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

[tommy271]

Greece to sell off commercial property for debt relief

25. January 2011. | 15:08
Source: International Business News, Financial News, Market News, Politics, Forex, Commodities - International Business Times - IBTimes.com
Author: Sarah Kendell


Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou aims to do a better job raising funds from state-owned properties with an estimated value of as much as 300 billion euros ($408 billion), equivalent to the national debt.


When the Greek government swapped land with a Byzantine monastery on a mountainous northern peninsula, the furor in 2008 over the price contributed to the defeat of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis a year later.

Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou aims to do a better job raising funds from state-owned properties with an estimated value of as much as 300 billion euros ($408 billion), equivalent to the national debt.
First, he'll need to figure out what assets are in government hands, before competing with other debt-laden European countries for investors.

"The supply and demand dynamic for Greece isn't good right now," said Frances Hudson, who helps oversee about $242 billion as an equity strategist at Standard Life Investments in Edinburgh. Hudson would rather buy commercial real estate in Paris or Stockholm that would offer more predictable returns.

The European Union and International Monetary Fund, as well as German politicians who oppose bailing out Greece and local lawmakers, have urged the country to sell or lease casinos, golf courses, airports and even islands to pay down debt and avoid a default.
The EU, which led a 110 billion-euro rescue of the country in May, said in a December report that "sizable" proceeds could be generated this way.


***
Riprende la questione, postata questa mattina da Bloomberg.

 

[Gaudente]

perdona loro perche non sanno quello che fanno

certo, avrebbe dovuto liquidare tutto anziche' soltanto "alleggerire"

 

[tommy271]

E' proseguito nelle prime ore del pomeriggio l'allargamento degli spread.
Siamo sempre entro il range, ma nella fascia alta di oscillazione: ora intorno a 835 pb.

Più sensibile il calo alla Borsa di Atene: l'indice ASE segna 1528 punti con - 1,29.

 

[tommy271]

Greece will not raise retirement age further -minister


ATHENS | Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:25am EST



ATHENS Jan 25 (Reuters) - Greece will not need to raise the retirement age beyond the current 65 years or slash pensions again to save its ailing social security system, the country's alternate labour minister said on Tuesday.
The debt-laden country's international lenders, the EU and the IMF, will assess in February whether a sweeping pension reform last year was enough to contain public spending on pensions to 7.3 percent of GDP by 2060 from 4.8 percent at presdent.
"The actuarial studies (on the four main funds) show ... there won't be a more than a 2.5 percentage point rise in public spending on pensions by 2060," Alternate Labour Minister George Koutroumanis told Reuters in an interview.
"We will achieve our target without changing the retirement age or the level of pensions," he said.

 

[tommy271]

Vienna Insurance Marks Down Holdings Of Greek Govt Bonds



By Flemming Emil Hansen and Alkman Granitsas
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


VIENNA (Dow Jones)--Austria-based insurer Vienna Insurance Group (VIG.VI) said Tuesday that it had voluntarily marked down the value of its Greek government bond holdings amid rising expectations that Greece would soon have to restructure its public debt.

The traditionally conservative insurer said that the write-down had only a small impact on its total portfolio of assets. But the move could signal a trend by other financial companies to discount Greek debt.

"Vienna Insurance Group booked impairments of about EUR100 million in 2010, and part of that was a 25% write-down of our investment in Greek government bonds," said company spokesman Alexander Jedlicka. "The decision was based, among other things, on the current discussion of a possible restructuring of Greece's debt."

In May, Greece narrowly avoided default with the help of an EUR110 billion bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund in exchange for a series of measures to cut its deficit and reform its economy.

But even with that help, many investors question whether Greece will be able to service its giant debt burden, which is expected to peak at 158% of gross domestic product in 2013.

Because of that, talk of an eventual debt restructuring by Greece has weighed on investor sentiment, with financial markets already pricing in a roughly 30% discount on the face value of Greek bonds.

According to the spokesman, VIG's exposure to Greek government debt--as well other struggling euro-zone members on Europe's periphery--is modest.

"I can't say exactly what the volume of our investment in Greek debt is, but what I can say is that our total exposure to government debt from the five peripheral states is less than 1% of our total financial investments of EUR28 billion," Jedlicka said.

Earlier Tuesday, VIG reported a 15% increase in its unaudited 2010 pretax profits, helped by solid premiums growth, and said fresh macroeconomic forecasts makes the company confident it can raise 2011 earnings by about 10%.

 

[tommy271]

Oggi la Borsa di Atene chiude a 1534 punti segnando un - 0,92.
Volumi a 96 MLN.
Il tema dominante è sempre quello della "ristrutturazione" del debito.
Intanto dopo la crescita massiccia che abbiamo assistito nelle ultime settimane, si verificano le prime prese di beneficio.
Il dato rimane ancora positivo, mentre la volatilità la fa da padrona.

