Thread: Storm over bailout of Greece, EU's most ailing economy

From The Times
February 10, 2010

Storm over bailout of Greece, EU's most ailing economy


The ancient Greek Parthenon temple on the Acropolis hill overlooking Athens

Athens will be paralysed today by a 24-hour strike against a government trying to stave off bankruptcy as fellow members of the eurozone squabble over how best to solve Greece's debt crisis
David Charter in Brussels

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Angela Merkel tried to calm fevered speculation in financial markets yesterday that Germany was preparing to lead a bail-out of Greece amid a split in the EU on how to handle its most ailing member.

The German Chancellor denied reports that her Finance Minister was conducting secret talks with Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, and with other capitals on an EU rescue fund for Athens.

Mrs Merkel has staunchly resisted suggestions that the EU must swallow its pride and turn to the Washington-based IMF for a solution to the growing economic turmoil in Greece, with fears that its troubles in international finance markets will trigger a domino effect, toppling other weak members of the eurozone such as Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy.

But last night there were signs of a developing European split over calling in the International Monetary Fund, a move also strongly opposed by Brussels, with suggestions from Sweden’s Finance Minister and other officials that this might be better than the EU programme outlined last week.

Mrs Merkel has repeatedly rejected the idea that the 16-nation eurozone would need to look to the IMF, which is already overseeing recovery efforts in Latvia and Hungary — both EU members outside the single currency. Her insistence that the eurozone can keep its own house in order led to market speculation yesterday that an EU bail-out was imminent.

There were also reports yesterday that Wolfgang Schäuble, the German Finance Minister, was working bilaterally and at the European level on putting together a package to help Athens.

A strong rally on Wall Street went into reverse when a spokesman for Mrs Merkel said flatly that this was “wrongâ€

From The Times
February 9, 2010

Greek bailout is looking increasingly likely

David Wighton: Business Editor’s commentary

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You know a country is in real financial trouble when its leaders start muttering about conspiracies by foreign speculators. The Greeks have already done it and yesterday the Spanish joined in.

The Spanish attempts to calm bond market investors seemed to have little effect, although the euro, which was beaten up badly last week, strengthened slightly. But the pound continued to suffer from the flight into the dollar.

Many currency experts expect the dollar to continue to strengthen, with some of them warning that unwinding of the dollar carry trade — which involves borrowing cheaply in dollars to invest in higher-yielding currencies — could see the US currency spike.

For the euro, Greece remains the biggest worry, with attention shifting yesterday to the country’s banking system.

Government officials insisted that everything was fine, but bankers reported that the “repoâ€