Europe unlikely to pull plug on Greece’s banks February 17, 2015 The European Central Bank (ECB) is unlikely to end emergency lending to Greek banks today despite a standoff between Europe and Athens. Only last week, the ECB extended the cap on emergency funding (ELA) to Greece by €5bn (£3.7bn) to €65bn. “There is no sudden end of ELA expected this week,” a person familiar with the [...]
The odds of a Greek exit from the euro just dropped to 6/4 February 17, 2015 The odds of a Grexit have been cut again after the collapse of emergency talks between European leaders last night. Bookie Paddy Power has slashed its odds of Greece leaving the euro to 6/4, from 3/1 two days ago. And it's put the chances of the country leaving the currency this year at 11/8. Maverick [...]
Greece in crisis: Inflation drop the biggest since November 2013 February 17, 2015 Interactive: Inflation rates in every EU economy Greece’s negotiations with the European establishment have collapsed and the country's inflation rate is going in the same direction. It hasn’t just crossed the threshold, it’s been in deflation for a while, but the drop in prices was steeper than expected: a 2.8 per cent reverse year-on-year represents [...]
Greek debt talks collapse: European equities hit by Grexit fears February 17, 2015 European markets were knocked by fears of a Grexit this morning, after the collapse of emergency negotiations last night. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.13 per cent, while Germany's Dax fell 0.7 per cent and France's Cac dropped 0.9 per cent. Meanwhile, equities in Athens fell four per cent, led by banking shares, which dropped more [...]
Eurozone disarray as Greek talks collapse February 16, 2015 Greece's crunch meeting with its fellow Eurozone states collapsed amid more bitter sniping last night, with the deadline looming for both sides to reach an agreement over the Mediterranean country’s bailout. The head of a group of Eurozone finance ministers – known as the Eurogroup – insisted after talks broke down that the onus is [...]
Greece given until the end of the week to apply for last-ditch bailout extension February 16, 2015 Greece and the Eurogroup blamed each other for the early break down in crunch talks over the latter’s bailout programme on Monday. Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem indicated that Greece, whose public finances are running dry, now has until the end of the week to ask for a bailout extension or risk being without a [...]
Euro slides after Greece rejects Eurozone’s bailout offer as “unacceptable” February 16, 2015 Greece has rejected the Eurozone’s “unacceptable” opening bailout offer as talks between finance ministers in Brussels broke down without an agreement on Monday. Negotiations broke up after just four hours as Greece angrily rejected the proposal that it continue with the terms of its current €172bn (£128bn) bailout, triggering the euro to drop [...]
Pessimism weighs on Greek debt crisis negotiations ahead of Eurogroup meeting in Brussels February 16, 2015 Cautious optimism surrounding Greece's debt negotiations this morning has since swung into gloom, with doubts voiced by a number of euro area officials reverberating through the country's stock market. The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) was trading down 4.4 per cent at 855 points in early afternoon trading. Eurozone finance ministers voiced doubts as they arrived [...]
Greece banks on 11th hour Eurozone deal February 16, 2015 Greece’s maverick finance minister Yanis Varoufakis remains adamant a deal with creditors will be struck on the country’s finances today despite farcical negotiations last week ending without even an agreement on a joint statement. “Our resolute stance on totally logical matters will, in the final analysis, lead to a mutually beneficial convergence, even at the [...]
Grexit or happily ever after? Twitter’s gone berserk for #Greekvalentines poems February 13, 2015 Nobody wants to deal with a messy break-up around Valentine's Day, but as talks between Greece and its international creditors drag on, things aren't looking very rosy. There are more talks scheduled for Monday, the final opportunity for Greece's new government to ask for a bailout extension – the current deadline for which is February [...]