Titoli di Stato area Euro GRECIA Operativo titoli di stato - Cap. 1 (12 lettori)

[tommy271]

Greeks feel insecure about their future

Opinion poll suggests eight in 10 concerned about what lies ahead

Eight in 10 Greeks feel unsure about the future, according to a new opinion poll that indicates PASOK still has a comfortable lead over New Democracy.

The Public Issue survey conducted for Sunday’s Kathimerini found that 83 percent of respondents did not feel sure about the future, while 68 percent said the country is heading in the wrong direction.

Six in 10 of the 1,009 people questioned said they expect their personal financial situation to worsen in the coming months.
Despite this concern, the government’s popularity remains largely unaffected. Support for PASOK stands at 38 percent, down just 0.5 percent from January, while the conservative opposition, New Democracy, remains at 30.5 percent.

Backing for the Communist Party (KKE) is also unchanged at 10.5 percent. The nationalist Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) saw its ratings go up from 5.5 to 6 percent, while the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) dropped from 6 percent to 4.5. The leftist party’s support appears to have migrated to the Ecologist Greens and the Democratic Left.

The opposition parties turned up the heat on the government over the weekend by focusing on the assessment of the Greek economy given by the country’s creditors.

New Democracy spokesman Yiannis Michelakis accused PASOK of “hypocrisy” and “crying crocodile tears” following the government’s criticism of comments by the EU-IMF team. Michelakis said Greece had been “humiliated” by the troika. He called for Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou to resign.

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras accused the government of being fully aware that Greece’s emergency loan agreement would lead to “the destruction of labor rights and the auctioning off of public property.”

ekathimerini.com , Sunday February 13, 2011 (00:00)

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Secondo i sondaggi il PASOK è ancora in testa nelle preferenze di voto.

 

[tommy271]

Troika gets it with 50-bln-euro privatizations push

Real estate experts say it may take over two years to register, identify property for sale

By Dimitris Kontogiannis




European and IMF policies to deal with the Greek crisis have failed so far to calm financial markets despite enacting a strict austerity program and structural reforms. This is mainly due to the fact that they have underestimated the likelihood of insolvency, while EU policies to cope with the overall sovereign debt crisis have been reactive rather than proactive.

However, it looks as if EU and IMF officials have finally come to grips with reality and decided to partially address the issue of insolvency by asking Greece to raise at least 50 billion euros in proceeds from privatizations and other state asset sales during the 2011-2015 period. Is this feasible?

The representatives of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, the so-called troika, claimed during last Friday’s press conference that the targets of the MoU (memorandum) have been largely met so far. But, looking at the yield spread separating the Greek 10-year bond from bunds, one does not get this impression. The spreads are actually higher than they were back in March-April 2010, that is, before the program was put to work. Admittedly, the secondary market for Greek bonds is not liquid. However, we think, it is indicative of the market’s view.

Although the 10-year yield spread has come down considerably to around 800 basis points from 970 points in early January, it is still way off the kind of level Greece could borrow at in international markets without calling into question the sustainability of its public debt.

It is clear that even if the spread drops to 500 or even 400 basis points, it will be difficult for the troika or anybody else to convince the markets that Greece can borrow at these levels with its debt-to-GDP ratio projected over 150 percent in the next couple of years.

It is reminded that the economic program, which is financed by the 110-billion-euro EU/IMF loan, is structured in such a way so Greece can be fully funded by end-March 2011. Afterwards, the country should have been able to restore its credibility and access the bond markets.

Asked about it, the IMF’s chief representative, Poul Thomsen, said he has not yet lost hope but it looks increasingly unlikely to outsiders that Greece will be able to access wholesale markets at reasonable interest rates before April 2012 at best.

Perhaps things would have been different if the program had placed equal or even greater emphasis on reducing the stock of public debt and boosting the economy’s competitiveness from the start rather than raising all sorts of taxes, crowding out part of the private sector and hurting the real economy while attempting to close the budget hole.

