Greeks split over bailout deal

Eurozone leaders made Greece surrender much of its sovereignty to outside supervision on Monday in return for agreeing to talks on an 86 billion euro ($94.8 billion) bailout to keep the near-bankrupt country in the single currency.

Greece to present aid deal proposal at eurozone summit

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have agreed that Athens will present a fresh Greek proposal for an aid deal with creditors at an emergency eurozone summit in Brussels on Tuesday, according to two Greek government sources.

IMF breaks off negotiations with Greece over debt deal. Bundesbank president warns over rising insolvency risk

The International Monetary Fund has dramatically raised the stakes in Greece's stalled debt talks, announcing that its delegation had broken off negotiations in Brussels and flown home because of major differences with Athens.

Greece warned against trying to reverse bailout deals

The head of the Eurogroup warned on Friday that Greece could not ignore its international obligations, after a first meeting with the new anti-austerity government that wants to renegotiate its multi-billion-euro bailout...

Greek PM Tsipras pledges radical change, markets tumble

Leftwing Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras threw down an open challenge to international creditors today by halting privatisation plans agreed under the country's bailout deal, prompting a third day of heavy losses on financial markets...

Banking union made easy: a five-minute guide to the EU's new rules

A banking union is being set up by the EU to help keep Europe's financial system stable and prevent another crisis from taking place. It requires finding a fast and efficient way to deal with failing banks while ensuring that taxpayers are spared from paying for bankers' mistakes. As MEPs prepare to vote on 15 April on an agreement with the Council on how to deal with failing banks, we take a closer look at the issues involved. Read on for an overview of how banking in Europe is about to change.

EU is aware that Ukrainian economy is in really terrible shape. - analyst

The European Commission has proposed another 1 billion euro for Kiev, which will come as a part of the 11 billion euro package agreed earlier in March. A rapidly worsening balance-of-payments and weak fiscal situation in the wake of the latest developments in Ukraine pushed the EU to consider a new perk. The Voice of Russia talked to Lilit Gevorgyan is a Russia/CIS country analyst with IHS Global Insight and Jane's Information Group.

How can this financial aid change the situation in Ukraine? In your opinion, will it somehow help to stabilize the country’s economy?

Kiev has no money to pay off debts, financial crisis to follow - Ukraine's ex-minister

Ukraine’s new government is saying that it would try to do its best to stabilize the situation in the country. We have got in touch with Victor Suslov, once Ukraine’s Minister of Economy and now Ukraine’s representative in the Eurasian Economic Commission.
Ukraine’s new Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk says that now, Ukrainians would have to toughly economize for some time. Meanwhile, the head of Ukraine’s National Bank Stepan Kubiv has said that Ukraine has enough money to pay back its foreign debts.

Cyprus to face savage cuts and economic dictatorship....

By Jordan Shilton and Chris Marsden(wsws.org)
23 March 2013

Cyprus’ fate illustrates how the European Union imposes the dictatorship of the global speculators, banks and corporations on the working class. The EU yesterday continued to demand massive austerity in Cyprus to raise €6 billion ($7.8 billion) in return for a €10 billion bank bailout.
The island country has been the centre of an escalating financial crisis, with its parliament voting Wednesday to reject proposals to raise the necessary funds by taking money from anyone with deposits in Cypriot banks. 

A new vote on whether to impose a “haircut” on depositors was delayed until today. The EU and European Central Bank (ECB) dismissed proposals by Cypriot politicians—themselves wholly reactionary—to create a “solidarity fund” to raise the six billion demanded.

Was the euro ever "about to collapse"?

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Less than six months ago, eurozone watchers had been predicting the breakup of the 17-member bloc of nations as the euro plunged to a 25-month low against the U.S. dollar last July.

Even as recently as November, Warren Buffett, the famed CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said of the eurozone's future that "it's hard to tell exactly how it comes out."

But since then, the euro has appreciated nearly 11% as its member countries battled to contain sovereign debt crises, rising unemployment and social unrest. The euro now stands at a 13-month high against the greenback.

Mere cash injection may not be enough

By Dimitris Kontogiannis
The Greek government has invested a lot in the long-awaited bailout tranches to cope with the developing credit crunch and bring the economy to the stabilization phase late next year. However, a closer look at the figures indicates the positive impact may be less than hoped for, and therefore the risk of disappointment on the back of fostering high expectations should not be ignored or underestimated.

Leading Greek banks in the doldrums and need over $17bn to recapitalize

The two largest banks in crisis-stricken Greece need a total of €13bn ($17.2bn) to recapitalize, as they took huge losses in the country’s debt restructuring.
Greece’s second largest bank by assets, Eurobank, needs €5.8bn, with the fourth largest lender Piraeus Bank being short of €7.3bn, according to the Wall Street Journal. In the first 9 months of the year the two banks reported combined losses of €1.7bn, with a huge part of that due the banks’ participation in the country’s debt restructuring programme.
The four biggest banks in Greece were left technically insolvent, after they joined the €200bn debt restructuring programme. It left them dependent on extremely expensive loans from euro zone member states and the International Monetary Fund.

The geopolitical fallout of a Greek euro exit

By Tom Ellis & Achilleas Patsoukas
Geece’s debt crisis has captured international headlines over the past couple of years. Virtually all analysts have focused on Greece’s deficit and mammoth debt, which pose a threat to the entire European economy.