By Manos Giakoumis at MacroPolis | Following the European Central Bank’s governing council meeting on Thursday, Mario Draghi provided more detail about issues relating to the eligibility of Greek government bonds (GGBs) for the Quantitative Easing (QE) programme and reinstating the waiver on Greek government securities for ECB funding.
MADRID | July 20, 2015 | By JP Marín Arrese | Emergency loans to ensure Greece pays back its sovereign commitments in the coming weeks might fail to save it from the dire financial collapse it faces.
July 10, 2015 | By Patrice Gautry (UBP) | With the Greeks returning a “No” vote in Sunday’s referendum, the country has moved one step closer towards leaving the eurozone, or “Grexit”. However, Grexit is not automatic and many scenarios may develop, depending on the ECB’s attitude and political developments during the upcoming negotiations
The Corner | July 6, 2015 | As the ECB decides whether to continue providing emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to Greece this morning, former governing council member José Manuel González-Páramo finds it hard to believe the aid will be increased. A Grexit “is unlikely to happen,” he said on Spanish radio Onda Cero.
LONDON | June 30, 2015 | By Sigrún Davídsdóttir | Now that Greece has controls on outflow from banks, capital controls, many commentators are comparing Greece to Iceland. There is little comparison to be made between the nature of capital controls in these two countries. The controls are different in every respect except in the name. Iceland had, what I would call, real capital controls – Greece has control on outflow from banks. With the names changed, the difference is clear.
LONDON | June 30, 2015 | BNP | On Tuesday the bailout programme expires and Greece is due to make a payment of EUR1.5bn to the IMF. Both important events. However given that the ECB has already capped the ELA ceiling, we don’t expect any further significant measures against the banks.
LONDON | June 26, 2015 | Barclays | The lack of an interim deal between Greece and its creditors signals that the two sides remain divided despite being closer than they have been. Crucially, Greece agrees on pension savings worth 1% of GDP but it plans to get there mainly via higher contributions, while creditors prefer phasing out top-up pension payments and aggressively cutting early retirement.
BRUSSELS | June 23, 2015 | By Alexandre Mato | Tax hikes and pension system cuts were the main measures offered by Athens to European Institutions and the IMF in order to reach an agreement over the second rescue programme. The €8 billion in savings and new revenues over the next two years were described as important or broad steps. But the proposals are bittersweet.
LONDON | June 15, 2015 | Barclays | The banking system has lost nearly 23% of its deposits since November 2014.
ATHENS | May 16, 2015 | By Manos Giakoumis via MacroPolis | Since December, the Greek banking system has been suffering from extended deposit outflows, which reached 26.8 billion euros at the end of March. Almost 90 percent of these withdrawals stemmed from time deposits, while only around 600 million euros was taken from savings accounts.