Greece...

antrobus

worldtraveller wrote: »

Athens will patiently wait until its creditors become realistic, Greece's premier said on Monday.

"We will wait patiently until the institutions become more realistic," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras wrote in the "Ephimarida ton Syndakton" daily.

AFP

Unfortunately for Tsipras, he does not have the time to be 'patient'. The Greek government has already run out of money, and the Greek banking system is on a countdown to armageddon. Some point soon, he is actually going to have to make a decision.:)

wotsthat

I'm going to my mortgage lenders local branch will wait patiently until they write off my mortgage and extend my overdraft. I've got all day.

michaels

After the Germans send in the bailiffs and are flogging off assets on the cheap, which bit will you buy? I have always fancied Lesbos.

50Twuncle

From 14 years ago...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1095783.stm
Say no more !!

wymondham

antrobus wrote: »

Unfortunately for Tsipras, he does not have the time to be 'patient'. The Greek government has already run out of money, and the Greek banking system is on a countdown to armageddon. Some point soon, he is actually going to have to make a decision.:)

Does he have to make a decision? Seems there is no actual timescale whereby something has to happen or consequences occur.... just can kicking in the extreme!

michaels

wymondham wrote: »

Does he have to make a decision? Seems there is no actual timescale whereby something has to happen or consequences occur.... just can kicking in the extreme!

No idea but I imagine failing to pay the EU or IMF mioney owing would put Greek debt 'into default' at which point the ECB would probably no longer be able to support Greek banks (currently when people withdraw EUR from a Greek bank and deposit them in another bank the ECB provides EUR to the Greek banks in return for suitable assets, if Greek is in default then the Greek banks won't be able to provide suitable assets). Thuis the Greek banks will no longer be able to support withdrawals. Similarly the Greek govt will not have any money to pay its bills (like pensions) assuming it is not running a primary surplus and under EUR rules they can't just print more to pay the bills.

princeofpounds

Does he have to make a decision? Seems there is no actual timescale whereby something has to happen or consequences occur.... just can kicking in the extreme!

Yes. The various 'deadlines' we have had so far have been for occasional payments of interest, small payments of principal, and of course pay and pensions at the end of every month.


These are actually small sums of money, and the government has scraped the barrel to find the cash to pay them each time, despite protesting it can't.


The irony is that despite the economic pullback - with consequent lower tax revenues than expected - Syriza have actually maintained a fairly balanced primary budget (i.e. excluding interest payments). They have done this by cutting back severely on expenditures (and not paying in cash what they have spent) which are also running well below projections so far this year.


Kind of strange behaviour for a political party supposedly devoted to public redistribution of wealth. It has given them two months more grandstanding but I'm not quite sure whether it has benefitted the Greek people.


The large principal maturities only come up right at end of June and run into Jul/Aug. I forget the exact dates, but these are the real deadlines.


The bailout extension that is being negotiated right now is basically a deal to refinance those large maturities (and kick the big can down the road instead of the numerous small cans that have actually been kicked so far)

Thrugelmir

wymondham wrote: »

Does he have to make a decision? Seems there is no actual timescale whereby something has to happen or consequences occur.... just can kicking in the extreme!

There's been no outcome as the compromise is political. To function fully, the EU has to align itself as one. If people wish to pick and choose the bits they wish to accept. It'll never work.

[Deleted User]

Thrugelmir wrote: »

To function fully, the EU has to align itself as one. If people wish to pick and choose the bits they wish to accept. It'll never work.

This is not what David Cameron thinks.

wellused

The Germans and French thought that when they started allowing countries like Greece to enter the Eurozone though didn't they.