Showing posts with label athens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label athens. Show all posts
August 20, 2016
August 19, 2016
September 25, 2012
One third of Athens' Businesses Shuttered
Greek unemployment surged by 1% in one month to 24.4%, and by the end of the year is likely to be nearly 30%. What this means in practical tax revenue terms (if the tax collectors were actually doing their job collecting taxes, instead of striking) is that there is nobody generating any economic products and services, and thus no state revenues.
Kathimerini confirmed in a report that almost a third of all business in Athens have now shuttered: "The number of shuttered shops on the capital's busiest commercial streets, Panepistimiou and Stadiou, also hit a record high in August, reaching 34.7 percent on Panepistimiou and 42 percent on Akadimias, up 14 percent in the last six months."
More:
Greece's deep recession has forced almost a third of businesses in the capital's commercial district to close down as shrinking incomes and frequent strikes drive Athenians away.
Tens of thousands of small businesses, which make up a big chunk of the struggling economy, have shut since Greece secured a 110-billion-euro bailout package in 2010 in exchange for promises of painful austerity measures.
On the capital's cobbled pedestrian shopping streets, long lines of shops are boarded shut while others have «Everything must go» signs plastered across their windows. Some arcades, once bustling with activity, are empty and enclosed by derelict buildings.
In the city's «commercial triangle», where generations of merchants had run successful businesses a stone's throw from the central Syntagma Square, an August census by retail lobby group ESEE found 31 percent of shops had closed.
"There are no signs that this percentage will fall and this is very worrying,» said ESEE head Vassilis Korkidis, estimating that about 63,000 Greek businesses were at risk of closing down within the next year.
March 11, 2012
Youth Unemployment in Europe skyrocketing
Greek
youth unemployment is now officially the second one in Europe just after Spain to
surpass 50%.
And the decline is still ongoing following another downward revision to its GDP last week, which brought Q4 GDP from -7.0% to -7.5%. Unfortunately this seems to be only the beginning, a terminal collapse of not just the Greek financial sector, but its society as well, has commenced, as the number of people unemployed in the 11 million person country is now 41% greater than its was a year ago.
From Athens News:
And the decline is still ongoing following another downward revision to its GDP last week, which brought Q4 GDP from -7.0% to -7.5%. Unfortunately this seems to be only the beginning, a terminal collapse of not just the Greek financial sector, but its society as well, has commenced, as the number of people unemployed in the 11 million person country is now 41% greater than its was a year ago.
From Athens News:
The average unemployment rate for 2011 jumped to 17.3 percent from 12.5 percent in the previous year, according to the figures, which are not adjusted for seasonal factors.
Youth were particularly hit. For the first time on record, more people between 15-24 years were without a job than with one. Unemployment in that age group rose to 51.1 percent, twice as high as three years ago.
Budget cuts imposed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund as a condition for dealing with the country's debt problems have caused a wave of corporate closures and bankruptcies.
Greece's economy is estimated to have shrunk by a about a fifth since 2008, when it plunged into its deepest and longest post-war recession. About 600,000 jobs, more than one in ten, have been destroyed in the process.
Things will get worse before they get better, according to analysts. "Despite some emergency government measures to boost employment in early 2012, it is hard to see how the upward unemployment trend can be stabilised in the first half of the year," said Nikos Magginas, an economist at National Bank of Greece.
A record 1,033,507 people were without work in December, 41 percent more than in the same month last year. The number of people in work dropped to a record low of 3,899,319, down 7.9 percent year-on-year.
November 1, 2011
Chaos and Anarchy in Athens
The situation is rapidly degenerating in Greece, in just one day after the surprise announcement of Papandreou indicting a a referendum on the EU bailout we have the following news:
One of Papandreou MPs has left the party and therefore is putting the Government vote of confidence on Friday at risk; voices are spreading of another possible defection bringing Papandreou's Party to a very thin majority.
Venizelos the Finance Minister was hospitalized it seems he found out by the media that Papandreou asked for a referendum, it appears the Greek Prime Minister kept his decision a secret from everyone even his Finance Minister.
The Health Minister has opposed the referendum saying it won't take place in contrast with his Prime Minister.
Papandreou has reshuffled the Army command appointing a new general as the new Chief Commander.
All this sound as full total chaos ready to be unleashed on the nation and the change in the army command could indicate anarchy and military mobilization ready to hit Athens' streets.
And to understand what we canexpect from today's High Stake Greek Gamble read the following From Zero Hedge:
The decision by Greek PM Papandreou to call for a referendum on the latest Greek bailout deal shows that Greece is becoming ungovernable. The PASOK leader made this decision because riots in the streets, increasing refusal by civil servants to implement the austerity measures and the likely loss of his majority in parliament made the survival of the government unlikely within weeks or months.
So Papandreou has gone for broke. He hopes that by winning a vote on the bailout plan he can shut up the opposition both in parliament and on the streets. But this high-risk strategy threatens to bring the whole house of Euro cards down.
