Greece, collapses the Athens Stock Exchange after the postponement of the IMF – BBC

CRISIS AND THE NEGOTIATIONS

Milan , June 5, 2015 – 11:07

     
     
 

Deep Red for the Athens Stock Exchange after Greece has decided to postpone the June 30 the payment of loans to the IMF due today (300 million euro) and those of the next few days, in an attempt to buy time to find an agreement with its international creditors on the reforms to be implemented in the country in exchange for aid tranche 7.2 billion euro. The decision shows how precarious are the financial conditions of Greece and the firm are still negotiations. At the end of the month Greece needs the IMF 1.6 billion euro. And so the Athens Stock Exchange rained sales: the FTSE Athex yields over 3% to 240 points. Sales also on Greek government bonds, especially on short maturities. The biennial greek secondary market makes nearly 25%, over 150 basis points higher than the yesterday’s session, while the rate of ten years is 11% (+40 basis points).

The choice to refer to a single date in late June all payments due to the IMF has been criticized harshly by the governor of the Central Bank of Greece, the former Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras. As reported today by the Athenian press, the governor has asked the government to avoid such a move because, in his opinion, it will damage the country’s image and may have “unpleasant consequences”. “We are putting Greece at the same level of Zambia,” he said referring to Stournaras African country that in the Eighties accumulated repayments to the IMF.

Meanwhile, the government Tsipras would have a plan to cut Greece’s debt bringing below 60% of GDP by 2030: the 27 billion exposure to the ECB would be reimbursed by the European rescue fund ESM, while the debt of 144 billion to the fund EFSF would be “essentially” halved. Writes the Financial Times, reporting a seven-page document that goes into detail of the debt restructuring program which the 47 pages presented to creditors by Tsipras mentions vaguely. The standoff with creditors EU-ECB-IMF continues: the BBC Economy Minister of Greece, George Stathakis said that “the greek government can not accept the new proposals put on the table” by creditors, asking in Athens reforms and new more stringent measures on the economy.

Today at 12 there is a telephone conversation between Tsipras and Russian President Putin with regard to energy cooperation but it is possible that there is talk also of financial support to Athens. Despite the denials of Athens, Russia has been repeatedly mentioned as a possible alternative source of financing for Greece, in the absence of agreement with the EU and IMF.

next Tuesday instead of the greek Minister of Finance, Yannis Varoufakis and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble should meet in Berlin. It is learned from sources in the German government. Varoufakis will be next Monday in Berlin, sources said, sottolinenado that there was a request from Athens for a meeting with the German Minister. But Schaeuble Monday is not in the German capital for previous commitments and this is probably the face-off will take place on Tuesday morning.

June 5, 2015 | 11:07

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