Titoli di Stato area Euro GRECIA Operativo titoli di stato - Cap. 1

[tommy271]

Trichet warns against forced losses on sovereign bonds
(AFP)



BRUSSELS — The head of the European body tasked with tackling risks to the financial system warned European Union lawmakers Monday that forcing investors to take losses by restructuring national debt they now hold would reward speculators.

Such losses were not part of rescue programmes agreed to in bailouts for Greece and Ireland and should not be applied after the fact, said Jean-Claude Trichet, who spoke as chairman of the European Systemic Risk Board before the EU Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

Trichet, also head of the European Central Bank, was responding to a question over so-called haircuts, essentially losses taken by investors if a country defaults on its debt, meaning that the bonds it has issued are repaid at less than full value.
Some lawmakers have called for such haircuts to ensure that banks share in losses that have been borne so far mainly by taxpayers.

The rescue packages agreed for heavily-indebted Greece and Ireland have already been approved by the EU, the International Monetary Fund and others, Trichet said and "the message is very simple -- apply the programme ... as has been done all over the world in many, many cases."

Not doing so would reward speculators who sell a country's bonds -- a process known as going short -- with the intention of buying them back later at a cheaper prices and pocketing the difference, the ESRB chairman said.

"Modern markets are made of investors that are long (buyers) and investors that are short (sellers)," Trichet explained.
"The investors that are long, private sector investors, are losing money when you practice this haircut you have mentioned. Those investors that are short are making money."

***
Il semper noster Trichet. Questa agenzia è ancora più chiara.

 

[tommy271]

CRISI: TRICHET, BCE CONTRARIA A RISTRUTTURAZIONE DEBITI PUBBLICI


(ASCA) - Roma, 7 feb - La Bce rimane contraria a qualsiasi ipotesi di ristrutturazione del debito pubblico dei paesi che hanno richiesto l'aiuto finanziario dell'Unione Europea e del Fondo Monetario Internazionale, cioe' Grecia e Irlanda.

Nella sua audizione al parlamento europeo, il presidente della Bce, Jean Cluade Trichet, ha spiegato che ''un taglio (haircut)'' al valore di rimborso dei titoli di Stato di Grecia e Portogallo, che peserebbe sui possessori di queste obbligazioni, ''sarebbe un messaggio sbagliato inviato ai mercati''.

''I mercati sono formati da investitori che comprano e vendono. Quelli che comprano, generalmente risparmiatori privati, perderebbero soldi se venisse tagliato il valore di rimborso dei titoli di stato che possiedono. Quelli che vendono (generalmente investitori professionali, ndr) lo fanno invece proprio per raggiungere questo obiettivo. E' qualcosa che dobbiamo tenere in mente quando riflettiamo su un problema cosi importante'', ha proseguito Trichet.

Irlanda e Grecia ''devono solo applicare i loro programmi'' di risanamento dei conti pubblici, ''il messaggio e' molto semplice'' ha proseguito Trichet.

Trichet ha poi sottolineato come la nuova istituzione europea, quale il Comitato Europeo per i Rischi Sistemici, la cui presidenza spetta allo stesso Trichet in qualita' di numero della banca centrale euroepa, non debba essere confusa con la Bce, ''sono strettamente separate''.


****
In Italiano.

 

[tommy271]

Sempre su Trichet:

Trichet: no a ristrutturazioni del debito - Il Sole 24 ORE

 

[tommy271]

Battered Greece promises recovery in late 2011

By ELENA BECATOROS - Feb 7, 2011 7:15 PM GMT+0100 Mon Feb 07 18:15:54 GMT 2011
By The Associated Press


ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's battered economy will start recovering in the last three months of 2011, the country's development minister said Monday, as international rescue-loan inspectors began another fiscal checkup.

Michalis Chrysohoidis told The Associated Press in an interview that the troubled eurozone member had been helped by drastic cost-cutting and a pickup in exports.

"I believe that from the fourth quarter ... a gradual recovery will begin in the country, all these measures will start to produce results. And I believe Greece will enter a virtuous circle with growth and development," Chrysohoidis said.

Greece was saved from bankruptcy in May by a euro110 billion ($150 billion) package of rescue loans from other countries using the euro and the International Monetary Fund.

In return, the Socialist government imposed strict austerity measures aimed at slashing the budget deficit down to below the EU limit of 3 percent of GDP by 2014, from a whopping 15.4 percent in 2009.

The economy is forecast to contract 3 percent in 2011 as a whole, before expanding at a projected 1.1 percent rate in 2012.

Chrysohoidis said growth will be achieved through a mix of ongoing reforms, including tax breaks for new or expanding businesses to encourage investment, the absorption of already earmarked EU funds and the simplification of Greece's notoriously complicated bureaucracy for starting new businesses.

"Our big concern is to not have a repetition of what happened in the previous decades. The fact that an economy developed and grew based on feet of clay, on consumption," he said. "Our economy was based by 80 percent on consumption and not development. We must reverse that."

