March 10th, 2010
The European Commission, International Monetary Fund and German government are among those who have welcomed the new package of austerity measures approved by prime minister George Papandreou’s cabinet in Athens on March 3 2010 – but already Greek pensioners have come out in protest against the plans which include a ...Read more »
March 9th, 2010
Greece should consider selling some of its islands as one option to reduce debt, two members of the German parliament in Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition said. Josef Schlarmann, a senior member of Merkel's Christian Democrats, and Frank Schaeffler, a finance policy expert in the Free Democrats, were quoted on Thursday ...Read more »
March 8th, 2010
Greece will announce painful new spending cuts Wednesday to lift the country out of a major financial crisis, a day after Prime Minister George Papandreou said the country was in a "state of war" and was fighting for national survival. The new austerity package - likely to cut more civil servant ...Read more »
March 5th, 2010
By now anyone who hasn’t been living under a stone for the last month has heard of the Greek financial crisis. Basically, Greek has a massive budget deficit and investors have grown concerned about the government’s ability to bring it back under control, which has subsequently weakened the EU and ...Read more »
March 4th, 2010
When the euro was in the process of being created during the 1990s, it was clear that it couldn’t ultimately survive without a European ministry of finance and the coordination of tax and fiscal policies for the whole of the eurozone. This was to be the necessary next step after ...Read more »
March 3rd, 2010
When Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis called this week for snap elections, it seemed like an odd decision. Only halfway through his second term in office, Mr. Karamanlis is dogged by scandals, plummeting popularity, an economy teetering on the brink of a recession and fresh criticism for his handling of devastating forest ...Read more »
March 2nd, 2010
Fitch Ratings downgraded the ratings of Greece's four largest banks on expectations fiscal tightening would weigh on the economy and loan demand, hurting profits. Fitch downgraded National Bank, Alpha Bank, EFG Eurobank and Piraeus Bank by one notch to BBB from BBB-plus. The outlook is negative, which typically signals the ratings may ...Read more »
March 1st, 2010
Greece's two largest carriers, Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines, have decided to merge in anticipation of difficult times stemming from the country's economic crisis and tougher airline competition. "The crisis played an important role in the decision to merge," said an official close to Olympic Air. Analysts expect the creation of a ...Read more »
February 26th, 2010
It now seems that a general strike across all of Greece has caused Greek airspace to close to all international and domestic flights. This strike has caused the country’s transport infrastructure to grind to a complete halt. This 24 hour strike is the first to be called by public and private ...Read more »
February 25th, 2010
In another blow to a quick resolution of the Greek sovereign debt crisis, reports are surfacing that multiple banks may have arranged swap contracts with Greece to hide their fiscal shortfalls. Bloomberg is now reporting that up to fifteen banks may be involved. The debt concealment story started two weeks ago ...Read more »
