Greece...

antrobus

Generali wrote: »

The current UK Government can't make a legally binding anything on a future Government.....

Well it can try. The last Labour government similarly acted in an "autocratic" manner and subverted democracy by making the child poverty target 'legally binding' on any future government. All that means, of course, is that someone has to go to the trouble of repealing that bit of legislation.

Generali wrote: »

...As for Greece, the blue bit of the line is the problem. As you can see, it's quite a bit longer than the blue line of any other country. That's the bit the Government owes and the Government has run out of cash to service the blue line.

That's the problem with charts. They are often used to obscure the data that is actually relevant.:)

Generali

antrobus wrote: »

The BBC is reporting that it "understands" that the ECB is to end ELA to Greece.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-33303105

Peston getting inside information again. I hope he's not trading on any of this as that could be quite embarrassing for him.

Well the Greek banks won't open on Monday. Let's hope the ECB will allow the Greek Government to have access to their reserve cash balances held at the ECB otherwise there are going to be some very hungry, angry Greek people in a week or two.

antrobus

Generali wrote: »

Peston getting inside information again. I hope he's not trading on any of this as that could be quite embarrassing for him....

Yes, it appears to be Peston. Again.

Generali wrote: »

...Well the Greek banks won't open on Monday. Let's hope the ECB will allow the Greek Government to have access to their reserve cash balances held at the ECB otherwise there are going to be some very hungry, angry Greek people in a week or two.

I think Monday might well be a Bank Holiday in Greece.

lvader

Generali wrote: »

The current UK Government can't make a legally binding anything on a future Government.

They can make it legally binding, that is until a future government changes the law again.

shortchanged_2

Looks like the can has finally had all the s*** kicked out if it.

Froggitt

Generali wrote: »

Let's hope the ECB will allow the Greek Government to have access to their reserve cash balances held at the ECB otherwise there are going to be some very hungry, angry Greek people in a week or two.

They voted for Tsipras. They voted for anti-austerity. Therefore they also voted for the consequences of both of those.

Jason74

Froggitt wrote: »

They voted for Tsipras. They voted for anti-austerity. Therefore they also voted for the consequences of both of those.

True as far as it goes. But in truth the choice of continuing with things as they were or voting in Tsipras was rather like the choice of being hung or shot. Of course, previous Greek Governments have to take their share of the blame for that situation, but so do the creditors. The lack of acceptance of any responsibility for this mess from the IMF and Germany in particular is breathtaking. And lets not forget. if things get much worse for Greece, the political beneficiary isn't likely to be more moderate parties. It will probably be Golden Dawn. The Germans of all people should understand what happens when people are left to feel that they truly have nothing to lose.


Personally, I wish the Greek people well in coping with an almost impossible situation in the coming Months. And hopefully Karma will catch up with the people leading the institutions who caused this mess (both in Greece and externally) in due course.

wymondham

shortchanged wrote: »

Looks like the can has finally had all the s*** kicked out if it.

I honestly don't believe it. I'm sure an 11th hour 59 minutes temporary emergency only to be repeated once deal will occur which will make this last longer.......... I can't bring myself to accept that this problem may actually about to be 'resolved' !!

[Deleted User]

We are just back from a fortnight in Crete - missing the place already.

I don't know how much of the following is accurare, but one Greek woman I spoke to in a bar (Mrs Wild Rover was there too!) summed up the latest "offer" in this way - the Greek economy does well in tourism - eating out, hotels etc and in goods like cheese, wine and olive oil. As she understood it, these were some of the areas that the Euro financiers want to raise taxes on as well as cutting pensions. Proposals by the Greek government to place higher taxes on the wealthy and on businesses were rejected. (As I said, I don't know how accurate that is, that was her summary.)

She had the feeling that the wealthier Greeks are the ones who have benefitted from their counrty's "excesses", yet they, in the opinion of that lady, were being exempted from shouldering the burden and that taxes on successful areas like, or linked to, tourism are to be increased instead.

I offer no commentary on that, as I can't claim to be an expert on the Greek economy. As a holidaymaker however, I can't see how hiking up the costs to holidaymakers of being there is going to help the Greek economy. The more holidaymakers who go there the better - unless, perhaps, they are German, who don't seem to be particularly popular............. :cool: - perhaps tourists from the Eurozone countries should be encouraged to go to Greece to help them out!

On an afternoon trip to Heraklion, goods in the markets seem already very cheap - you might think that's fine, but effectively the traders are having to undercut rivals to make any sales - 2 lovely adult leather belts for 6 euros. Hitting tourism will make things progressively worse - less and less return for the "workers". When I gave a taxi driver a 5 euro tip he was so grateful you'd have thought that I had just saved his life.

We were talking to another lady who worked in tourism - who spoke fluent English, French, German and Russian (we know because we heard her) who was holding back the tears because she had just heard that her husband had lost his job.

I think it's a bit sad that some on these boards seem to be adopting a "Hell mend 'em" approach to Greece, because as usual it is the poor, the old and the workers who take the hit. A "Country" is not suffering - its "People" are.

WR

antrobus

shortchanged wrote: »

Looks like the can has finally had all the s*** kicked out if it.

It depends.:)

As I understand it, the 5th July referendum will technically ask the Greeks whether or not they accept or decline the proposals put forward by the troika on the 25th June. Of course, in reality they will be asked whether or not they want to keep the Euro.

Given that two recent opinion polls suggest that a majority of Greeks want to stay in the Euro, there remains a possibility that they will choose the 'accept' option. At which point some Greek government is going to have to go back to Brussels and say 'Oh, all right then' and sign on the dotted line.

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_28/06/2015_551607