Greece’s equity market is “no longer in line with developed markets’ size requirements”, said index provider MSCI Inc on Thursday, with the country now set to face a review that may relegate the nation to emerging market status.
Greece will release 40 million euros ($50 million) in emergency funds to avert the possibility of rolling blackouts, told a Greek court official to Reuters on Tuesday, with the country’s top electricity producer, Public Power Corp (PPC), likely to default on payments due to foreign gas exporters.
Greece’s tourism revenues may plunge up to 15 percent this year, as travellers spooked by anti-austerity demonstrations and public unrest in the country opt for alternative holiday destinations. Tourism is the lifeblood of the Greek economy, making up almost 20 percent of the country’s economic output – the single largest component of Greece’s GDP.
Greek politicians and citizens are enraged by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde’s dismissive comments that Greeks are avoiding paying taxes. In an interview with the UK’s Guardian newspaper, Lagarde said that while she was sensitive of the plight facing Greece, “they should help themselves collectively by all paying their tax.”
With a traumatic implosion – economic, financial, political, and social – now taking place in Greece, we should expect heated debate about who is to blame for the country’s deepening misery. There are four suspects – all of them involved in the spectacular boom that preceded what will prove to be an even more remarkable bust.
The European Central Bank (ECB) secretly approved 100 billion euros ($125 billion) in emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to Greece’s struggling banking industry, revealed the Financial Times this week, who also discovered similar discreet aid to other troubled eurozone nations.
Greece’s exit from the eurozone appears to be inevitable. Still, like a doomed marriage, it is better to have rules for the impending divorce so as to make separation less costly to both sides.
NEW YORK – The Greek euro tragedy is reaching its final act: it is clear that either this year or next, Greece is highly likely to default on its debt and exit the eurozone.
Greece may not be the basket case that the rest of Europe seems to believe it is. Against the bleak picture commonly propagated by the media, the Greek state actually possesses numerous positive factors in its economy, including: a massive amount of real estate, and huge savings that can be generated simply by shrinking its public sector.
Greece’s status in the European Union has once again been thrown into doubt, after Coalition of the Radical Left leader Alexis Tsipras – who was handed a mandate to form a coalition government late Tuesday – vowed to rip up the nation’s bailout agreement with its debtors and cancel all austerity cuts and reforms.
International credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s has upgraded Greece’s credit rating from SD (Selective Default) to CCC, said the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, with the rating agency declaring the country’s long-term rating outlook to be stable.
