Titoli di Stato area Euro GRECIA Operativo titoli di stato - Cap. 1 (35 lettori)

[tommy271]

FM Droutsas in Vienna debate on Euro




Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas, speaking during a debate in Vienna on "The fight for the euro and the future of the European Union", referred to the great structural reforms that the Greek government has promoted and "which, with many sacrifices by the Greek people, have already produced initial positive results meeting with great international recognition."

The Greek foreign minister's interlocutors, in the presence of many representatives of Austria's public life and a large congregation, were European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding, Austrian vice-Chancellor and finance minister Josef Proll and well-known Professor Dennis J. Snower, president of the Institute for the Global Economy in Kiel and a professor of theoretical economics at Kiel University, while Slovakia's Prime Minister Iveta Radicova was absent due to illness.

Droutsas stressed that the government will implement its programme with the structural changes "which are necessary despite the crisis, to enable the country to be competitive, while the mistakes of the past must be remedied and this is linked to sacrifices by the citizens who are doing their best but are saddened by unfair criticism by the media abroad."

He reassured that the loan Greece is receiving will be returned "up to the very last Euro" as he said characteristically, adding that the crisis constitutes an opportunity for change, for the building of a different Greece.

Referring to the issue of the event, the foreign minister stressed that the Euro can, must and will continue to live and it is important that the Eurozone's political will exists for its support and strengthening. "The Euro constitutes enrichment of the policy for Europe", he added.

As Droutsas said, the EU's relevant message so far to the international monetary markets was not convincing enough, for this reason it is necessary for a clear message to be sent to them as soon as possible that there has been a serious and adequate discussion so that the Permanent Support Apparatus can be decided at the European Council on March 24 and 25.

As regards competitiveness, he stressed the need for investments in knowledge and quality, he backed the coordination of economic institutions and a gradual transition to Economic Governance, as being a great opportunity for Europe and its citizens and he rejected as being incorrect isolated actions and as counterproductive sanction policies, such as the denial of a vote for countries, as this had been proposed by the German side months ago.

Droutsas's interlocutors, who hailed the great efforts by Greece and its citizens to tackling the crisis, supported in their addresses the need for supporting and strengthening the Euro, as well as the Support Apparatus.

The Greek Foreign minister left Vienna for Brussels in the afternoon.

(ana.gr)

 

[tommy271]

Greece's NBG sticks to bid for Alpha- NBG source



ATHENS | Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:01am EST



ATHENS Feb 21 (Reuters) - National Bank (NBG) (NBGr.AT) is sticking to its bid for Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT) and is not in talks to improve it, an official at NBG told Reuters on Monday.
"National Bank is sticking to the offer it has put forth, which is very generous for Alpha's shareholders," said the NBG official, who declined to be named.
Alpha Bank on Friday rejected NBG's 8-for-11 share offer which values Alpha at around 3 billion euros ($4.0 billion), saying it was not in its shareholders' interest.

 

[tommy271]

Bce preoccupata per inflazione superiore ad attese - Bini Smaghi

lunedì 21 febbraio 2011 07:48



HONG KONG, 21 febbraio (Reuters) - La Bce è preoccupata per un'inflazione che si è rivelata superiore al previsto. Lo dice, in un discorso pronunciato stamane a Hong Kong, il membro del consiglio della banca centrale Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, aggiungendo che i rialzi recenti dei prezzi dei generi alimentari potrebbero essere permanenti.
Bini Smaghi ha inoltre affermato che l'Europa è sulla strada di una graduale ripresa e che le cose vanno meglio del previsto in termini di crescita e occupazione. La situazione della liquidità è ancora appropriata - ha spiegato - ma le politiche vanno riviste man mano che la situazione economica migliora.
Venerdì scorso il membro del board Bce aveva mosso i mercati parlando di una banca centrale pronta ad alzari i tassi per opporsi alle pressioni inflazionistiche.
Bini Smaghi ha poi ribadito la necessità per i singoli governi di varare riforme strutturali che possano dare slancio alle rispettive economie; l'Italia in particolare deve adottare riforme che diano stimolo alla cresicta e parallelamente ridurre ulteriormente le esigenze di bilancio in modo da stabilizzare il debito.
Il consigliere Bce invita poi le banche ad adottare una condotta non lassista, che non faccia esclusivo affidamento sul credito di Francoforte, ma che preveda il ritorno sul mercato dei capitali il più presto possibile.

