Greece Debt Crisis

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Volcano Crisis: Europe to Fast-Track Single Sky, Compensate Airlines – Environment News Service
"Stronger European co-ordination will not solve every problem. But faced with such a pan-European crisis, it would have enabled a much more agile response."

Merkel Tested as Escalating Greek Crisis Hurts Euro – New York Times
BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel's strategy for dealing with Greece's untenable debt problem was to stall and hope the crisis did not …

Financial Crisis in Greece, Europe Could Threaten US> and World Economy – Los Angeles Times
And despite German officials' pledge to act swiftly, many economists saw a likelihood damaging fallout from the crisis. Jacob Kirkegaard, a European …

In Crisis, Catholics’ Response Is Ad Hoc – Wall Street Journal
After the sex-abuse crisis began to rumble in November last year, Father Lombardi began to tighten up the Vatican's media operations, creating a small …

US Households Lost $100000 From Crisis, Study Says (Correct) – BusinessWeek
April 28 (Bloomberg) — The financial crisis and recession cost US households an average of about $100000 in lost wealth and income, …

Credit Agricole, SocGen Face Greek Risks as Debt Crisis Deepens – BusinessWeek
Contagion from the Greek crisis is threatening the stability of the financial system like the Ebola virus, Organization for Economic Cooperation and …

In Spain, Crisis Stays Low-Key – Wall Street Journal
MADRID–Spain's worsening financial crisis remains a strangely low-key affair. One in five people here are out of work, but generous …

The VAT may resolve debt crisis, but for politicians it’s too soon to be right – Washington Post
By ruling out a VAT when it could keep the federal deficit in check, politicians have all but guaranteed that the debt crisis, when it comes, …

Gold climbs as eurozone debt crisis intensifies – Xinhua
Fears of prospective debt defaults drove investors to flock to hard assets like gold as a flight to safety in times of crisis. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve's …

Greece Debt Crisis: Recent News

Greece Debt Crisis: Sarkozy Says Europe Will Help Greece During Meeting With Georges Papandreou
PARIS — Speculators beware: The euro zone’s biggest powers will back Greece through the debt crisis that has jeopardized all 16 nations in the common currency, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, in Paris as part of a four-city tour seeking firmer EU and U.S. support for new austerity measures to rein in its massive budget gap, received from Sarkozy the most outspoken support for his plans yet. The French leader, coveting the chance to play the statesman with regional French elections to begin next Sunday, issued a warning to traders who would bet against the euro zone’s willingness to defend a member state. And in a show of high-stakes poker with speculators, he purposely didn’t detail what measures the bloc might take. Papandreou’s government has committed to a severe austerity plan to reduce Greece’s massive 12.7 percent budget deficit, and has warned that going to the International Monetary Fund is an option if a European solution is not found. “The Greek government … took the measures asked of it. Euro zone states must now be ready to take theirs,” Sarkozy told a news conference alongside Papandreou at the French presidential palace. “Of course, the future of Greece is in question, but it’s also that of Europe being played out,” Sarkozy said. “Europeans have created a common currency – all the countries that share this currency must show solidarity.” Sarkozy, who along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking to calm markets and bring down Greece’s high borrowing costs, didn’t spell out any specific ideas. “Concrete, precise methods exist – ones we don’t need to communicate about tonight, certainly not,” he said.

Greece debt crisis FAQ
Why is Greece still in crisis– Don’t the bankers deserve it– Could the UK be next–Why is Greece still in crisis, wasn’t there a bailout–After months of uncertainty, the EU and IMF had finally offered a â‚¬45bn rescue package (â‚¬30bn from Europe and â‚¬15bn from the IMF), which might have seen Greece through its short-term borrowing needs. But political opposition in Germany led investors to lose confidence and drove up Greek borrowing costs to the point where a far bigger rescue package now looks necessary.What happens if a bigger bailout can’t be agreed–With short-term borrowing rates hitting 38% on Wednesday, investors fear Greece will have no choice but to default on some of its existing debt obligations, or at the very least negotiate a partial debt restructuring. In short, refuse to pay. The latest crisis was sparked on Tuesday when credit rating agency Standard & Poors downgraded Greek sovereign bonds to junk status.Why is this so bad– Don’t the bankers deserve it–It is bad for Greece because it will make it almost impossible to borrow its way out of trouble in future, making it difficult to pay all its public sector employees and deepening its recession. It is bad for everyone because most fund managers invest in these bonds on behalf of international pensioners and savers. Though Goldman Sachs has been criticised for helping Greece hide its problems and hedge funds are blamed for exacerbating the market reaction, the banking industry is far less culpable in this crisis than it was last year.Will Greece leave the euro–If its domestic economic crisis gets bad enough, Athens may decide a currency devaluation is the only way to restore international competitiveness.

