Eurogroup Gives Greece 10 Day Ultimatum: Apply For Bailout Or Grexit - page 14

 

Athens Forces Us to 'Contemplate' Grexit: Belgian FinMin

Eurogroup ministers were unanimous in not discussing further debt relief for Greece, Belgian finance minister Johan van Overtveldt said Monday, adding that the 'Grexit' eventuality must be considered.

-It was unanimously agreed among Eurogroup members that there be no discussions of debt relief with Greece's government, Belgian finance minister Johan van Overtveldt said Monday, adding the whole bloc should prepare for the eventuality of a Greek default.

"The interest burden on Greece's debt is already lower than some other euro zone countries," van Overtveldt told the audience at an event hosted by Bundesverband deutscher Banken. "If we accept debt relief for Greece, others will soon be knocking on the door."

At the same time, however, he didn't rule out that debt relief couldn't form a part of the discussions for a subsequent agreement with Greece, but he insisted that was much further down the line and that the present talks with the Syriza government will not include it.

'Grexit' thoughts

When asked whether the Eurogoup partners discussed the possibility of Greece sticking with the euro even when defaulting, he noted that the situation was changing "hour-by-hour" and "day-by-day".

However, he did ensure that the blame was put in the Greek's court. "We deplore the fact that we have to look at alternatives such as this," he said. "But that is the fault of the Greek government. Their attitude in these negotiations has obligated us to look at these alternatives."

"Greece's government leaves us no other option but to contemplate Grexit," he concluded.

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Bad actors playing a bad play pretending that they know what are they doing

Teaching the people that invented democracy what is democracy is ridiculous - coming from people that never lived in democracy, even more

 

Well they got the answer today.

What's next? War in Greece?

 
PascalD:
Well they got the answer today. What's next? War in Greece?

That is the war that Greece already lost

 

Greece may be about to win the showdown with Europe

Zeit reports on a new offer

German newspaper Zeit reports that the EU and ECB are about to extend an offer to Greece that would extend the bailout program until December.

They would give Greece €10 billion from the ECB's bank recapitalization fund and that would allow it to repay IMF loans.

The IMF is against the deal and said not to be participating. The funds would take the IMF out of the picture and leave only the EU and ECB as Greece's creditors.

It's an offer, not a deal but Greece has been playing an epic game of chicken and they might actually win. The downside is that they're right back in this position in December. From the EU/ECB perspective, they're likely hoping that Tsipras doesn't have as much political support then and they can push through their demands then.

Here is the Zeit story: Schuldenkrise: Griechen bekommen letztes Angebot | ZEIT ONLINE

"According to information from TIME and TIME ONLINE from familiar with the negotiations circles is to be extended until the end of the current rescue program. In this program, ten billion euros are left, which should be actually used for the recapitalization of banks. This money will now be used to settle the Greek debt to the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the coming months.

The ECB participates in the financing, by will allow the Greek government to spend additional short-dated government bonds for two billion euros. The Greek banks would buy these bonds and can deposit as security for fresh money from the ECB. So far, the central bank, however, had always resisted."

Update: Varoufakis has reportedly delivered a new proposal to the Troika as well.

Update 2: Merkel says she only knows of the deal that Greece is presenting. The euro quickly dropped a half cent, but I'd be hesitant to pin it on this.

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Update :

Eurogroup press conference: No agreement in sight

The usual pack of lies coming from politicians that some war will save their arses

 

Emergency Euro Summit Called as Greece Looks Into Abyss

European Council President Donald Tusk called a crisis summit of European leaders for Monday, after it became clear on Thursday night that the Eurogroup meeting of euro zone finance ministers failed to bring any progress in the current impasse between Greece and its creditors before the country’s current bailout program expires on June 30.

"Time to discuss the situation of Greece at [the] highest political level," Tusk wrote on his Twitter account.

"No agreement as yet is in sight," Eurogroup President and Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem told reporters at a press conference after the meeting. While he said that there was still a possibility to reach a deal, "very little time remains."