Opening up the so-called professions and other markets, such as energy, should have been first on the troika’s agenda along with any deficit reduction plan, putting the brunt of the fiscal adjustment where it owed to be: the main beneficiary of Greece’s over-spending policies, that is, the public sector and related entities.

Still, it is encouraging that EU and IMF officials have finally understood that they cannot restore calm in markets unless they also address concerns about Greece’s insolvency by asking for proceeds from the privatization and sales of assets of at least 50 billion euros.

Of course, the stock of public debt could have also been reduced via other means, such as the plan to buy back Greek bonds held by the ECB at discount prices with long-term financing provided by the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility). But this exercise would not have netted more than 12-13 billion euros at best which compares with a public debt stock estimated at over 370 billion euro in a few years’ time.

So, selling public property and other assets is a reasonable way to reduce public debt in a meaningful way and partly address the market’s concerns about insolvency rather than focus on providing liquidity via extending the maturity of the 110-billion-euro EU/IMF loan to reduce the roll-over risk of the Greek debt.

The assets sales will have to be transparent and this may be time-consuming when involving non-listed companies or/and public property. It may be easier to do it by selling equity stakes and even control in listed companies but even this will be an extremely difficult exercise in some cases, such as Public Power Company (PPC). On our calculations, the state could raise no more than 10 billion euros from selling its stake in all listed state-controlled companies even after allowing a sizeable premium of even 100 percent in most cases on today’s prices.

So, the big money should come from other areas such as selling public property. Even though some economists say public property is worth some 300 billion euros, this appears to be more wishful thinking than reality unless they include monuments such as the Acropolis on the list which is not the case.

Moreover, people with deep knowledge of the workings of the Greek real estate market warn it will take some two years or more to register and then identify the property for sale because of legal complications. Of course, there are some public properties such as the land at the old Hellenikon airport that may go first but even this will not be easy because of the vested interests, experts argue. Although no one knows what the public property available for sale is worth, some experts put it at less than 50 billion euros.

This makes the goal of raising 50 billion euros via state asset sales very difficult to attain in the 2011-2015 period given the bureaucratic and other hurdles expected. This is without considering the appetite for such investments at prices acceptable to any Greek government and the outcome of the debate on whether the state should first develop and then sell the property or just sell it outright at a lower price.

Whatever the problems, some involving even sovereignty, one should finally rejoice that the troika finally understands the importance of addressing insolvency in resolving the Greek debt crisis.

ekathimerini.com , Sunday February 13, 2011 (00:10)

***
Le analisi di Kontogiannis sono sempre stimolanti.

 

[tommy271]

Israeli envoy's interview




(ΑΝΑ-ΜPA) -- Economic cooperation is at the core of Greek-Israeli relations, which are growing at an unprecedented pace and yielding tangible results that benefit both countries. Additionally, a joint cabinet meeting scheduled for the spring -- and focusing on the entire spectrum of bilateral relations-- is regarded as the next important step in bilateral relations.

In an interview with the ANA-MPA, Israeli ambassador to Greece Arye Mekel on Friday referred to Greek-Israeli rapprochement, marked by what he called the historic exchange of visits by the premiers of the two countries.

He referred to the growing cooperation in the sectors of tourism, innovative management methods in agriculture and the environment, and underlined that the Greek-Israeli relations have their own value and are not the result of a turn of events or developments.

The veteran diplomat expressed Israel's deep appreciation for the Greek government's contribution to the peace process in the Middle East, adding that cooperation for regional peace and stability will benefit both Greece and Israel.

Referring to a joint cabinet meeting by Greece and Israel, he said it will convene possibly in the spring -- focusing on sectors such as, the economy, tourism, defence, culture and energy and underlined that it is indicative of the importance attributed to cooperation by both countries.

As regards tourism, he said cooperation is excellent and pointed out that roughly 250,000 Israeli tourists visited Greece in 2010, corresponding to a 200-percent rise. He underlined that the goal is to record a further increase in 2011.

