Greece mounts late push to assure EU before migration summit

Tue Dec 15, 2015 3:08pm EST Related: WORLD, GREECE

ATHENS | BY RENEE MALTEZOU

Reuters

In a last-minute drive to assure European Union partners that it is getting to grips with a mass influx of refugees, Greece released aerial photographs on Tuesday of new registration centers for migrants on its northern Aegean islands.

The move is part of Athens' efforts, ahead of an EU summit starting on Thursday, to rebuff criticism by Germany and other EU governments that it has done too little to manage the flow of hundreds of thousands of people arriving on its shores.

14 Airports in Greece to Be Privatized in $1.3 Billion Deal

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

DEC. 14, 2015

The New York Times

ATHENS — Greece’s leftist-led government on Monday signed its first major privatization deal, granting a German company the right to lease and manage more than a dozen regional airports.

The contract, worth 1.2 billion euros, or $1.3 billion, is part of an effort to privatize state assets and adopt economic changes demanded by international creditors under Greece’s €86 billion bailout program. Some other measures are under debate in the Greek Parliament and are scheduled for a vote Tuesday night.

Greece, lenders strike deal to unlock further bailout funds

Fri Dec 11, 2015 8:34pm GMT Related: BUSINESS

ATHENS | BY ANGELIKI KOUTANTOU AND LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS

Reuters

Greece and its international lenders have struck a deal on the latest set of reforms needed for Athens to receive 1 billion euros (£722 million) in further bailout aid, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said on Friday.

The reforms relate to a new privatisation fund, a shake-up of the power sector, and how to open up the market for non-performing loans. Parliament will vote on the bill next week, Tsakalotos said.

Greece signs major privatisation deal with Germany's Fraport

Mon Dec 14, 2015 11:15am GMT Related: BUSINESS

ATHENS/BERLIN

Reuters

Greece's leftist government on Monday signed its first big privatisation deal with German airport operator Fraport (FRAG.DE), awarding it a 1.2 billion euro (£868 million)contract to lease and manage 14 regional airports.

Privatisations have been a key condition of Greece's international bailouts since 2010. But Athens has raised only about 3.5 billion euros from state asset sales so far versus an original target of 50 billion euros due to bureaucratic delays and lack of political will.

Greece expected to push through remaining reforms on Tuesday: euro zone

Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:15pm GMT

BRUSSELS

Reuters

Greece has accomplished more than half of the reforms agreed with euro zone creditors to get the next, 1 billion-euro tranche of bailout loans and is to legislate the remaining steps on Tuesday, a senior euro zone official said on Sunday.

Greece Reaches Deal With Creditors on Next Portion of Financial Aid

Reforms to include overhauls to banking sector, design of a privatization fund, partial privatization of power grid operator

By NEKTARIA STAMOULI

Dec. 11, 2015 3:44 p.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal

ATHENS—Greece and its international creditors reached a deal on Friday on a new set of economic overhauls the government must implement to receive the next slice of €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in financial aid.

“We have reached a deal on this round,” Greek Economy Minister George Stathakis told reporters after the latest round of negotiations.

What China Can Learn From Greece

By SERGEI GURIEVDEC. 9, 2015

The New  York Times

As a political economist, I make my living studying the impact of politics on economics. My friends and co-authors who are political scientists focus on how economics affects politics. Which is more relevant in real life? Do countries with bad politics suffer from poor economic outcomes because bad economic policies are driven by bad politics? Or because persistent economic difficulties make reasonable politics hard to sustain?

Every year offers examples of both kinds. The year 2015 was no exception, producing two very important stories: Greece and China. Both are dramatic and multifaceted.

EU, creditors put Greece finances under the microscope

In Brussels, eurozone finance ministers are reviewing Greece's progress on implementing lender-ordered austerity measures. In Athens, center-left Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is exhibiting ostentatious self-confidence.

http://www.dw.com/en/eu-creditors-put-greece-finances-under-the-microscope/a-18900920

Deutsche Welle

From the Greek government's point of view, everything is going according to plan - maybe better. Early Sunday, the parliament in Athens passed an austerity budget for 2016 , enshrining tax hikes and spending cuts worth billions. The forecast for Greece to return to growth after mid-2016 are good, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said during the budget debate. And Greece's major banks were even recapitalized with fewer government subsidies than initially planned.