 

[tommy271]

EU Should Seek Options to Raising Bailout Fund, Slovakia's Radicova Says

By Radoslav Tomek - Jan 25, 2011 2:55 PM GMT+0100



Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova said pouring more cash to the European Union bailout fund “isn’t an option” to solve the debt crisis and the euro region has to seek alternatives to restore confidence in its currency.

EU leaders should make the 440 billion-euro ($601 billion) European Financial Stability Facility more flexible, she said in an interview yesterday. Slovakia, the only euro member that refused to provide aid for Greece, opposes increasing the fund unless bond investors are forced to take losses on the debt issued by distressed countries earlier than 2013, she said.

“If there are alternatives,” the EU must “at least do an analysis of what’s better,” Radicova said in her office in Bratislava, Slovakia. “There are possibilities to use standard mechanisms to stabilize the currency.”

The EU is working toward a March deadline to revise the EFSF, map out a permanent mechanism to replace it in 2013 and tighten the fiscal rules. Signs of economic buoyancy and successful bond auctions in southern Europe eased the urgency to bolster the aid fund or take more anti-crisis measures.

The leaders last year set a March deadline for a permanent aid mechanism and rewrite the bloc’s budget-deficit rules.
The EU, with contributions of funds from the International Monetary Fund, has agreed to bail out Greece and Ireland, and bond investors are concerned that Portugal and possibly Spain may be next.
Portuguese 10-year yields on Jan. 7 reached the 7 percent mark, which preceded the aid requests from Ireland and Greece.

Limited Lending Ability

The prospect of a Portuguese bailout raised concern the fund’s capacity won’t be sufficient to bail out more countries. The need for a capital buffer to clinch an AAA rating cuts the EFSF’s lending ability to about 250 billion euros from a theoretical maximum of 440 billion euros.

The other components in the emergency aid program are 60 billion euros in a fund managed by the European Commission and 250 billion euros from the IMF.

Euro-region members with top credit ratings want lower- rated countries including Italy or Slovakia to make cash deposits to the EFSF to help increase its capacity, Financial Times Deutschland reported Jan. 21 without saying where it got the information.

‘Deep Cuts’

“I am sorry, but it’s not an option at all,” Radicova said. “We have to do deep cuts in public expenditures” and paying more would “increase our deficit.”

Slovakia, which adopted the euro three years ago, is recovering from recession after waning export demand led to a contraction in 2009, swelling the budget deficit. Radicova wants to cut the shortfall below the EU’s limit of 3 percent of GDP by 2013 from 8 percent in 2009 through spending cuts and higher indirect taxes.

Slovakia is ready to discuss contributing more money to the fund only if the EU requires private bond investors share losses before the current deadline of 2013, Radicova said. Any increase in the country’s contribution would need approval in parliament, which in August rejected participation in the 110 billion-euro Greek bailout.

Radicova said default may be an option for distressed countries, making private investors share the losses.
“Default isn’t a new phenomenon,” she said. “There are procedures on how to continue, how to restructure the debt.”

Radicova also advocated lowering interest rates charged to countries that borrow from the EFSF. Ireland is paying on average 5.8 percent, representing a profit margin of more than 3 percent for the EU.
Such terms are “expensive for the countries,” she said. “It isn’t help. ”



(Bloomberg)

 

[tommy271]

German Deputy Finance Minister: 'Comprehensive' Rescue Package For Europe Coming In Months


DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


European officials are aiming to deliver a comprehensive package to prevent Europe's debt crisis from deepening, probably in late March, said Germany's deputy finance minister in New York on Tuesday.

"We aim to deliver a comprehensive package," said Joerg Asmussen at a Bloomberg European Debt Crisis Conference. While European officials are meeting early next month, a key meeting at the end of March will be "more decisive."

Hopes for an expanded European bailout fund have boosted the euro and investor sentiment in recent weeks.

The coming plan will involve an "enhanced growth and stability pact" and closer economic coordination, Mr. Asmussen said. He reiterated Germany's commitment to the euro, calling the common currency a "cornerstone" of European integration.

Asked whether officials will allow troubled euro-zone countries like Greece to borrow from the rescue fund and buy back debt from the European Central Bank -- one of several ideas floated recently to beef up the rescue effort -- Mr. Asmussen said "there is a debate, and it will continue ... about the scope" of the rescue fund.

He also said Germany remains opposed to issuing Europe-wide government bonds.

 

[frmaoro]

ultimi saldi affrettarsi

 

[tommy271]

Greece introduces lower uniform corporate tax rate





ATHENS | Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:56am EST



ATHENS Jan 25 (Reuters) - Greece's socialist government on Tuesday approved a tax bill that sets a lower, uniform corporate tax rate of 20 percent and introduces a 25 percent withholding tax on dividends.
"From the financial years starting on Jan. 1, 2011, the (corporate) tax rate is reduced to 20 percent from 24 percent and applies to all profits," the finance ministry said in a statement.