At best, we face two months of uncertainty before the vote. The Greek parliament must approve the call for a referendum and the President must agree. And then it depends on how the referendum question is worded. If it is ‘do you want to accept the latest bail out plan’ then the answer will be a resounding no. If they word it so it says ‘do you wish to remain in the Euro zone’ then the answer will be a resounding yes.
At worst, Greece may not even make it to mid- January before there is a disorderly default. Parliament could defeat a vote of confidence in the government on Friday and Greece would be plunged into elections, with the opposition likely to win on a programme of ‘renegotiating’ the bailout plan so tortuously agreed with the Euro leaders.
Also the latest tranche of official funding from the EU and the IMF under the old Greek bailout plan could be frozen if the government falls. Under IMF rules, it cannot disburse a tranche if there is no government. The EU would have to step up to the plate and provide all the funding until the election or referendum is over. Without this money, Greece would be bankrupt.
And just imagine if Greece heads into two months of a referendum campaign with riots and demonstrations in the streets. A run on Greek banks — Argentina-style — would become very likely. It’s true that the rich and many corporations have already moved their euros abroad, but the populace at large would soon be running to get their euros under mattresses fast if they thought that Greece was set to default and leave the euro.
The Greek public debt ratio may be heading towards 180% of GDP next year without the bailout plan, but if Greece leaves the Eurozone with a no-vote in the referendum, a New Drachma devalued by 50% or more would double that debt ratio.
The optimistic scenario is that the Greek parliament backs the government and a referendum campaign is conducted on ‘staying in the euro’, which is won. The Eurozone and the IMF continue to finance the Greeks over the next two months before the new bailout package takes over. The 50% haircut for the banks on their holdings of Greek debt goes through with over 90% involvement; the banks receive funds to recapitalise; and the EFSF is enhanced with new firepower to inoculate Portugal, Spain and Italy from the Greek nightmare. And the G20 meeting comes through with new measures of funding to help Europe.
The more you think about, the less likely that sounds. More likely, the uncertainty will undermine the efficacy of enhancing the EFSF through adequate funding from a Special Purpose Vehicle. It will increase contagion for Italy and Spain, increasing the cost of ring-fencing. And a disorderly default would trigger losses for the ECB itself on its holdings of Greek debt.
One of Papandreou MPs has left the party and therefore is putting the Government vote of confidence on Friday at risk; voices are spreading of another possible defection bringing Papandreou's Party to a very thin majority.
Venizelos the Finance Minister was hospitalized it seems he found out by the media that Papandreou asked for a referendum, it appears the Greek Prime Minister kept his decision a secret from everyone even his Finance Minister.
The Health Minister has opposed the referendum saying it won't take place in contrast with his Prime Minister.
Papandreou has reshuffled the Army command appointing a new general as the new Chief Commander.
All this sound as full total chaos ready to be unleashed on the nation and the change in the army command could indicate anarchy and military mobilization ready to hit Athens' streets.
And to understand what we canexpect from today's High Stake Greek Gamble read the following From Zero Hedge:
The decision by Greek PM Papandreou to call for a referendum on the latest Greek bailout deal shows that Greece is becoming ungovernable. The PASOK leader made this decision because riots in the streets, increasing refusal by civil servants to implement the austerity measures and the likely loss of his majority in parliament made the survival of the government unlikely within weeks or months.
So Papandreou has gone for broke. He hopes that by winning a vote on the bailout plan he can shut up the opposition both in parliament and on the streets. But this high-risk strategy threatens to bring the whole house of Euro cards down.
At best, we face two months of uncertainty before the vote. The Greek parliament must approve the call for a referendum and the President must agree. And then it depends on how the referendum question is worded. If it is ‘do you want to accept the latest bail out plan’ then the answer will be a resounding no. If they word it so it says ‘do you wish to remain in the Euro zone’ then the answer will be a resounding yes.
At worst, Greece may not even make it to mid- January before there is a disorderly default. Parliament could defeat a vote of confidence in the government on Friday and Greece would be plunged into elections, with the opposition likely to win on a programme of ‘renegotiating’ the bailout plan so tortuously agreed with the Euro leaders.
Also the latest tranche of official funding from the EU and the IMF under the old Greek bailout plan could be frozen if the government falls. Under IMF rules, it cannot disburse a tranche if there is no government. The EU would have to step up to the plate and provide all the funding until the election or referendum is over. Without this money, Greece would be bankrupt.
And just imagine if Greece heads into two months of a referendum campaign with riots and demonstrations in the streets. A run on Greek banks — Argentina-style — would become very likely. It’s true that the rich and many corporations have already moved their euros abroad, but the populace at large would soon be running to get their euros under mattresses fast if they thought that Greece was set to default and leave the euro.
The Greek public debt ratio may be heading towards 180% of GDP next year without the bailout plan, but if Greece leaves the Eurozone with a no-vote in the referendum, a New Drachma devalued by 50% or more would double that debt ratio.
The optimistic scenario is that the Greek parliament backs the government and a referendum campaign is conducted on ‘staying in the euro’, which is won. The Eurozone and the IMF continue to finance the Greeks over the next two months before the new bailout package takes over. The 50% haircut for the banks on their holdings of Greek debt goes through with over 90% involvement; the banks receive funds to recapitalise; and the EFSF is enhanced with new firepower to inoculate Portugal, Spain and Italy from the Greek nightmare. And the G20 meeting comes through with new measures of funding to help Europe.
