MADRID | By JP Marín Arrese | With the request for a six-month extension of the current bailout being flatly rebuffed by the German Finance Minister, hopes for a compromise at the Eurogroup meeting today are dwindling. Even if talks collapse, keeping Greece afloat lies almost entirely in Mario Draghi’s hands.
MADRID | Sean Duffy | Today´s meeting of the Eurogroup brings Finance Ministers Varoufakis and Scauble head-to-head. Germany are unimpressed with Greek proposals,meaning that the Greeks face the prospect of being cut off from extra bailout funding.
ATHENS | By Marios Zachariadis via MacroPolis | While capital controls might be an appropriate intermediate solution for Greece as argued by Professor Sinn in his recent Financial Times note, Professor Sinn misses or misrepresents the picture on a number of counts.
MADRID | Sean Duffy | ECB tightens the squeeze on Syriza government ahead of today´s proposals from the Greek Goverment for a loan extension.
MADRID | The Corner | Markets seem optimistic about the deal between Greece and its creditors (a government spokesman said they aim to reach a compromise today), although analysts are still wondering whether there have been any advances in the negotiation. “At least the ECB decided to a slight increase in emergency funding (ELA) for Greek banks on Wednesday,” a Barclays’ Alberto Vigil said. “But we still don’t know which reforms the Greeks have agreed on.” The ECB had already raised the ELA available to Greek banks by 5 billion euros to about 65 billion seven days ago.
MADRID | The Corner | Spanish exports continue to grow, posting an annual rise of 2.5% in 2014, according to figures released on Wednesday, exceeding €240 billion for the first time. The country’s trade deficit currently stands at €24.5 billion, with imports rising by 8.3% year-on-year, leading to a 53.4% rise in the commercial deficit.
MADRID | By Ana Fuentes | The ECB will be the main actor in the Greek crisis today. The Governing Council of the Frankfurt-based institution is meeting not to discuss monetary policy but to decide whether it maintains the emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to Greek banks, which is crucial so the country can stay in the euro club –something that, in spite of propaganda and short sellers, both Athens and Berlin desire.
MADRID | By Sean Duffy | The Greek Government is expected to apply for a bailout extension today, but it remains to be seen on whether or not Tsipras has been flexible enough to mollify the concerns of EU politicians.
LONDON | By Sigrún Davídsdóttir | Why do the inhabitants of an EU country prefer to keep cash amounting to ca. 6% of GDP hidden at home? Badly burnt after the banking collapse in March 2013 Cypriots neither trust their government nor banks to keep their money safe.
BRUSSELS | By Alexandre Mato | Greek authorities again rejected a Eurogroup statement regarding the extension of its bailout programme. Brussels wants a continuation of the second bailout, but the Syriza goverment wants a 4-month bridge with new rules to be applied. The gulf between both sides has emerged as bigger than initially thought.