TIMELINE-Greece's debt crisis
April 15 | Fri Apr 15, 2011 11:32am EDT
April 15 (Reuters) -
Greece on Friday unveiled the outline of a package of fiscal measures and privatisations to achieve deficit reduction targets under an EU/IMF bailout, hoping to convince investors it will not need to restructure its debt.
Here is a timeline of economic events in Greece since 2010:
Jan. 2010 - Greece unveils stability programme on Jan. 14, saying it will aim to cut its budget gap to 2.8 percent of GDP in 2012 from 12.7 percent in 2009.
Feb. - Greece must refinance 54 billion euros ($66.6 billion) in debt, with a crunch in Q2 as more than 20 billion euros becomes due and market yields for Greek debt soar.
March 5 - Package of public sector pay cuts and tax increases is passed to save an extra 4.8 billion euros. VAT to rise 2 percentage points to 21 percent; public sector salary bonuses cut by 30 percent; tax on fuel, tobacco and alcohol rises; state-funded pensions frozen in 2010.
-- Euro zone leaders and the IMF agree to create joint financial safety net to help Greece and try to restore confidence in the euro.
April 11 -- Euro zone finance ministers approve 30 billion euros ($40.67 billion) emergency aid mechanism for Greece.
April 15 - Greek parliament passes law that seeks to tackle tax evasion and shift tax burden to higher earners.
April 22 - Eurostat says Greece's 2009 budget deficit is 13.6 percent of GDP, not 12.7 percent as reported earlier.
April 23 - Prime Minister George Papandreou asks for activation of an EU/IMF aid package.
April 27 - Standard & Poor's downgrades Greece's credit rating to junk status.
May 2 - Prime Minister Papandreou says Greece has sealed deal with EU and IMF, opening door to a bailout in return for extra budget cuts of 30 billion euros over three years.
-- The aid package amounts to 110 billion euros over three years and represents the first rescue of a member of the then 16-nation
euro zone.
May 4/5 - Public sector workers stage 48-hour nationwide strike. Up to 50,000 protest in Athens, and hundreds fight with police. Three people are killed when a bank is set on fire.
May 6 - Greek parliament approves latest austerity bill.
May 9 - The IMF unanimously approves its part of the rescue loans, with 5.5 billion euros being provided immediately.
May 10 - Global policymakers install an emergency safety net worth about $1 trillion to bolster financial markets and prevent the Greek crisis from damaging the euro. -- The package consists of 440 billion euros in guarantees from
euro zone states, plus 60 billion euros in European debt instruments. EU finance ministers say the IMF will contribute a further 250 billion euros.
May 18 -
Greece receives a 14.5 billion euro ($18.7 billion) loan from the EU and can now repay its immediate debt, a development that helps to steady global investors' jitters.
June 11 - Papandreou vows Greece will not default on its loans. Its austerity measures are intended "to exclude default and to exclude exit from the euro zone".
June 14 - Moody's cuts Greece's credit rating four notches to Ba1, or junk status.
July 7 - Greek parliament passes pension reform, a key requirement of the EU/IMF deal, cutting benefits, curbing widespread early retirement and raising women's retirement age from 60 to match men at 65.
Aug. 5 -- EU and IMF inspectors give Greece the green light for a fresh 9 billion euro tranche from the bailout, saying Athens is on track to meet fiscal targets in 2010.
September -- The IMF says Greece is ahead of schedule in economic reform and it will disburse an additional 2.57 billion euros under a standby loan.
Oct. 4 -- Greece submits a 2011 draft budget to parliament pledging to cut the 2011 budget deficit faster than agreed in the IMF/EU bailout deal.
Jan. 2011 -- Fitch becomes the third rating agency to cut Greek debt to "junk" status.
Feb. 11 -- EU and IMF inspectors approve 15 billion euros of fresh bailout funds, but warn its fiscal programme could go off the rails unless it accelerates reforms and scales up privatisations.
Feb. 23 -- Police clash with protesters as around 100,000 workers, pensioners and students march to parliament to protest at austerity policies to help Greece cope with a huge debt crisis.
April 8 - Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker warns Greece of the importance of controlling spending, a day after news that the country's budget deficit last year had overshot forecasts at over 10 percent of GDP.
April 14 -- Greece reiterates it is not considering restructuring its debt and says it will stick with the economic adjustment plan agreed with the EU and the IMF to emerge from its debt crisis.
April 15 -- Greece presents new fiscal and privatisation plans to convince investors it can meet the terms of an EU/IMF bailout and avoid restructuring its debt.
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