Old and still drinking water and eating dry white toast.
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IMF Demands More Change in Greece
ATHENS—Greece's international lenders of last resort said Friday the country has made enough progress to receive an additional €15 billion ($20.4 billion) aid tranche but needs to accelerate economic changes and commit large-scale privatizations.
"The program is broadly on track stabilizing the economy but serious challenges exist for the creation of fiscal sustainability," said Servaas Deroose, mission chief for the European Commission, the European Union's executive arm.
Representatives of the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and the European Central Bank were speaking at a joint press conference in Athens on their third mandatory progress review, which green-lighted the provision of the additional funds in due course. The EU will provide €10.9 billion and the IMF €4.1 billion.
The three international lenders—known locally as the troika—insisted that the country must commit to a massive €50 billion privatization program to be completed by 2015. The funds will be used to reduce Greece's mountains of national debt that top €330.1 billion. To date, the socialist government had only committed to €7 billion-worth of privatizations.
"This is a very ambitious program but we are at a critical juncture where we need to accelerate reforms. In some cases some things are not going as fast as expected due to technical complexity and social sensitivity," said Poul Thomsen, IMF mission chief.
Mr. Thomsen specifically referred to the need for an overhaul in state enterprises, tax policies, public administration, social and military spending.
But banks were also on the list for reforms. Klaus Masuch, the ECB mission chief, said the lenders were concerned about Greek banks' heavy reliance on the ECB for liquidity. "This can only be a temporary solution, and they need to return to market funding over the medium term."
The debt-strapped country agreed to implement unprecedented austerity measures and unpopular structural reforms that are reviewed every three months in exchange for the €110 billion bailout inked with the IMF, commission and EU in May 2010, to stave off certain insolvency.
The new funds are critical because January revenues flagged despite being in surplus. The country essentially has no other way to cover the €12.44 billion in fixed-interest-market debt maturing during March, and must be paid to avert default.
"Continued adjustment and large-scale support from the international community will mean Greece will return to the market, hopefully not later than early next year," Mr. Thomsen said
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Greece Economy ‘Successfully’ Rescued From Abyss, EU-IMF Says
Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Greece’s economy has been rescued from the “abyss” as austerity measures aimed at restoring order to public finances “are being implemented as planned,” the European Union and International Monetary Fund said.
“While there have been some delays and shortfalls, it should not undermine the fact that the program is broadly on track,” Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF’s Greece mission, told a news conference in Athens today. “We are ready for the second phase of the program, having successfully pulled the economy from an abyss,” even as Greece’s fiscal health still requires a “broad base of structural reforms.''
Thomsen and European Commission economist Servaas Deroose were in Athens for a quarterly review of Greece’s progress under a 110 billion-euro ($150 billion) EU-IMF bailout. Approval of the nation’s efforts will ensure payment of the next installment of 15 billion euros in March. Deroose told reporters today that he’s “confident” the funds will be disbursed.
Greece has vowed to trim the budget gap to 7.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2011 from 9.4 percent in 2010. Fallout from Greece’s debt crisis led to a surge in bond yields of other high-deficit euro-area nations as investors shunned their debt.
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Euro leaders agree to debt crisis roadmap
BRUSSELS: Eurozone leaders agreed in principle Friday to strengthen emergency rescue resources and widen the scope of a permanent bailout fund, pending final approval of “concrete” measures in March.
In conclusions adopted at a European Union summit, the leaders of the 17 states that share the single currency said they would fix a “global response” to the debt crisis that saw bailouts for Greece and Ireland last year, with more forecast for Portugal and possibly others.
A special summit will be held in March to finalise efforts to avoid new debt crises, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said. A favoured date emerging is March 4.
The eurozone summit would allow leaders most directly affected by moves to fix flaws in the monetary union and boost rescue funds, to debate which economic policies would be applied right across the economic bloc.
EU president Herman Van Rompuy was tasked with driving consultations with member states aimed at ensuring the full 440 billion euros ($600 billion) the European Financial Stability Facility can borrow from markets may be lent as aid. At present some 200 billion euros must be kept back as a cash buffer.
They also agreed to bring “flexibility” to their debt fire-fighting toolkit, amid calls to let the Luxembourg-based EFSF buy bonds at non-penal rates from countries struggling to raise funds on markets, or lend the likes of Greece cash to buy back bonds that have already lost up to 30 percent of their value trading on open markets.
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The news looks good, I am still on the IRE sidelines waiting for my $1.50 order to fill.....I may have to adjust it higher.
Best of luck to the IRE shareholders, I have close to 6000 shares of NBG and looking at building a IRE position once it looks stable.
IRE has more upside than NBG and I'm looking forward to becoming a long-term IRE shareholder.
I'm 100% silver from the old school....
...I had my own Black and White Lab working out of a basement and taking pictures over 30 years ago, but I gave it all up when I decided to travel down the road to become an Engineer.
I am still take pictures with my MIND which I develop into buildings that people are able to enjoy.
Reviving the Greek Economy
Papa CNBC Video
Wait for the pull-back and retest of the lows
Glad your in the green, NBG is geting more greener every day...
Should be a $6.00 dollar stock, if we could push the retirement age to 70 years, and change the calculation method.
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