The Greece debt crisis is far from over
With government bond yields still high, Greece may not be able to service its debt, making a joint eurozone and IMF rescue ever more likely..

Greece must do more to tackle debt crisis, EU says
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece needs to take further action quickly to tackle its debt crisis and meet its budget goals, European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Monday..

Debt crisis: UK banks sitting on £100bn exposure to Greece, Spain and Portugal
Shares in UK lenders slide amid fears of renewed credit crunch but French, German and Swiss most at risk from Greek defaultFears of a fresh banking crisis stalked the markets today as the risk of Greece defaulting on its debt repayments raised concerns about the exposure of major banks to indebted countries in Europe.As analysts estimated that Britain’s banks have a combined exposure of £100bn to Greece, Portugal and Spain ” the three countries causing most concern on the financial markets ” the Financial Services Authority was closely watching the markets and assessing exposures to the vulnerable countries.After the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s had downgraded Greek debt to “junk” yesterday, bank shares were knocked today but spared further falls as the downgrade of Spain’s crucial credit rating came just as the stock market was closing. With UK banks standing to lose more in Spain than in Greece and Portugal, analysts said there might have been a more severe reaction if London had remained open longer today.Analysts at Credit Suisse calculated that UK banks had £25bn of exposure to Greece and Portugal but £75bn to Spain, where the collapse in the property market has already forced banks such as Barclays to admit to bad debt problems and left Royal Bank of Scotland facing questions about its exposure.”Lloyds’ exposure to the three regions is likely to be negligible, we estimate that Barclays has £40bn exposure (predominantly loans in Spain and Portugal, excluding daily positions in Barclays Capital), and RBS has around £30bn”£35bn (again predominantly Spain, although we estimate £3bn to £4bn in Portugal and Greece as well),” the Credit Suisse analysts said.Money markets, in which major banks lend to each other, also reflected the tension caused by the Greek downgrade with eurozone interbank lending rates enduring their biggest rise in nearly a year.Much of the anxiety was targeted at French, German and Swiss banks. Howard Wheeldon, of BGC Partners, said: “If Greece defaults that means the pressure will then be felt and exerted on national banks that hold the Greek debt. That includes very many German, French and Swiss banks and it just may be that with so many banks involved one of these might just go down.”At today’s annual meeting, RBS’s chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, played down any exposure to Greece, while Lloyds’ finance director, Tim Tookey, said on Tuesday that the bank had no “material [significant] exposure”. Barclays publishes a trading update on Friday and will face questions about its exposure to the countries being downgraded.In early trading today banks were the biggest fallers, with RBS tumbling 7%, Lloyds down by 6.5% and Barclays off 4%, though they recovered much of their losses by the time market closed.Among continental European banks, analysts at Evolution calculated that Fortis, Dexia, CASA and SociÃ©tÃ© GÃ©nÃ©rale were most affected because of the value of their Greek debt holdings relative to their size.According to Barclays Capital, UK banks account for only 3% of the exposure to Greek bonds, while data from the Bank for International Settlements shows that, at the end of 2009, Greece owed about $240bn (£160bn) overseas. Of this, France and Germany have the biggest exposures of $75bn and $45bn respectively.Analysts expressed concern about the problems spreading.

Greece shaken by growing debt crisis
A rollercoaster ride for European markets as the Greek contagion appeared ready to spread to other nations.

