Posts Tagged ‘International Monetary Fund’

Hungary’s Credit Rating May Be Cut to Junk at S&P

(Bloomberg) — Standard & Poor’s said it may cut Hungary’s credit rating to junk after the collapse of talks with the International Monetary Fund and European Union. Temperamental’s Investors Service said it may also lower the country’s grade.The IMF and EU on July 17 suspended talks with the government without endorsing Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s plans to control the budget deficit.

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Greek leader considers action against US banks – Yahoo! News

Greek leader considers action against US banks – Yahoo! News: “ATHENS, Greece – Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is not ruling out taking legal action against U.S. investment banks for their role in making the spiraling Greek debt crisis.Papandreou told CNN on Sunday that ‘I wouldn’t rule out’ going after the U.S. banks.The government, as well as many Greeks, have blamed international banks for fanning the flames of the debt crisis with comments about Greece’s likely default.The Greek leader also says a parliamentary investigation will soon examine the rapid swelling of Greece’s debt and the country’s banking practices.The European Union and the International Monetary fund have approved a euro110 billion ($136 billion) bailout package for Greece.”

Germany to contribute €123bn to eurozone rescue package

Germany is bracing itself for a wave of austerity measures after the country’s cabinet agreed for it to place €123 billion ($155 billion) towards the eurozone rescue package agreed earlier this month.The figure has the potential to rise to a total of €150 billion if more funding is required.To pay for the scheme, tax cuts promised by Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party last year have been scrapped and decisions are now being made on how to raise additional capital for the state.Friedrich Heinmann, a spokesman from the Center for European Economic Research, told the Guardian hard decisions will have to be taken.”If the government increased VAT on items that currently delight in a reduced rate, such as hotels, theatres, books and newspapers, it would glean €8 billion; otherwise it will be forced to raise the current VAT rate [of 19.5 per cent],” he said.The 16 members of the eurozone bloc have agreed to place up €440 billion between them, with the financial rescue package also including a €250 billion contribution from the International Monetary Fund and €60 billion from the European Commission.

German parliament passes Greek bailout package

Germany’s lower parliament has voted through plans for the country to contribute €22.4 billion ($28.5 billion) to the bailout of Greece.Despite widespread public and media opposition to the size of Germany’s loan, the bill was passed by a large majority, with 390 votes in favour and 72 against.There were 139 abstentions, reports BBC News.The plans will now be passed to the upper house for that section of parliament to vote on the proposals.If the legislation is approved, the funding pledge will be signed into law.France has agreed to provide up to €16.8 billion, while Italy is to initially place forward €5.6 billion of its promised total of €14.8 billion.Last week, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, said that the crisis in Greece has to be solved.”If we don’t fix it in Greece, it may have a lot of consequences on the European Union,” he stated.

Greece agrees to €110bn austerity package

Greece has agreed a package of bail-out measures worth €110 billion ($1 from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB).The rescue fund, which will be donated to the ailing state over the course of the next three years, will receive €80 billion from the ECB with the IMF providing the rest of the money.Before the terms of the bail-out were agreed, George Papandreou, Greek prime minister, said that the state needed to reach an agreement with the two bodies over a bail-out package to rescue the beleaguered state.The politician was quoted by Reuters as saying: “Today the top priority is the survival of the nation.

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Roubini Says Rising Sovereign Debt Leads to Defaults

(Bloomberg) — Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who forecast the U.S. recession more than a year before it started, said sovereign debt from the U.S. to Japan and Greece will lead to higher inflation or government defaults.Nearly $1 trillion of worldwide equity value was erased April 27 on concern that debt will spur defaults, derailing the global economy, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

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Greece’s debt rating is cut to junk; financial woes spread to Portugal

Standard & Poor’s cut the credit ratings of Greece and Portugal, spooking investors and sparking a market sell-off worldwide. The downgrades also dashed the hopes of European officials who thought they could contain the credit crisis. Investors were concerned about Greece’s position before the downgrades because there was indication that the EU and International Monetary Fund’s aid package for Greece might be delayed by Germany.

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Goldman Sachs analyst: Greece may need $198bn bailout

An analyst at Goldman Sachs has forecast that Greece may require a total of €150 billion ($198 billion) in bailout funding for its economy to remain operational.Earlier this month, a provisional deal was agreed between the country, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other eurozone member states to provide Greece with €45 billion.But Erik Nielsen, chief European economist for Goldman Sachs, has warned this figure is nowhere near high enough to tackle Greece’s economic woes, reports the Guardian.”On my numbers, a one-year fully funded program needs to provide a minimum €50-55 billion, an 18-month program will require some €75 billion, and a three-year program a minimum €150 billion,” he said in a note to investors.”I reckon the latter number is out of reach even for the present political environment of generosity, so the debate is between €55 billion and €75 billion.”Mr Nielsen added that he believes that representatives from the IMF and the eurozone will already be debating how they will share the burden of delivering more financial aid.He said he does not reckon it likely the eurozone countries will be able to come up with much more cash than the €30 billion they have already pledged to hand over to Greece.Mr Nielsen went on to speculate that the IMF may be able to place together an additional funding program based on either providing €55 billion over the course of a year or €80 billion across an 18-month period.Earlier this week, German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble warned that it is not yet certain the eurozone will provide the initial €30 billion of funding Greece is expecting.He said that the provision of aid is dependent on Greece coming up with a detailed plot on how it intends to cut its budget deficit in the next few years.

Papaconstantinou Tells Investors Don’t Attack Greece

(Bloomberg) — Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told investors they will “lose their shirts” if they bet cash-strapped Greece will default, as his government went toward securing emergency aid before debt payments come due in mid-May.Speaking to reporters in Washington, where he’s negotiating terms for a three-year loan package with the International Monetary Fund and European governments, Papaconstantinou expressed confidence the talks will be “concluded rather soon” and said his country wouldn’t restructure its debt.With 8.5 billion euros of Greece’s bonds maturing May 19, finance chiefs want a swift agreement amid concern any delay may trigger a further sell-off in its assets and hurt global markets.

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Germany, France Back IMF Greek Role

(Bloomberg) — Germany and France, paving the way for a European Union plot to aid Greece, agreed to involve the International Monetary Fund in any potential EU package for the debt-burdened nation, a German Finance Ministry official said.The shift toward an IMF role before the start of an EU summit tomorrow came a week after finance ministers agreed to a European framework.

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