Exports have already seen a boost and account for nearly 9 percent of GDP in 2010, the minister said, adding that authorities were aiming for an increase to 10 percent of GDP by the end of this year. Food accounts for a quarter of current Greek exports, construction material for another quarter and a further 25 percent for the export of industrial products such as chemicals and plastics, he said.

For instance, November saw a 40 percent increase of exports compared to November 2009, he said.

Greece is receiving quarterly batches of the bailout loan money over three years — with each payment preceded by a fiscal inspection to gauge the Socialist government's austerity program.

The delegation of inspectors, dubbed the troika, is currently reviewing progress in order to approve the next payout in March, worth euro15 billion ($20.5 billion) — the second largest batch of loans under the program.

The March payment will be the fourth since Greece signed up to the program in May, bringing the total amount received by Greece so far to euro53 billion ($72.2 billion).

Government officials insist Greece is already meeting conditions laid out during their previous visit in November, despite an ongoing wave of labor protests.

Public transport workers, pharmacists, state hospital doctors and lawyers are all planning strikes this week.

Also Monday, police said protesting textile workers staged sporadic highway blockades at the Greek-Bulgarian border and six farmers were arrested in the area also trying to lead a blockade.

Chrysohoidis, who met with the troika in the morning, said the inspectors were satisfied with progress so far.

"There is satisfaction on their part," he said, adding that regardless of the bailout loans, the measures Greece was implementing were essential.

"The changes are necessary — perhaps they should have been done many years ago," the minister said. "But whether the troika exists or not, the necessity to change the country is a given."

 

[tommy271]

Poll: Greek Government Still Leads Opposition, But Dissatisfaction Jumps


By Nick Skrekas
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES



ATHENS -(Dow Jones)- Greece's socialist government maintains a stable lead over the main opposition party, but abstentions are surging and dissatisfaction is jumping even if voters don't want early elections.

According to a poll conducted in February by research firm GPO for the current affairs show "Anatropi" televised on privately owned Mega Channel, the incumbent Pasok party has 25.2% voter support, while the main conservative opposition received 20.1%.

The 5.1-point lead is considered slightly skewed from the Nov. 14 reading of a 4.9-point difference because the main opposition New Democracy party has again been splintered.

There has been some loss in support for the conservative party since a former party leadership rival and ex-foreign minister, Dora Bakogianni, established her own party in late 2010 that now receives 2.9% support.

Support for the two mainstream parties has hit a combined low of 45.3%, which is sharply below 69.6% in January 2010. A good chunk of the difference is accounted for by a spike in abstentions and invalid votes that add up to 20.3% of all voters and another 9.1% who say they are undecided.

The political landscape continues to change in the debt-laden Mediterranean country as the socialist government imposes unprecedented austerity measures and unpopular structural reforms in exchange for the EUR110 billion bailout inked in May.

The country's international lenders of last resort that stepped in to avert default and insolvency include the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank--commonly referred to locally as the "troika."

But Greeks are unhappy with Pasok following "troika" policy faithfully. An overwhelming 64% of Greeks believe the government's handling of the economy is wrong, while 63.9% are increasingly pessimistic about the future and 85% fear that their incomes will shrink in 2011.

The government's rating for its overall policy efforts has turned to 66.2% disapproval from an approval rating of 53.9% in a similar poll in January 2010. But the main opposition center-right party isn't capitalizing on the resentment because 70.9% of prospective voters disapprove of its overall performance.

More than half of disenchanted Greeks, 52.9%, blame politicians from all parties for the dire state of the economy, and 64.7% fear possible social upheaval.

Meanwhile, 60.5% of voters considered the "troika" to be actually running the country, and only 34.2% believed the socialists who were elected in October 2009 call the shots.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's approval rating has plunged to 37.8% from 51.3% in January of last year. Main conservative leader Antonis Samaras only attracts 23% approval. The largest block of voters, 39.2%, says neither is fit to lead the country.

However, Greek voters favor political stability and the status quo, with 80.9% rejecting the idea that the cash-strapped state should hold early elections in 2011.

The nationwide poll was conducted through telephone interviews of adults older than 18 years who are eligible to vote.

***
Nonostante i durissimi provvedimenti adottati, G. Papandreou è ancora in testa nei sondaggi rispetto all'opposizione.
Caso più unico che raro ...

 

[tommy271]

In tarda mattinata sapremo l'esito dell'asta dei bot/greek semestrali che verranno assegnati oggi.
Ieri giornata in tendenziale allargamento insieme ad una certa debolezza su tutto il fronte dei periferici.
Da segnalare il buon risultato dell'asta portoghese assegnata tramite sindacato.

Grecia 775 pb. (766)
Irlanda 563 pb. (562)
Portogallo 388 pb. (378)
Spagna 199 pb. (190)
Italia 147 pb. (136)
Belgio 93 pb. (89)

 

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