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Greece’s PM Tsipras says country prepared to accept most bailout demands
Greece became first country to miss IMF payment since Zimbabwe in 2001
Greece’s government has made new concessions in talks with its creditors, though some European officials said they were still not good enough and that a deal was nevertheless impossible before a Greek referendum on Sunday.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sent a letter Tuesday night, just hours before the country’s bailout program was due to expire, saying his government was prepared to accept creditors’ proposals made last weekend, subject to certain amendments.
The creditors did not accept Greece’s new overture, leaving the country’s bailout program to expire. But eurozone finance ministers will meet again on Wednesday to discuss the terms again. Hopes that Tsipras was softening his position — after refusing for five months the spending cuts that creditors had demanded in exchange for loans — boosted markets on Wednesday.
- Greece crisis: The sticking points that scuppered bailout talks
- Greece in uncharted territory as it defaults on IMF loan
- Greece financial crisis creates uncertainty among diaspora
- Eldorado Gold says Greek mines not affected by bank crisis
But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was clear that no deal was imminent, at least not before Greece holds a popular vote on the creditors’ proposals on Sunday.
“Before a referendum, there is indeed no basis (for an agreement),” Schaeuble said.
In Athens, crowds of anxious elderly Greeks thronged banks for hours from before dawn Wednesday, struggling to be allowed to withdraw their maximum of 120 euros ($167 Cdn) for the week after the government reopened some banks to help pensioners who don’t have bank cards.
Pensioners try to get a number to enter a bank in Athens on Wednesday. About 1,000 bank branches around the country were ordered by the government to reopen Wednesday to help desperate pensioners without ATM cards cash up to 120 euros from their retirement checks. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press)
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Greece and the Marxism of Syriza
Greece and the Marxism of Syriza
Has the Leopard Really Changed its Spots?
Back in February, a brief article at the BBC remarked on the seeming transformation of Syriza from a bunch of Marxist dreamers into (shudder..) quasi-“Blairites”. To be sure, we also approved of the signs of pragmatism that emerged at the time. The party had seemingly ditched its previously implacable opposition to privatizations and didn’t even try to tax the country’s shipping magnates. The tax exemptions enjoyed by the latter strike many as unjust, but the fact is that they provide around 7% of Greek employment and their assets are out at sea. It is up to them under which flag said assets are sailing and it would be self-destructive to chase them away.
Given the stunt Mr. Tsipras just pulled (note that the Greek negotiators learned of his referendum announcement via Twitter – they were not privy to what was about to happen), we are not so sure that the leopard has really changed its spots. We are not critical of a referendum as such, on the contrary. However, the timing and the way Tsipras has gone about it, suggest that he is really trying to arrange for a “Grexit” and one cannot help getting the impression that this may have been the intention all along. As noted previously, a referendum could have been held months ago already – why wait until it is almost too late for all practical purposes?
A reminder was provided by a mail correspondent of ours in Spain, who pointed out that the parties voting in favor of Tsipras’ plan were Syriza, ANEL and Golden Dawn. As to the Stalinist KKE, he noted “[the] KKE is against everything (as usual), but I still have hope in their “No” vote, closing the circle: from the Nazis to the Communists, all united against a free Europe, in a “Molotov-Ribbentrop v2.0″.
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I Fear The Greeks, Even When They Bring Gifts
I Fear The Greeks, Even When They Bring Gifts
Just another normal morning at the Automatic Earth. Shaking off the local drink – when in Rome.. – and perusing a thousand views and pieces, many on the inevitable topic of ‘Da Referendum’. And I got to say, I can’t even tell whether it’s just me, but there is this huge divide between what a simple vote can and should be, and how it is perceived and presented.
And no, it’s not my ouzo-riddled stupor, it’s what common sense I have left that has me wondering what causes the divide. Case in point, Bloomberg has a piece called “Tsipras Asking Grandma to Figure Out If Greek Debt Deal Is Fair”. The implied connotation being that asking grandma about anything other than knitting patterns and souvlaki recipes is asking for trouble. What does she know? Politics should be decided by politicians. Well, and bankers of course. And Bloomberg editors. Did I mention economists?
Tsipras Asking Grandma to Figure Out If Greek Debt Deal Is Fair
Economists with PhDs and hedge-fund traders can barely stay on top of the vagaries of Greece’s spiraling debt crisis. Now, try getting grandma to vote on it. That’s what Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is doing by calling a snap referendum for July 5 on the latest bailout package from creditors.
The 68-word ballot question namechecks four international institutions and asks voters for their opinion on two highly technical documents that weren’t made public before the referendum call and were only translated into Greek on Saturday. Worse, they may no longer be on the table. IMF chief Christine Lagarde told the BBC late on Saturday that “legally speaking, the referendum will relate to proposals and arrangements which are no longer valid.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Greece Invokes Nuclear Option: Tsipras Calls For Referendum
Greece Invokes Nuclear Option: Tsipras Calls For Referendum
Update: Greek PM Alexis Tsipras has announced a referendum in a televised speech to the nation after another day of fractious negotiations with creditors closed without a deal.
The dramatic move comes after Athens rejected a proposal from the troika aimed at delivering some €16 billion in aid to Greece as part of an extension of the country’s second bailout program.
- GREECE’S TSIPRAS SAYS CREDITORS POSED ULTIMATUM TO GOVT
- GREECE’S TSIPRAS SAYS CREDITORS PROPOSALS ARE AGAINST EU RULES
- TSIPRAS SAYS CREDITORS AIM TO HUMILIATE GREEK PEOPLE
- TSIPRAS SAYS WILL CALL REFERENDUM ON GREEK DEAL WITH CREDITORS
- TSIPRAS GREEK REFERENDUM WILL BE HELD ON JULY 5
- TSIPRAS SAYS HE NOTIFIED MERKEL, DRAGHI ON REFERENDUM PLAN
- TSIPRAS SAYS GREECE IS, AND WILL STAY PART OF EUROPE
- TSIPRAS SAYS GREECE NEEDS TO SEND DEMOCRATIC RESPONSE TO EU
Protothema now says the Greek parliament will meet on Saturday and a referendum will be called as early as next week. Whether this is simply a last minute attempt to put pressure on EU finance ministers ahead of Saturday’s Eurogroup meeting remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: Tsipras is playing a dangerous game with the ECB ahead of a difficult week that could very well see the imposition of capital controls.
More from Kathimerini:
The government is considering a referendum on the substance of the agreement, according to recent reports, during the enlarged meeting taking place from Friday night at the Maximos Mansion. The referendum is expected to be held next Sunday, while the prime minister has already informed the political leaders. The prime minister after returning from Brussels convened the extraordinary Governing Council at the Maximos Mansion, which after 23:00 turned into cabinet by attendance of ministers and party executives to discuss the latest developments and next steps in view of tomorrow’s Eurogroup.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