 

[tommy271]

Wrong signal sent from sell-off plan

Uncertainty on Greek government debt may harm prospects for merger activity on local bank front

By Dimitris Kontogiannis




The essential backtracking of the Greek government on the announced sale of public property and the privatization of state-controlled companies and utilities worth at least 50 billion euros for the 2011-2015 period by the troika has convinced many market participants that the country may finally have to resolve its public debt problem via a more painful way.

This may have other complications because it makes it harder for mega-mergers in the local banking sector to move ahead at this point since it adds to uncertainty over valuations due to bonds. The recent refusal of Alpha Bank’s board to accept a proposal for a friendly merger with National Bank of Greece may be interpreted this way.

Facing a backlash in its own party and the Greek political scene in general, following the troika’s announcement of at least 50 billion euros in revenues to be raised from privatization proceeds and the sale of public property, the government announced its intention to bring a law in parliament by which it will prohibit the sale of public land.

Many in the market interpreted the announcement as an indication of the government’s unwillingness or/and inability to deliver on the figure which had been agreed with the troika, that is, the representatives of the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF.

For a country with an estimated public debt of 340 billion euros at the end of 2011 which may go up to 380 billion euros or more in a few years’ time, retiring debt via the sale of public assets is generally considered the right way to go.

So, the government’s decision to limit the available options raised eyebrows in Greek business circles and abroad. Although this decision may be justified by political considerations, it is definitely not a sound economic decision by any means.
Even worse, more market participants have come to the conclusion by now that Greece has no option but to restructure its public debt in order to bring it down to levels considered sustainable by financial markets.

In general, a public-to-debt GDP ratio of 80 to 90 percent is considered sustainable, assuming the country produces primary surpluses and restructures its economy to become more competitive in the future and come up with higher GDP growth rates. Whether or not they are right remains to be seen and we certainly hope they are all wrong but this is the reality.

This creates greater uncertainty over the value of Greek government bonds carried by local and international banks and insurance companies in their books. For example, it is known that all major Greek banks will have to raise a good amount of capital if they were to keep the core Tier–I ratio, a capital adequacy ratio, at 7.0 percent. This in turn may other complications in the sense that may become an obstacle to some mega merger bank deals in the local sector at this point in time.

It is known that any merger of two domestic banks with a significant exposure to Greek government bonds will not reduce the sovereign risk they carry on the books and the potential negative impact on their capital adequacy ratios as explained above. Equally important, any merger between two large local banks will not resolve one of the major issues facing the sector, that is, the availability of liquidity.

Of course, a merger, such as the one proposed by National Bank with Alpha Bank, has the potential to lead to lower deposit costs since more concentration in the sector will lead to less competition for deposits locally.

Still, it will not resolve the issue of liquidity for the following reasons. Firstly, the wholesale markets will remain closed for domestic banks as long as the Greek sovereign debt risk is not addressed. Even bigger lines from interbank repo (repurchase agreements) transactions with international banks will come at a higher cost and larger haircuts.

It is estimated that foreign banks are willing to provide large Greek banks with liquidity up to 12 months at an interest rate of 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent when the underlying security is Greek government bonds. However, the liquidity provided implies an average 10 to 15 percent bigger haircut to the nominal value of these bonds compared with the one applied by the ECB according to bankers.

Secondly, it is difficult to see how domestic banks’ deposits can grow with the economy shrinking at a fast pace and unemployment rising. So, local banks cannot realistically rely on a bigger pool of domestic savings to fund their assets.

In addition, the argument that a merger between two major banks will produce significant extra revenues state does not seem very convincing given the weak state of the Greek economy and the structure of the local credit market. It is noted that the large and medium sized companies have credit lines with a number of major Greek banks and therefore it is hard to see how the marriage of two of them can really produce marginal revenues.

If there is any scope for worthwhile synergies from consolidation in the banking sector, this has more to do with their operations abroad. The combination of the subsidiaries of two large Greek banks in those countries or the sale of one of the two subsidiaries to a foreign bank can bear fruits to the new bigger entity in the form of smaller funding requirements and the release of capital.

The announced benefits to EFG Eurobank from the agreed sale of a majority equity stake in its Polish subsidiary, Polbank, to Austria’s Reiffessen speaks volumes.

All-in-all, the recent developments on Greece’s apparent difficulties in raising at least 50 billion euros from public asset sales have made it harder for the country to convince international investors that it will tackle its public debt burden effectively. This has wider implications, circumventing the bond markets, and we may even witness some of them in the local banking sector.

ekathimerini.com , Sunday February 20, 2011 (23:50)

 

[tommy271]

Ruling Socialists retain support despite internal strife


Two polls show government with narrowing lead as ND leader insists it is 'close to collapse'

After a difficult week for the government involving a dispute with its international creditors and growing internal rifts over structural reforms, two new opinion polls showed ruling PASOK maintaining a narrowing lead over New Democracy as the conservative opposition leader declared over the weekend that the socialist administration is “close to collapse.”