(ana.gr)

 

[tommy271]

ITALIA/GRECIA:


Lebanese national ID'd in Italian press report to terror group arrested
(ΑΝΑ-ΜPA) -- A Lebanese-Palestinian man identified in an Italian press report a day earlier as a member of the terror-linked group -- "Fatah al Islam" -- was arrested in Athens on Sunday evening.

According to a statement by Greek police (EL.AS), Ghaleb Taleb was arrested along with another man following a lengthy surveillance operation. The arrest by intelligence and anti-terrorism personnel followed a report in the Italian mass daily "Corriere della Sera", with authorities reportedly acting before the suspect could flee.

Additionally, another man the newspaper claimed as Taleb's predecessor in Greece, Mohammed Mousa, has also been arrested. Both men face deportation.

The Italian daily on Saturday charged that Taleb was in Greece to coordinate some type of attack in Greece or another European country.

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Italian women: 'Basta'
Italian women living in Greece held a rally outside the Italian Embassy in Athens on Sunday, demanding that Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi resign in the wake of a series of sex and corruption scandals involving Berlusconi.

The women held banners with such slogans as "I'm a woman and I say enough", "Enough - Italy is not a bordello", and "Basta" (enough).

Demonstrations, readings and other events have been planned on Sunday in 234 cities in Italy by women's organisations to demand the resignation of Berlusconi, who they say has deeply insulted their dignity with the scandals.

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(ana.gr)

 

[tommy271]

France Fin Min: Discussing If EFSF Can Buy Government Bonds



BERLIN (MNI) - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said in a newspaper interview published over the weekend that there are currently talks underway for buying back government bonds of fiscally ailing Eurozone member states.

"We are currently discussing whether the [European Financial Stability Facility] is allowed to buy government bonds or should give money to highly indebted states so they can buy back their own bonds with a discount," Lagarde was quoted as saying by the German weekly Der Spiegel.

In the case of Greece, the discussions are focused on possibly lengthening the maturities of Greek government bonds, she told the magazine. "This would result in a participation of private investors," the minister reasoned.

In the interview, Lagarde also did not rule out the possibility that Eurozone countries could issue joint eurobonds.

If the Eurozone governments embark on a policy which assures a harmonization of the level of budget deficits, public debt and competitiveness "then we can talk about eurobonds," she was quoted by Der Spiegel as saying.

The magazine also reported that the EU Commission aims to give the future permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM) -- planned to become effective by mid-2013 -- the right to buy government bonds of fiscally struggling member states.

Yet, the ESM might still face some parliamentary hurdles. According to Der Spiegel, an expertise by the legal department of Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, comes to the conclusion that the German government needs a two-thirds majority in parliament to pass any laws on the ESM. This means that Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right government coalition would need to secure votes from the opposition.

(imarketnews.com)

 

[tommy271]

Crisi: domani Eurogruppo, prove intesa su stretta debiti




(ANSA) - BRUXELLES, 13 FEB - Sulla riforma del Patto di stabilita' e di crescita della Ue - dalla stretta sui debiti pubblici al rafforzamento delle sanzioni per i Paesi poco virtuosi - si avvicina l'ora della verita'. L'obiettivo e' quello di arrivare al via libera nel Consiglio Ue di fine marzo. E domani i ministri dell'Eurogruppo proveranno a raggiungere un'intesa di massima da sottoporre ai capi di Stato e di governo dell'Eurozona che si riuniranno il prossimo 11 marzo. Sul tavolo dei ministri di Eurolandia e su quello dell'Ecofin di martedi' anche tutte le altre misure che compongono quella 'risposta complessiva' che la Ue si appresta a dare all'attuale e alle future crisi dei debiti sovrani: dal rafforzamento dell'attuale e provvisorio Fondo salva-Stati al funzionamento del futuro meccanismo permanente anticrisi della zona euro (dalle meta' del 2013), dalle misure per aumentare la competitivita' (vedi il piano franco-tedesco) al miglioramento degli stress test bancari. Sullo sfondo il braccio di ferro tra l'asse franco-tedesco, che spinge per una cooperazione rafforzata tra i Paesi della zona euro e il ricorso a strumenti intergovernativi, e coloro che invece difendono il metodo comunitario (dalla Commissione Ue al presidente dell'Eurogruppo, Jean-Claude Juncker) secondo cui a decidere bisogna essere in 27.

