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Greece, eurozone officials agree to extend bailout by 4 months - reports
RT,
20
February, 2015
Athens
and eurozone finance ministers have struck a deal to extend the Greek
bailout by another four months with Greece given till Monday to
present a list of reform measures they plan to take to ensure they
comply with the conditions.
“It's
done! For four months,”
one of the officials told AFP right after the meeting in Brussels
came to an end. An hour later, the Eurogroup issued a statement
confirming the deal.
"The
Greek authorities will present a first list of reform measures, based
on the current arrangement, by the end of Monday February 23,"
the statement said.
"The
institutions will provide a first view whether this is sufficiently
comprehensive to be a valid starting point for a successful
conclusion of the review. This list will be further specified and
then agreed with the institutions by the end of April."
9:01 AM - 21 Feb 2015 Brussels, Belgium, België
Athens
has confirmed the implementation of structural reforms and its
obligations to repay the existing debt, Europgroup representative
Jeroen Dijsselbloem. A deal has also been reached to provide
financial assistance to Greece, which will have access to the EU
financial stability mechanisms during the program to recapitalize
banks.
“The
four-month period will be a time to rebuild new relations with Europe
and the IMF," Greek
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told reporters. "Greece
has turned the page" and
won some time to negotiate a better bailout deal, the official said,
emphasizing that Greece had not used any threats or bluffs to reach
an interim agreement with the Eurogroup.
European
officials told Reuters than the deal was reached during preparatory
talks involving the Greek and German finance ministers, as well as
the managing director of the IMF. After that, it was agreed on by all
19 members of the Eurogroup.
The
EU creditors have insisted that any extension of loans should be
accompanied by Greece’s commitment to a certain set of budget
measures and reforms.
The
newly-elected leftist government in Athens initially asked for a
six-month loan extension to get more time to renegotiate its €316
billion debt.
The
Friday’s agreement removes the immediate risk of Greece running out
of money as early as March, which could’ve possibly resulted in the
country’s exit
from the eurozone.
Greece’s
current bailout loan of €240 billion was agreed by the country’s
previous government in back 2012. The harsh conditions of the bailout
program, which include cuts in government spending, higher taxes are
extremely unpopular in Greece.
From earlier
The
330 Billion Reasons Why The Grexit "Can" Was Kicked Down
The Road
20
February, 2015
Perhaps
this explained why Greece and The Eurogroup have (reportedly) come to
an agreement to avoid an actual Grexit for 4 months. As Die Welt
explains that Euro-area
nations will face losses of up to EUR330bn as
Greek outright government debt, ECB capital needs, and TARGET2
liabilities have soared in the last 2 years since the crisis last
erupted...
While
for Greece stakes are high, so does the euro partners have set in the
case of a Grexit losses. Grexit is in the capital markets become
naturalized name for a Greek euro exit.
All
euro countries in Hellas on the various rescue vehicle loans and the
ECB, the euro system some 330 billion euros in the fire. This
represents about 3.4 percent of economic output in the euro zone.
Since the year 2012, the Athens liabilities have increased by 40
billion euros, as the British bank Barclays has calculated.
"What
have since the euro countries in the fire, can not be ignored
entirely," says
Thomas Harjes, a strategist at Barclays. He holds the volume
nevertheless manageable, as most Greek debt securities are no longer
as from private sources, but the public sector, ie states and their
institutions.
*
* *
So
- if this reported 4-month can-kick is 'real - The Eurogroup has that
much time to 'manage' this exposure before the Syriza-voting members
of the Greek public turn to the only anti-EU partyt left - Golden
Dawn... and Podemos elections begin in Spain..
Does Germany really want to negotiate with Golden Dawn
instead (of Syriza)?
.
Germany Gives Greece Just
Enough Rope: Varoufakis
Says If Troika Rejects
Reforms "The Deal Is Dead
And Buried"
20
Febraury, 2015
As
usual, the fine print of any European "deal" is revealed
not only after the agreement, but after the US market close. So for
all those waiting for the real punchline, here it is - it also is the
reason why Greece got until Monday to reveal the list of "reforms"
it would undertake:
"We’re
in trouble next week if creditors don’t accept Greece’s reforms",
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis says. "If
our list of reforms is not backed by the institutions, this agreement
is dead and buried."
That's
bad. But... "But
it’s not going to be knocked down by the institutions."
For
his sake, let's hopes he is correct in predicting what the Troika,
pardon, Institutions will do. Because this is precisely what Schauble
meant when he said that the "Greeks
Certainly Will Have A Difficult Time To Explain The Deal To Their
Voters":
under the conditionality of the Troika's approval, the
Tsipras government now has to walk back essentially all the promises
it made to the Greek people - promises which by some accounts amount
to over €20 billion in additional spending - or the Troika, pardon
Institutions, will yank the entire deal and the Grexit can then
commence.
And
that's the bottom line.
It's
also the reason Schauble was gloating: because he gave the Greek
government just enough rope with which to hang itself.
Then
again, if and when the Tsirpas government is booted out next once the
Greek euphoria turns to disgust and disillusionment, does Germany
really want to negotiate with Golden Dawn instead?
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