"Greece needs to become financially independent...any deal that simply doesn’t deliver that...would be also a bad deal for the Greek people," Dijsselbloem said.

PM Tsipras welcomes summit

Greece’s Prime Minister, who is visiting Russia, has welcomed Tusk's decision to call a crisis meeting of EU leaders on Monday night in Brussels.

"Τhe leaders summit on Monday is a positive development on the road toward a deal," he said in a statement.

"All those who are betting on crisis and terror scenarios will be proven wrong," he suggested.

"There will be a solution based on respecting EU rules and democracy which would allow Greece to return to growth in the euro."

Grexident "dangerously close"

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told a press conference after the Eurogroup deliberations that there was still time to reach a deal between the two sides. However, he warned that "an accident" was already "dangerously close."

He said that Greece and its creditors were close to a deal on fiscal targets and the gap was just 0.5%. "That is too small a difference to justify this dangerous impasse," he stressed.

The minister also told reporters that he had submitted new comprehensive proposals which "would solve the Greek crisis once and for all." The proposals include an independent "fiscal council" to oversee Greece’s budget. However, he said that a proposed "swap" where the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) would buy Greek bonds held by the European Central Bank (ECB) was not discussed at all "for political reasons" despite being "logical."

Varoufakis also complained that Eurogroup Chair Jeroen Dijsselbloem had been "focusing only on Greece’s responsibilities" and failed to address the responsibilities of creditors.

Alternative plans for Greece

Reportedly, Eurogroup leaders are also talking of an alternative and temporary plan for Greece, as the ongoing discussions seem to go nowhere. German newspaper Die Zeit reported on Thursday that the euro zone had proposed extending Greece’s current bailout program until the end of the year.

According to Die Zeit, Greece would receive €10.9 billion of unused funds previously meant for recapitalization of the Greek banking sector.

In addition, the European Central Bank (ECB) would raise the cap on Greek banks, allowing them to purchase another €2 billion worth of government bonds.

The measure would allow Athens to make scheduled repayments to the IMF and the ECB this summer.

This so called "final offer" would help Greece to avoid bankruptcy.

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"final offer" :):)

In the mean time long positions overtook short positions - and we are still being told that it is not so. Market makers with their ways of lying us

 

Greece is down to the wire

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Greek government is once again working to revise its proposals for economic reforms so that it might finally strike a deal with its creditors on Monday.

Greek government leaders will meet Sunday to approve the revisions, according to The Journal:

Government members are putting together a plan they hope would achieve budget targets that bailout creditors want, while relying more on eliminating tax breaks and less on pension cuts than the lenders’ own proposal, the officials said.

The Greek cabinet is due to discuss the proposal on Sunday morning. It isn’t clear whether the cabinet under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will endorse the plan, which was being prepared on the weekend by Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis and others who are considered among the more pragmatic members of the leftist Syriza-led government.

Monday's meeting with Greece's troika of creditors, the European Commission, the IMF, and the ECB, will be crucial. The group has thus far refused a litany of previous proposals for reform from Greece's government officials.

The ECB had to grant Greek banks emergency liquidity over the weekend to make sure that they will be able to open Monday, and Bloomberg reports that this is a "weekend of fear in Greece."

In an op-ed in the Irish Times on Saturday morning, an obviously frustrated Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis wrote that so far, eurogroup negotiations have proved to be "a strange forum, one ill-equipped to forge good, hard decisions when Europe truly needs them."

In another weekend op-ed, this one in the Financial Times, economist Larry Summers wrote that without a deal, Greece might become a failed state — although at least one critic suggested that Summers' argument might be a bit hyperbolic.

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EU Commission plan sees 6 billion euro bridge loan to Greece

FAZ reports:

  • New plan sees extending Greek aid to Sept
  • 6 billion euros would come from the ESM
  • Plan linked to Greece accepting conditions

Separately, Greece's cabinet will meet at 11 am (local time) to discuss bailout talks.

Tsipras and Juncer held talks tonight as well.

Signs are beginning to look more and more constructive but talks could fall apart in moments.