 

[tommy271]

Marfin Popular Bank rights issue oversubscribed


ATHENS | Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:38am EST



ATHENS Feb 14 (Reuters) - Cypriot lender Marfin Popular Bank (MRBr.AT) said on Monday its 488.2 million euro ($657 million) rights issue was oversubscribed 1.11 times, with its shares gaining 3.67 percent on the Athens stock exchange.
The bank, which also operates in Greece, said its Tier 1 and total capital adequacy ratios were boosted by 180 basis points after the capital increase.


***
Corporate.

 

[tommy271]

Draghi è la persona giusta per guidare la Bce - Financial Times

lunedì 14 febbraio 2011 09:41






ROMA, 14 febbraio (Reuters) - Il governatore della Banca d'Italia Mario Draghi è la persona giusta per guidare la Banca centrale europea al termine del mandato di Jean-Claude Trichet a fine ottobre, scrive oggi il Financial Times.
Con un richiamo in prima pagina - "la Bce ha bisogno di Draghi" - un editoriale di Wolfang Muenchau appoggia il presidente del Financial Stability Board come l'unica scelta possibile dopo il clamoroso ritiro dalla corsa del presidente Bundesbank Axel Weber.
"Fra i candidati di cui si discute e disponibili ce n'è uno e sfortunamente solo uno, che risponde ai criteri minimi" richiesti, scrive Muenchau, "è Mario Draghi".
Per il Ft Draghi è un economista esperto con profonda conoscenza del sistema finanziario internazionale e abituato a trattare con politici difficili, qualità di cui nessuno degli altri candidati dispone nella stessa quantità.
Gli altri aspiranti a succedere a Trichet, che Muenchau non cita mai, "sono mancanti sotto tutti gli aspetti", aggiiunge l'editorialista.
"Ciò che resta è l'argomento fazioso sul fatto che Draghi sia italiano e che [il cancelliere tedesco Angela] Merkel non possa far passare nell'opinione pubblica tedesca l'idea di un banchiere centrale italiano", scrive Muenchau.
"Ma questo non contraddice con il desiderio di Merkel e dei suoi colleghi europei di inviare un forte segnale di unità? Il miglior risultato concepibile è che Merkel nomini Draghi proprio candidato... il peggiore sarebbe una lunga e aspra battaglia che porti alla elezione di un candidato di terza categoria. Per la zona euro questa sarebbe una calamità".

 

[tommy271]

Apertura di contrattazioni in verde alla Borsa di Atene, indice ASE a 1637 + 0,98.
I nostri spread rimangono deboli a 821 pb. circa.

 

[tommy271]

I TITOLI DEI GIORNALI:


The economy and EU-IMF troika inspectors' visit, and speculation of early general elections were the main front-page items in Athens' dailies on Monday.



ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "The 'smart fabrics' will save the economy - Fabrics that catch the sun's rays, creating energy through clothing, handbags, shade tents, and power electrical devices and appliances".

AVRIANI: "George (PM Papandreou) 'escaping' with (early general) elections".

ELEFTHEROS: "After the humiliation of the Greeks, Papandreou feigns 'resistance'."

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Theatrics with 'troikan' war - Government does not deny the sell-off of the country".

ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Tragi-comedy - The 'for sale sign' of the state assets for 50 billion euros has already been agreed".

ESTIA: "The state property a source of wasteful spending".

ETHNOS: "Regret from troika after the storm".

IMERISSIA: "The market at the troika's cutting edge".

NAFTEMPORIKI: "Government seeking new balances with the troika".

TA NEA: " 'Family Silver S.A. - What they are, how much they are worth, and how they will be exploited".

VRADYNI: "Elections to overcome the sell-out".

(ana.gr)