The more you think about, the less likely that sounds. More likely, the uncertainty will undermine the efficacy of enhancing the EFSF through adequate funding from a Special Purpose Vehicle. It will increase contagion for Italy and Spain, increasing the cost of ring-fencing. And a disorderly default would trigger losses for the ECB itself on its holdings of Greek debt.
October 6, 2011
July 3, 2011
Greece sovereignty massively limited by EU following bailout
The 5th bailout tranche to Greece, has now been approved.
From Reuters:
"Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Saturday to disburse a further 12 billion euros to Greece and said the details of a second aid package for Athens would be finalised by mid-September. After a conference call, the 17 euro zone ministers agreed that the fifth tranche of the 110-billion-euro bailout agreed with Greece in May 2010 would be paid by July 15, as long as the IMF's board signs off on the disbursement. The IMF is expected to meet on July 8 to approve it. The payment will allow Greece to avoid the immediate threat of default, but the country still needs a second rescue package, which is also expected to total around 110 billion euros and which will now likely only be finalised in September. Between now and then, finance ministers will work on the "precise modalities and scale" of the private sector's involvement in the second aid package, which Germany hopes will eventually total around 30 billion euros. Greece said it expected a final decision on a second bailout programme by mid-September to keep the country financed.
The question is how long will the money last, 1-2-3 months at best and then we are back again to square one.
Greece has 18.2 bn in debt payments in August, 12 billion clearly are not enough to cover the shortfall, where will they get the rest?
As if it was not enough 1 hour ago a new warning has been issued by the Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker. He warned Greeks that help from the EU and International Monetary Fund would have unpleasant consequences.
"The sovereignty of Greece will be massively limited," he told Germany's Focus magazine in the interview released on Sunday, adding that teams of experts from around the euro zone would be heading to Athens.
"One cannot be allowed to insult the Greeks. But one has to help them. They have said they are ready to accept expertise from the euro zone," Juncker said.
Juncker also said Greece must privatize on a scale similar to the sell off of East German firms in the 1990s.
"For the forthcoming wave of privatizations they will need, for example, a solution based on a model of Germany's 'Treuhand agency'," Juncker said, referring to the privatization agency that sold off 14,000 East German firms between 1990 and 1994.
Athens must sell off 5 billion euros in state assets this year alone or risk missing targets set under its EU/IMF program, which could cut off its funding needed to keep the government running and avoid a debt default.
"The current package of measures, which Athens has agreed to, will bring a solution to the Greek question," said Juncker. However, he added that the Greek tax collection system was "not fully functional."
Financial markets still see an 81 percent chance that Greece will eventually default, and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Der Spiegel in an interview that Berlin was making preparations for such an event -- even though it does not expect it to happen.
From Reuters:
"Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Saturday to disburse a further 12 billion euros to Greece and said the details of a second aid package for Athens would be finalised by mid-September. After a conference call, the 17 euro zone ministers agreed that the fifth tranche of the 110-billion-euro bailout agreed with Greece in May 2010 would be paid by July 15, as long as the IMF's board signs off on the disbursement. The IMF is expected to meet on July 8 to approve it. The payment will allow Greece to avoid the immediate threat of default, but the country still needs a second rescue package, which is also expected to total around 110 billion euros and which will now likely only be finalised in September. Between now and then, finance ministers will work on the "precise modalities and scale" of the private sector's involvement in the second aid package, which Germany hopes will eventually total around 30 billion euros. Greece said it expected a final decision on a second bailout programme by mid-September to keep the country financed.
The question is how long will the money last, 1-2-3 months at best and then we are back again to square one.
Greece has 18.2 bn in debt payments in August, 12 billion clearly are not enough to cover the shortfall, where will they get the rest?
As if it was not enough 1 hour ago a new warning has been issued by the Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker. He warned Greeks that help from the EU and International Monetary Fund would have unpleasant consequences.
"The sovereignty of Greece will be massively limited," he told Germany's Focus magazine in the interview released on Sunday, adding that teams of experts from around the euro zone would be heading to Athens.
"One cannot be allowed to insult the Greeks. But one has to help them. They have said they are ready to accept expertise from the euro zone," Juncker said.
Juncker also said Greece must privatize on a scale similar to the sell off of East German firms in the 1990s.
"For the forthcoming wave of privatizations they will need, for example, a solution based on a model of Germany's 'Treuhand agency'," Juncker said, referring to the privatization agency that sold off 14,000 East German firms between 1990 and 1994.
Athens must sell off 5 billion euros in state assets this year alone or risk missing targets set under its EU/IMF program, which could cut off its funding needed to keep the government running and avoid a debt default.
"The current package of measures, which Athens has agreed to, will bring a solution to the Greek question," said Juncker. However, he added that the Greek tax collection system was "not fully functional."
Financial markets still see an 81 percent chance that Greece will eventually default, and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Der Spiegel in an interview that Berlin was making preparations for such an event -- even though it does not expect it to happen.
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