Sunday's bad news appeared in the German weekly Welt am Sonntag, which reported that Greece was trailing far behind on enacting the austerity demanded by its international creditors, calling the country a ship with no captain. That provoked an unusually harsh response from the prime minister's press office: The "diehard and unrepentant enemies of Greece" continue to rely on "disinformation and speculation."

Greece Expected to Miss 2016 Privatization Target

The agency has repeatedly missed its targets and been hit by series of resignations since it was formed

The Wall Street Journal

By NEKTARIA STAMOULI

Updated Dec. 8, 2015 12:44 p.m. ET

2 COMMENTS

ATHENS—Greece is likely to miss its privatization target next year, the head of Greece’s privatization agency said Tuesday, even as the agency prepares to make progress on nine asset sales in the next twelve months.

Under the terms of a new bailout agreement signed earlier this year, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund aims to raise €3.7 billion ($4 billion) from asset sales in 2016 and another €1.3 billion in 2017.

Turkey says has duty to protect soldiers in Iraq after Baghdad ultimatum

Mon Dec 7, 2015 7:56am EST Related: WORLD, TURKEY, IRAQ

ISTANBUL/ERBIL | BY DAREN BUTLER AND ISABEL COLES

Turkey said on Monday it had a duty to protect its soldiers around the Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul in Iraq and that they were there simply on a training mission, after Baghdad ordered the immediate withdrawal of its latest deployment.

Turkey sent hundreds of forces to a camp in the Bashiqa region of northern Iraq on Thursday. It described it as a routine rotation in an existing training program to help Iraqis retake Mosul from Islamic State, and said the troops were there to ensure the safety of the Turkish military trainers.

The situation in Greece is a lot worse than it looks

 Reuters

Paul Taylor, Reuters

ATHENS (Reuters) - After a tumultuous year of two elections, a referendum, a default, a bank shutdown, capital controls and a tidal wave of migrants, it's amazing that Greece is still standing, like the Parthenon towering over Athens.

Yet the visitor's first impression is not of a country in deep depression in the eighth year of a recession that has shriveled economic output by more than 25 percent and put one in four people out of work.

Shortage of trust threatens Greece's comeback

Sun Dec 6, 2015 4:15am EST Related: WORLD, GREECE

ATHENS | BY PAUL TAYLOR

After a tumultuous year of two elections, a referendum, a default, a bank shutdown, capital controls and a tidal wave of migrants, it's amazing that Greece is still standing, like the Parthenon towering over Athens.

Yet the visitor's first impression is not of a country in deep depression in the eighth year of a recession that has shriveled economic output by more than 25 percent and put one in four people out of work.

For sure, there are more beggars in the streets, public health is declining and many Greeks have stories of hardship in their family. But the bars and restaurants are full, Christmas lights glitter and there is plenty of money being spent in the stores in central Athens.

In Greece, Shift From Cash to Plastic Could Undercut Shadow Economy

By SUZANNE DALEYDEC. 4, 2015

The New York Times

ATHENS — In the central market here recently, hanging above the trays of cod and the slabs of pink meat, was evidence that Greece’s near bankruptcy last summer was having an unexpected impact — shiny new placards advertising that, at least in some stalls, customers could now pay with debit and credit cards.

“If I like it or not, people are asking for it,” said Christos Papoutsis, 57, a butcher here who finally yielded to plastic money only last month. “If I don’t accept the cards, I will lose sales.”

Το καραβάνι τρέχει μες στη σκόνη

ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ 12:44

Του Πάσχου Μανδραβέλη

Εφημερίδα Καθημερινή

Ο συνεργάτης του Μπιλ Κλίντον, και πρώην εκπρόσωπος Τύπου του Λευκού Οίκου, Τζορτζ Στεφανόπουλος έδωσε μια καλή συμβουλή στον διάδοχό του: «Αν όλα πάνε στραβά, ρίξε το φταίξιμο στο Τύπο». Ο ελληνικός λαός θα το έλεγε καλύτερα: «ο πνιγμένος από τα Μέσα πιάνεται». Και η κυβέρνηση πνίγεται στην ανικανότητά της, στις παλινωδίες της, στα γινάτια, στα ρουσφέτια, στην αγραμματοσύνη, στο γενικώς «άλλα λέω κι άλλα κάνω», με αποτέλεσμα τώρα να της φταίνε τα Μέσα Ενημέρωσης. Ετσι, ανάμεσα στα σκυλιά που ουρλιάζουν και στα καραβάνια που τάχα προχωρούν, ο πρωθυπουργός είπε στην κοινοβουλευτική ομάδα του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ για «ένα μιντιακό σύστημα που ξεψυχά και βρυχάται» (1.12.2015).

