Eurozone Greek bailout talks begin in Brussels..bailout approved..till the next time
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17092964
Eurozone finance ministers are holding talks in Brussels aimed at securing a second vital bailout for Greece.
They have said they are hopeful of reaching a deal, with France’s Finance Minister Francois Baroin saying all the elements are in place.
But his Greek counterpart Evangelis Venizelos said haggling would go on “until the very last minute”.
Athens needs the 130bn euros (£110bn; $170bn) in order to avoid bankruptcy next month, when loans must be repaid.
The rescue plan would also write off 100bn euros of debt, with private lenders accepting a 70% reduction in what Greece owes them.
In return, they would receive cash and new bonds, expected to mature in 30 years’ time.
Negotiations to write off even more debt are being held in parallel in Brussels between Greek officials and their international lenders on the one hand, and bank chiefs on the other, say officials.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-21/european-markets-close-higher/3841936
In Brussels, finance ministers from the 17 eurozone countries were meeting and appeared to be on the verge of approving a $160 billion deal.
Greece has so far struggled to convince European Union members that it would put in place austerity measures in return for the cash.
An easing of monetary policy in China on the weekend also added to the positive mood amongst investors.
In London, mining shares rallied on the prospect of increased demand from China.
Insurers’ and banks’ exposure to Europe’s sovereign debt crisis also pushed those stocks ahead in anticipation of a deal being struck to rescue Greece.
A meeting to decide whether Greece will receive a crucial bailout is dragging into the early morning in Brussels.
The eurozone is expected to throw the beleaguered country a new lifeline after tightening the conditions behind the bailout, but eurozone finance ministers still have not arrived at a deal as of 2am (12pm AEDT).
Greek prime minister Lucas Papademos is attending the meeting, where the Greek government expects the go-ahead from its euro partners on the 230 billion euro ($280 billion) package.
His finance minister Evangelos Venizelos said Greece sees “a long period of uncertainty coming to a close today, a period that benefited neither the Greek economy, nor the euro area overall”.
“We have all the elements for an accord,” French counterpart Francois Baroin said after six months of wrangling that saw eurozone hardliners’ patience with Greece almost snap and suggestions that Athens be cut adrift.
After much debate, euro nations are nearing the point where they can finally agree on a writedown of privately-held debt worth 100 billion euros ($120 billion) as well as guarantees and loans eventually adding up to another 130 billion euros ($160 billion).
THE long-awaited deal on a rescue plan for Greece still leaves Athens with a huge debt burden and implementation challenges that threaten to derail the program and prevent the country’s return to growth after several years of a devastating recession that has spurred social upheaval and political uncertainty.
Eurozone finance ministers yesterday agreed on a 130 billion ($161.3 billion) plan that would have Greece’s private creditors take a larger loss than previously agreed, aimed at putting the debt-laden country on solid footing to avert a catastrophic default.
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its all fixed..rejoice and fill the streets with joy..not quite..they are still well and truly in the spotlight..and even if by some fluke they got to 120% of GDP by march 23..who is next?..portugal? spain?..or a smaller one?
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Spanish treasure to leave via US military base
Leaving nothing to chance, the U.S. military is making sure the transfer of 17 tons of shipwreck treasure to Spain later this week is handled safely…
Odyssey, which uses remote-controlled vehicles to explore the depths and bring the tiniest of items to the surface, argued that as the finder it was entitled to all or most of the treasure. The Spanish government filed a claim in U.S. District Court soon after the coins were flown back to Tampa, saying it never relinquished ownership of the ship or its contents. A federal district court first ruled in 2009 that the U.S. courts didn’t have jurisdiction, and ordered the treasure returned….
http://www.optimum.net/News/AP/Article?fmId=55291374-Peg
Interesting concept – ” it never relinquished ownership ” – will it now be returned to those from whom it was plundered?
You can bet your last dollar it won’t !
Eurozone finance ministers are holding talks…Cetainly, these bailouts are nothing about helping the Greeks for they will be crippled regardless of the outcome. As far as the Euros trying to cut their losses, this Greek thing is like beating a dead horse with a rubber hose. Eventually, what’s the use.
but its all fixed
It’s time to buckle up!
Egon von Greyerz:
“The Greeks are cutting down on their budget because the ECB is forcing them to do that. The consequences are production is falling along with GDP. People are hungry and businesses are going bankrupt every day, thousands of businesses. And this will get worse.
Austerity is not a solution in Greece or the US or Europe because people are used to governments spending money they don’t have. They do this in order to please the people and to buy votes. So, the transition for the people is unacceptable, they will riot. Those riots we have seen in Greece will spread to most other European countries and to the US.
Sadly, the austerity will not work and the economy will collapse and Greece, as an example, will never repay their debts. Greece really has a stranglehold on the world now because if they default, and that’s the best solution for them, then all of the banks have to pay out on their credit default swaps worldwide.
If there is a formal default, there is no option for the banks. Jim Sinclair has been talking about this, US banks are carrying the biggest part of these CDS’s….
“The US banks, in total, have $250 trillion in derivatives. Of the total derivatives, maybe $30 trillion is in the form of credit default swaps. So that would be an absolute disaster for the US banks and for the US economy.
We have pressures coming out of Europe, but in the US we see no austerity whatsoever. What is the US doing? The US is basically increasing their borrowings by $2 trillion per year. $2 trillion is the same as the tax revenue of the US. They are borrowing as much as their tax revenue and they will never be able to repay the debt.
So the US is going in the other direction. No austerity, instead spending themselves into bankruptcy. This will soon have an effect on the US economy, bond market and the US dollar. The fact that the US is not downgraded to junk is just ridiculous. They should be. But of course the rating agencies don’t dare to do that.
We are in a situation that cannot be fixed. It may lead, as I’ve been saying, to a total collapse of the financial system. Before that happens, governments will try to print unlimited amounts of money. This will result in currencies worldwide losing their value and this will be reflected in the price of gold.”
Von Greyerz also added: “The ECB and the eurozone governments are working on ring-fencing, but you can’t ring-fence these markets. These markets are international and totally interconnected. If Greece defaults, everybody will start attacking the other weak countries.
We are looking here at a situation where it is the last snowflake creating the avalanche. You only need a little bit happening in Greece and it will spread everywhere. If Greece defaults, they can’t ring-fence any other country for more than a short period of time. So they don’t dare let this to happen because it would be catastrophic for the world.
My view remains they will print money because if they fail at that we will have no financial system whatsoever. Printing money will not solve anything, but short-term it will again defer the problem and kick the can down the road.”
When asked about gold, von Greyerz responded, “Short-term the consolidation is finishing here. We could see a move higher beginning next week. Looking at our proprietary cycle system, that move could continue until the end of March and this would be a strong move before we had any correction.”
I would also add that I expect the gold shares to move faster than gold to the upside.”
Greyerz – Gold to Begin a Major Advance Starting Next Week
http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2012/2/17_Greyerz_-_Gold_to_Begin_a_Major_Advance_Starting_Next_Week.html
Very informative thanks rev. It’s what we are saying.