greece's bailout program beyond Tuesday, the day it must pay 1.6 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund or go bust.

But the other 18 members of the euro zone unanimously rejected the request, freezing Greece out of further discussions with the European Central Bank and IMF on how to deal with the fallout from a historic breach in the EU's 16-year-old currency.

Tsipras Overturns the Chessboard

7 JUN 27, 2015 11:32 AM EDT

By Leonid Bershidsky

Bloomberg

It's difficult to imagine a decision more irrational than Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's call for a referendum on whether Greece should accept its creditors' latest bailout proposal. Tsipras is attempting abdicate responsibility for what could have been the toughest decision of his career. One can only hope the Greek people will be more responsible on July 5, if the referendum goes ahead.

Tsipras told Greek citizens in a televised address Saturday that the creditors presented his government with an ultimatum Thursday that would add "new unbearable weight to the shoulders of the Greek people" and "undermine the recovery of the Greek economy and society -- not only by fueling uncertainty, but also by further exacerbating social inequalities." Therefore,

Greece's Choice of Disasters

34 JUN 27, 2015 10:15 AM EDT

By The Editors

Bloomberg

After months of confusion and indecision over Greece and its debts, a moment of clarity may finally be approaching. The referendum called for July 5 by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras promises some kind of resolution. For that, at least, one should be grateful.

There is little else to celebrate. Getting to next Sunday without a financial breakdown in Greece looks impossible; Greeks are already lining up at ATMs. And the choice confronting them when they vote will be between two very bleak alternatives. This mess is a textbook case of political shortsightedness and catastrophic mismanagement.

Greek Deal or No Deal: Investors Question Which Is Worse for Euro

Months of brinkmanship have tarnished the currency’s outlook, some money managers say

The Wall Street Journal

By TOMMY STUBBINGTON

June 26, 2015 7:30 a.m. ET

10 COMMENTS

Last time Greece headed for a potential departure from the eurozone, investors dumped the euro, betting that an exit would be a disaster for the currency. This time, they’re not so sure.

Even if Athens and its creditors cobble together a last-minute deal that keeps the country in the currency bloc, some money managers say that months of fraught negotiations and political brinkmanship have tarnished the euro.

Analysis: ‘Grexit’ Isn’t the Scary Prospect It Once Was

Many of eurozone’s powers-that-be now believe any contagion could be contained

The Wall Street Journal

By MATTHEW DALTON

June 25, 2015 4:03 p.m. ET

10 COMMENTS

When Greek voters were threatening to reject the country’s bailout program in June 2012 elections, skepticism rose in the German government about whether keeping Greece in the eurozone was worth the trouble—and the money.

Europe strikes back: It seems to be trying to push Greece out of the euro

By Matt O'Brien June 25 at 3:38 PM

The Washington Post

Europe is altering the deal, and Greece better pray it doesn't alter it any further.

That, at least, was the message Europe sent with it latest bailout proposal that was really just a restatement of its original one. If Greece wants to stay in the euro, it will have to accept austerity on Europe's terms and not its own. There will be no negotiation, not anymore.

Greece's lenders set deadline, threaten 'take it or leave it' choice: FT

Published: June 25, 2015 7:05 a.m. ET

Greece's creditors gave the country's leader, Alexis Tsipras, until 11 a.m. Brussels time, or 5 a.m. Eastern Time, to deliver an acceptable plan, the Financial Times reported Thursday. If a deal is not done by then, the lenders' own proposal will be presented to the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers as a "take it or leave it" choice for Greece, the FT reported, citing two senior eurozone officials. "The level of frustration is so high. I don't see a deal," one official said, the FT reported. An hour after the 11 a.m. deadline, it was still uncertain whether the Greek premier had submitted a new plan for economic overhauls. However, Tsipras's meeting with leaders of the lender institutions broke up around noon Brussels time, with market participants waiting to hear the outcome of the talks. Austria's finance minister, Hans Jörg Schelling, said the Eurogroup will look at new proposals on Greece, hoping to reach a compromise before 4 p.m. Brussels time, or 10 a.m. Eastern, according to media reports. That would be just in time for the EU summit of European leaders that kicks off in the late afternoon. Schelling stated that Sunday is the final deadline to reach an agreement on Greece's bailout.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greeces-lenders-set-deadline-threaten-take-it-or-leave-it-choice-2015-06-25?dist=beforebell

Lack of Greek deal weighs on European stocks

Thu Jun 25, 2015 7:32am EDT Related: GREECE

LONDON | BY MARIUS ZAHARIA

Reuters

Persistent concerns of Greece leaving the euro weighed on European stocks on Thursday, with the lack of progress in negotiations on a cash-for-reform deal for Athens pushing investors towards safe-haven German Bunds.

The talks stumbled on Wednesday, with euro zone finance ministers accusing Greece of refusing to compromise ahead of a deadline next week when an International Monetary Fund loan tranche of 1.6 billion euros comes due.

Greek officials say without a deal the country does not have the money to pay the IMF. A default may trigger a bank run and may push the country out of the euro.

Creditors set bailout ultimatum for defiant Greeks: source

Jun 25, 2015 7:26am EDT Related: GREECE

BRUSSELS | BY JAN STRUPCZEWSKI AND RENEE MALTEZOU

Reurers

Greece's international creditors will put their own final proposal for a cash-for-reform deal to avert a Greek default to euro zone finance ministers for approval on Thursday after Athens let a deadline pass, euro zone officials said.

"If Greece says 'no go' now, it could be the final straw," one senior European official said.

The lenders had given leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras an ultimatum to come up with a credible reform plan by mid-morning (5 a.m. EDT), saying they would otherwise send their own version to Eurogroup ministers.

Will It Be A 'Grexit', EUxt Or Just Bust For Greece?

JUN 23, 2015 @ 9:16 PM

Forbes

With Eurozone and Greek finance ministers embroiled in a crisis summit and a ‘final’ showdown yesterday, will this on-going Greek drama ever get resolved? It is amazing that the situation has persisted for so long and I’ve lost count of how many times the markets sold off before a last-minute deal was struck and a sharp rebound ensued.

While many might see these last ditch efforts – despite Greece’s latest offer on Monday constituting “some progress” according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel – is this simply yet another opportunity for more political fudging in an eleventh hour deal? There is growing concern that we now need to start preparing for the worst. This is not that Greece will finally exit out of the Euro, but about more heightened concerns that the Eurozone project could itself fail.