Greece debt crisis: the role of credit rating agencies
¢ EU wants agency understanding for Greek bailout plans¢ Rating agencies’ views are critical to investment decisionsCredit agencies came under fire today after their rating of eurozone countries sparked the latest market jitters.Rattled by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) reduction of Greece to junk status on Monday, the EU launched a thinly veiled attack on the agency, saying it had confidence in action being taken by the Greek government to tackle its debts of â‚¬300bn.Without naming S&P, an EU spokesman said it expected that when credit rating agencies (CRAs) “assess the Greek risk, they take due account of the fundamentals of the Greek economy and the support package being prepared by the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.”We, of course, expect the credit rating agencies, like all other financial players, and in particular during this very difficult and sensitive period, to act in a responsible and rigorous way.”S&P is one of a handful of credit rating agencies that wield enormous clout in the financial markets where investors await their opinions with a mixture of intense interest, fear and trepidation.The agencies provide investment and credit opinions on the ability of companies and countries to meet their debt obligations and their views are critical to investment decisions made by banks, pension funds and other financial institutions.Bondholders and shareholders rely on the advice of the three big credit rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch ” which must register with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Their views can wipe millions off bond and share prices, as well as make credit more expensive.S&P has effectively said it views Greece as a much riskier place to invest, which increases the interest rate investors will charge the Greek government to borrow money on the open market. But S&P is also implying that the risk of Greece defaulting on its loans has increased, a frightening prospect for bondholders and European politicians.The CRAs have never been far from controversy: at the turn of the millennium they came under fire for giving Enron a clean bill of health right up until the company collapsed in 2001. More recently, they have been subject to criticism in the wake of large losses, beginning in 2007 in the collateralised debt obligation (CDO) market, that occurred despite products being assigned top ratings.In the US, a Senate report last week said the agencies deserve some of the blame for the recent financial meltdown. According to the report, the agencies helped banks disguise the risks of the investments they marketed, selling high risk securities with low risk labels.Senator Carl Levin said there was “an inherent conflict of interest” because the rating agencies received fees from the very firms whose products they were grading.Levin said the Obama administration’s financial overhaul should more closely address how CRAs are paid.There is legislation in both the House of Representatives and Senate that would increase regulation of the CRAs. A new bill would create an office of credit rating agencies within the SEC.

Greece debt crisis: Standard and Poor’s country credit ratings in full
Standard and Poor’s country credit ratings in full ” from AAA’s for the likes of the US and UK (albeit with a negative outlook) to CCC+ for EcuadorStandard and Poor’s country credit ratings in fullCountries in bold have junk statusEuropeGreeceFinancial crisisEuroguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds.

Greece debt crisis: should Germany support a bailout–
Germans are balking at paying for a bailout or Greek politicians amid talk of a breakup of the eurozone.

Greece, Portugal debt crisis hits stocks
U.S. stocks followed European markets sharply lower Tuesday after Standard & Poor’s downgraded the debt of Greece and Portugal. Business – Portugal – Financial Services – Financial Planning – Debt Consolidation.

Twitter Recent Posts for Greece Debt Crisis

Pls RT: Scotland’s National Rape Crisis Hotline 0800 027 1234
@gammawaif #HugSlack – its a national crisis
Obama, Merkel discuss Greece’s financial crisis (AP)http://bit.ly/bGP5X5
Greek crisis carries all before it (Reuters)http://bit.ly/awwiSq
RT @beulahgg: Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie.. , Freddie.. Scam that caused Economic Crisis. http://bit.ly/CFCjo #tcot]
S&P Cuts Spain As Greek Crisis Spreads In EU (Investor’s Business Daily)http://bit.ly/diFLAb
Merkel Tested as Escalating Greek Crisis Hurts Euro – New York Times http://is.gd/bMrqd
RT @clusterstock Mohammad El Erian And Paul Krugman Both Wildly Gloomy About Spiraling Crisis In Greece by @thestalwart http://bit.ly/acy7Ok
Debt crisis: European markets fluctuate as financial turmoil spreads to Spain http://url4.eu/32hQC
@KOSMOSNET Human rights crisis–! What about my human rights– What about my rights as an American citizen!
"Waiting is a necessary component of the crisis"
RT @polyglotwit: RT @smittytabb: RT @katiealley A New Great Wall: Why The Crisis in Translation Matters by Edith Grossman http://bit.ly/ckccyU via @addthis
Fresh strikes rattle Greece: Strikes erupted in Greece as its crisis-hit economy drew another scathing debt downgrade. http://bit.ly/bPQ3m0
Hispanic May Day rallies: Will they protest migrant abuse crisis in Mexico or AZ’s non-abusive law–
A New Great Wall: Why The Crisis in Translation Matters – By Edith Grossman | Foreign Policy http://ow.ly/1Evo8