Greece Agrees to More EU Help With Migrants

EU members were pressuring Greece to better monitor the bloc’s external border

The Wall Street Journal

By VALENTINA POP

Updated Dec. 3, 2015 5:03 p.m. ET

1 COMMENTS

BRUSSELS—Greece appeared to succumb to pressure from other governments as it agreed to accept more European Union help to control migrant flows.

Under pressure from EU governments, including a veiled suggestion that it could be suspended from the Schengen passport-free zone, Greece agreed to three steps to better handle incoming migrants, including assistance from the EU Border Agency, the European Commission said.

Greeks Strike to Protest Latest Austerity Measures

By NIKI KITSANTONIS

DEC. 3, 2015

The New York Times

ATHENS — Workers across Greece walked off their jobs on Thursday, heeding a call by labor unions to join the second general strike in three weeks to protest a new round of austerity measures.

The 24-hour walkout shut down public services, disrupted public transportation, left ferries moored in ports, closed schools and forced hospitals to function with reduced staffs.

Russia and Turkey Hurl Insults as Feud Deepens

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
DEC. 3, 2015

The New York Times

MOSCOW — The leaders of Turkey and Russia flung insults at each other on Thursday in their deepening feud over the shooting down of a Russian warplane, with President Vladimir V. Putin warning that Moscow would do more than merely ban tomatoes and construction projects to penalize Ankara.

The Kremlin also said that the long-delayed transfer of the S-300 air defense system to Iran had started, a move that strengthens one of Turkey’s regional rivals while raising concerns in Israel.

EU presses Greece over migrants, weighs Schengen threat

Wed Dec 2, 2015 6:37pm EST Related: WORLD, GREECE, MIGRANT CRISIS

ATHENS/BRUSSELS | BY PAUL TAYLOR AND ALASTAIR MACDONALD

Greece hit back on Wednesday at threats from some EU states to suspend it from the Schengen zone of open border travel because of its failure to control large numbers of migrants entering Europe.

Some central European officials, most prominently Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, have suggested excluding Greece from Schengen. Diplomats and European Union officials say some governments have raised the possibility informally but it would be a largely symbolic move, with little impact on migration.

"It is not said officially, but there is pressure," Greek Migration Minister Yannis Mouzalas told reporters, denying a Financial Times report on Wednesday that Athens had, among other things, refused an EU offer of devices designed to share the identity data of incoming migrants around the bloc.

Greece aims for debt relief deal in Feb 2016 after reforms done

Mon Nov 30, 2015 12:11pm EST

ATHENS | BY LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS AND PAUL TAYLOR

Reuters

Greece wants a deal on debt relief with its euro zone creditors in February to remove financial uncertainty and spur economic recovery, its finance minister said, but euro zone officials said that timetable was very ambitious and likely to slip.

Addressing a conference of investors, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said on Monday that making the ailing euro zone country's debt sustainable was the key to liberating the economy and restoring confidence among depositors and companies.

Euro to Bear Brunt of Yuan's Inclusion in Reserve-Currency Club

 Netty Idayu Ismail

 Lillian Chen

Bloombgerg

The euro’s worst year in a decade is looking even grimmer after the Chinese yuan’s inclusion in the International Monetary Fund’s basket of reserve currencies.

The 19-nation currency’s weighting in the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights basket will drop to 30.93 percent, from 37.4 percent, the organization said Monday. The yuan will join the dollar, euro, pound and yen in the SDR allocation from Oct. 1, 2016, at a 10.92 percent weighting.

The euro has tumbled 13 percent against the dollar this year, the most in a decade, and central banks have reduced the proportion of the currency in their reserves to the lowest since 2002. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled on Oct. 22 that policy makers are open to boosting stimulus, after embarking on a 1.1 trillion-euro ($1.2 trillion) asset-purchase program in March.