One of the surveys, carried out by polling firm Pulse for the Eleftheros Typos newspaper, showed PASOK leading the main opposition by 3.5 percentage points, down from 6 percentage points last October. According to the survey, PASOK would win an election with 23.5 percent of the vote were an election to be held now, versus 20 percent for ND. The second poll, carried out by Rass for To Paron, showed PASOK to be ahead of ND by 3.6 percentage points with 26.1 percent of respondents expressing their support for the ruling party as opposed to 22.7 percent for ND.

As the ruling Socialists struggle to present a united front despite infighting over austerity measures, New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras charged that the government was in a state of semi-paralysis and giving out “repeated signs of confusion and weakness.” Addressing ND’s political committee on Saturday, Samaras also accused the government of “handing the keys to Greece” over to its creditors.

In a related development, reported in yesterday’s Katherimini, it has emerged that Prime Minister George Papandreou had appealed to the International Monetary Fund for help in December 2009, four months before his televized request to Greece’s eurozone partners for financial support.

The revelation is made by IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn in a documentary to be aired on France’s Canal+ private television channel next month. Commenting on the report yesterday, government spokesman, Giorgos Petalotis, said: “The Greek government and the prime minister in particular have made huge efforts to avert the risk of bankruptcy which became clear after the elections of 2009 [in October],” noting that this risk had been “deliberately covered up” by ND.


ekathimerini.com , Sunday February 20, 2011 (23:54)

 

[sethi]

Anche se non inerente con il tema trattato anche il continente africano che si infiamma ci voleva a complicare ulteriormente la situazione.................mah.........vedremo l'evolversi della situazione

 

[tommy271]

Anche se non inerente con il tema trattato anche il continente africano che si infiamma ci voleva a complicare ulteriormente la situazione.................mah.........vedremo l'evolversi della situazione

La situazione è estremamente complessa, l'incendio si sta estendendo a tutte le nazioni arabe del nord africa.

La Borsa di Atene continua a macinare guadagni: indice ASE prepotentemente sopra i 1700 punti: attualmente 1746 con + 1,85%, alti i volumi di scambio.

I nostri spread sembrano reggere bene alle pressioni, attualmente intorno a 862 pb.

 

[sethi]

si questo è vero lo vedo anche dal mio etf che si è ripreso parecchio.............mi spiace di non essere presente sul forum ma ho grossi problemi

 

[tommy271]

si questo è vero lo vedo anche dal mio etf che si è ripreso parecchio.............mi spiace di non essere presente sul forum ma ho grossi problemi

L'ETF ha registrato grossi incrementi di prezzo.
Ora l'indice ASE segna 1725 punti. Teniamo presente che l'obiettivo di medio periodo, secondo diversi analisti, era a 1750 punti.

 

[tommy271]

Greek Alpha Bank Shares Jump Despite Rejection Of NBG Offer





By Nick Skrekas
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES



ATHENS (Dow Jones)--Shares in Greece's third largest bank by lending, Alpha Bank SA (ALPHA.AT), rose sharply Monday on hopes a deal will eventually be struck with National Bank of Greece SA (NBG), which Friday had a takeover offer rejected by Alpha.
NBG, Greece's largest lender, Friday announced a EUR2.9 billion all-share offer for its smaller rival, but Alpha's board unanimously rejected the offer, citing the "uncertainties of the current environment" and calling the terms less than "beneficial" for shareholders.
Shares in both banks were suspended lunchtime Friday as news of the approach broke, and Alpha shares jumped when trading resumed Monday morning. At 0855 GMT, just 25 minutes into the session, Alpha shares were up 16.2% at EUR5.58, while NBG shares were up 6.1% to EUR8.03, both in very high volume. The broader ASE general index was up 1.7% to 1,741.4.
"The market expects that the takeover deal is not dead yet and may well be rehabilitated or sweetened," said Maria Kanellopoulou, senior bank analyst at Euroxx Securities.
"Long awaited domestic banking sector consolidation is positive for the whole bourse as well as the sector, even if some light profit taking cannot be ruled out given the rally in peer banking stocks on Friday before the close on the M&A developments," Kanellopoulou adds.
Market watchers believe that NBG won't unilaterally sweeten the offer unless Alpha Bank comes back to the table in good faith. Negotiations could then take place on additional governance benefits and the value of any synergies.