ATHENS – New Democracy head Antonis Samaras, whose party finished first in the May 6 general elections but with less than 19 percent of the vote, said after less than a day of trying that he can’t form a coalition, setting off new jitters that Greece won’t be able to create a new government and [...]
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Greek Elections Campaign Reaches Home Stretch With Promises Flying
ATHENS – After a three-week campaign that was mostly conducted in closed-doors members-only rallies and away from a public furious over austerity measures, a mix of mainstream traditionalists, anti-capitalists, anti-bailout groups, Nazis, nationalists and even a porno star made last-minute appeals to a disenfranchised and disaffected electorate in what promises to give the country the [...]
Greek Banks Could Nix Loans to Ship Owners
ATHENS – Greece’s shipping industry, which pays no income taxes to its homeland, may find it difficult to get more financing from Greek banks because of the economic crisis that has created a deep recession and has threatened to push Greece out of the Eurozone, a research report has indicated. The problem could be especially [...]
20.2 bln Euros of Foreign Law, SOE Bonds to be Included in Swap Deal
Greece said Thursday a further EUR20.2 billion of Greek government bonds will be swapped over as part of its debt restructuring plan and that a deadline to the second leg of the agreement has been extended to April 20. According to Dow Jones, in a statement, Greece΄s Finance Ministry said that it will complete on [...]
Warnings that Greece May Have to Restructure Again
Despite two bailouts totaling $325 billion, a $134 billion write-down in debt, crushing pay cuts, tax hikes, slashed pensions, the coming firing of 150,000 workers, reducing the minimum wage 22-32 percent, phasing out collective bargaining rights for workers and the onset of deep pay cuts in the private sector as well, Greece may still have [...]
Finance Ministry Extends Deadline for Swap of Foreign Law Bonds to April 4
Greece Friday extended to April 4 a deadline for its creditors to swap 8.1 billion euros in debt as part of a historic bond exchange which has already erased nearly a third of its debt mountain. Holders of Greek debt issued under foreign law had until 2000 GMT to join the so-called Private Sector Involvement [...]
Samaras, Venizelos Start Election Campaign Early
ATHENS – The date of the general election to choose a new Prime Minister will be announced next week, government officials said, but new PASOK Socialist party leader Evangelos Venizelos and his bitter rival New Democracy Conservative leader Antonis Samaras have already started jockeying for the position, even as polls show both major parties have [...]
Bakoyianni Says Greece Betrayed Small Investors
ATHENS – A deal for Greece to reduce its debt by $134 billion by imposing big losses on those holding the country’s bonds may have helped keep the economy upright for now, but has devastated small investors, Democratic Alliance chief Dora Bakoyanni said, and she blamed the hybrid government of PASOK Socialists, and the Conservative [...]
Fitch Upgrades Greece to ΄B-΄
Fitch Ratings upgraded Greece’s long-term sovereign credit rating from ‘Restricted Default’ to B-, the lowest level before highly speculative territory, after the Hellenic country completed the private sector involvement (PSI) debt swap. The ratings agency notes a successful debt restructuring could put upward pressure on Greece’s ratings and that the country’s debt/GDP ratio could gradually [...]
EU Says Greece Needs Still More Austerity
ATHENS – The era of austerity will have to continue in Greece, a European Commission report has said, adding that the new government after upcoming elections will have to make further cuts in spending in 2013-14 of 5.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, or as much as $16.5 billion to meet targets agreed upon [...]
Greeks & Diaspora Bond Holders Will Take Big Losses Too
ATHENS – Greeks and those in the Diaspora who bought Greek bonds to support Greece during its economic crisis will not be exempt from an agreement the government made with private investors to write down the country’s debt and will suffer big losses too, the head of the Eurozone, Jean-Claude Juncker said. “There can be [...]
Samaras Tells Greeks: Give Me a Majority, No Coalition
ATHENS – New Democracy Conservative leader Antonis Samaras, confident his party will prevail in upcoming elections, has urged Greeks to give him a mandate so that he doesn’t have to form a coalition government with his bitter rival PASOK Socialists. The parties now are part of a shaky hybrid administration being overseen by caretaker Prime [...]
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05 / 24 EU Leaders Tell Greek Voters to Make “The Right Choice”
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05 / 23 A Crisis of Democracy: Greece
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05 / 23 Fearing Eurozone Exit, More Greeks Stop Paying Taxes
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05 / 23 Market Watch: ‘If Greece Exits Eurozone, Replace It With Turkey’
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05 / 23 Pilot Program Allows Immediate Visa for Turkish Tourists on Arrival to Greek Islands
Calendar – Exhibits, Concerts, Fun
- Thessaloniki: 50 Year Anniversary Commemorated of Seferis Literature Nobel Prize May 23, 2012
- ‘Doctors of the World’ International Conference to be Held in Greece May 22, 2012
- Crete is a Mediterranean ‘Treasure’ of Aromatic Plants and Herbs May 22, 2012
- Crete to Export Products to Australia May 21, 2012
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