The Finance ministers of the Eurozone met yesterday in Brussels to discuss mainly on the implementation of Greece’s ESM economic adjustment programme and have come to a final deal which will lead to the conclusion of the first review unlocking the second tranche of 10,3 billion euros. The Ministers gave a direct assignment to the […]
Greece bailout programme: Full agreement after marathon negotiations on debt relief between IMF and Eurozone
The third bailout agreement for Greece is a done deal amid European economies full of problems
After a very long session that lasted nearly 25 hours, the Greek government through 222 MP’s said a clear YES to the terms of the third bailout agreement. This strong positive vote provided to Euclid Tsakalotos, the Greek Finance Minister, the necessary tools to seal the deal with his counterparts, which realized late last night at […]
Alexis Tsipras against internal and external “enemies” in pursue of a two-phase deal now
The Greek government and particularly the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is currently looking at a deal with the creditors but is facing both interior and exterior “enemies”. Mr Tsipras had extensive talks yesterday in Athens with the government’s officials in order to inform them about the negotiations’ progress. The Finance Minister of Greece – “pop star”, […]
Although Greece is struggling to pay salaries and pensions Varoufakis is “optimistic”; the Sting reports live from EBS 2015
The Greek government found a very last-minute solution to pay its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that was only due yesterday. However, it was last Thursday when Yanis Varoufakis was appearing to be optimistic about Greece’s situation and the overall negotiations with its creditors while attending the European Business Summit (EBS) 2015 where the […]
Greece’s last Eurogroup or the beginning of a new solid European Union?
Today everyone’s eyes are fixed on the extraordinary Eurogroup meeting which is taking place in Brussels. This is simply put one of the most important gatherings in the Union’s history because one of its member states is under the “dilemma” of staying within the Eurozone by signing an extension agreement or exit and face imminent bankruptcy. […]
On Grexit: Incompetence just launched the historic Ultimatum that could open “pandora’s box”
It’s clearly a very bad moment for Europe; unfortunately much worse than our wise European leaders can grasp. The Greek issue is inescapably bringing to the surface the political incompetence of many key figures in Brussels and beyond. Dijssebloem and the peer were never prepared for the Greek stubbornness; most likely they were never ready to […]
EU Summit’s major takeaway: a handkerchief cannot save Greece from austerity
After Wednesday’s Eurogroup where Greece’s Minister of Finance, Yanis Varoufakis, “agreed to disagree” with his European counterparts, Grexit enthusiasts had a reason to celebrate in the evening. However, they did not count for the modern Hercules, Alexis Tsipras, who came tieless to his first EU Summit yesterday in Brussels but with plenty and trendy new […]
The mother of all fights about inflation, growth and banks
Reading two accounts by two different people, about what happened in the Eurogroup meeting yesterday in Brussels, gives a clear indication of what will be decided in the ECOFIN Council today. Ollie Rehn, Vice-President of the European Commission and member of the Commission responsible for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro, and Jeroen Dijsselbloem, […]
The Eurogroup offered a cold reception to IMF’s director for Europe
Yesterday’s Eurogroup was devoted rather to the…IMF than to the burning issues of Eurozone, like bank recovery and resolution and deposit guarantee schemes. Probably the reason for this change was that Reza Moghadam, the IMF’s European Department director, was present and his main criticism of Eurozone’s economy was that it suffers from “weak banks and over-indebted […]
Jeroen Dijsselbloem new Eurogroup president
According to an official announcement of the Council of the European Union, on 21 January, the Eurogroup, the council of the 17 Eurozone ministers of Finance appointed its new president, the Dutch Minister of Finance Jeroen Dijsselbloem. Dijsselbloem takes over from Jean-Claude Juncker, minister of Finance and Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and will hold the […]