Emergency summit called as Greek deadline looms June 18, 2015 Eurozone leaders will hold an emergency summit on Monday in a last-ditch attempt to stop Greece from defaulting on its debts. The summit was announced late last night, after finance ministers from the 19-nation currency bloc failed to make any breakthrough on a cash-for-reforms agreement at Eurogroup talks in Luxembourg. “Too little progress has been [...]
Greece faces a very European problem: Are woes fault of Eurozone designers as much as Greek policymakers? June 18, 2015 Greece's economy is a shadow of its former self. It once had thriving investment banks which attracted cash from all over the world and invested it predominantly in the Balkans, helping countries there to thrive after the collapse of the Soviet Union. These operations are no longer. Its economy produces 30 per cent less [...]
Don’t bank on Greece giving in: The Eurozone has far more to lose than it thinks June 18, 2015 Every good story has its dark moment, a crisis that comes before a resolution. The Greek debt saga appears to be reaching such a crunch point. Both sides are refusing to compromise further and are insisting the other is to blame, while Greece’s impossible IMF repayment at the end of the month looms. But amid [...]
Greek crisis: No deal reached at crunch Eurogroup meeting June 18, 2015 Crucial negotiations between Greece and Eurogroup ministers have ended with no deal reached. Read more: Countdown to Grexit – the key dates that could save Greece Talks concluded after four hours with the two sides having failed to find a breakthrough, forcing European Council president Donald Tusk to call an emergency summit for Eurozone government [...]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel: Greek deal still possible – and EU must engage seriously with UK on Brexit June 18, 2015 German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a conciliatory tone on the UK's plans to renegotiate its relationship with the EU, saying the bloc must "engage seriously" with the UK's demands. During a speech to the German parliament today, Merkel said she wanted the UK to remain a "strong, active" partner with the European Union. "It's about [...]
Greek official: Athens cannot pay the €1.6bn it owes the IMF June 18, 2015 Greece cannot pay the IMF the €1.6bn (£1.2bn) it owes, the government has admitted. Speaking to Reuters, one of Greece’s top negotiators, Euclid Tsakalotos, said Athens was willing to make concessions, but would not cross any of its red lines, such as cuts to pensions. He said: There is no financing. We haven’t got access [...]
Grexit from the euro means Greece will also have to leave the EU says Martin Schulz, as Athens claims ball is in creditors’ court June 18, 2015 There is no legal route for Greece to remain in the EU if it leaves the euro, the President of the European Parliament has said. In an interview with the Guardian, Martin Schulz said the Lisbon treaty stipulated that all EU members eventually join the euro: Once you are a member of the Eurozone there [...]
Greece on the brink ahead of crunch talks: UK prepares for Grexit as Varoufakis insists quick deal is “moral duty” June 17, 2015 Eurozone finance ministers head to Luxembourg this morning knowing that another day of failed talks could see Greece default on its debts and crash out of the single currency. Today had been considered the final chance to strike a deal in time for Greece to avoid a default. The prospect of a breakthrough is [...]
Greek government balks at central bank’s Grexit warning June 17, 2015 With time running out to avoid a Greek default, a stark warning from Greece’s central bank proved sharply divisive yesterday. On the eve of a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg, the Bank of Greece warned that the country risks a “painful” exit from the euro and even possibly the European Union if Athens [...]
As its central bank warns of “painful” euro exit, would a Greek default necessarily lead to Grexit? June 17, 2015 Dr Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, says Yes Greece cannot have it both ways. It can either play by the rules of the euro and return to the Spanish-style recovery of 2014. Or it can default and leave the currency bloc. Technically speaking, Greece may simply tell its creditors to get lost and otherwise [...]