Thoughts from Brussels on the euro crisis

I have been prodded – both by being on a radio panel discussion today and by the awesome Catie – to assemble some thoughts on the euro crisis and what it means for both parts of Ireland. There is a certain air of pessimism at present, driven largely by recent pieces in the Financial Times and the Economist predicting that the end is nigh and that the single currency is on the verge of breaking up. I must say that …

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Euro crisis: “Ireland sees the same information from the troika about Greece”

The answer to John’s title question is, again, NO!  As the respective spokesmen for European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, and the German finance ministry explain in this Irish Times report “On behalf of the commission, the leaks are regrettable,” said Amadeu Altafaj Tardio. “We insist that this is a draft and that we have a legal obligation to share the information that we receive from the authorities in Dublin with the member states. This is actually our …

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Euro crisis: Back from the brink?

Well, perhaps…  Eurozone leaders emerged from their emergency summit yesterday offering a new €109billion bail-out for Greece with twice as long to pay it back [30 years] at a lower interest rate than before.  It’s a “restricted default event”, according to ratings agency Fitch.  The draft agreement in full is here [pdf file]. Ireland and Portugal get an interest rate cut too – Karl Whelan’s busy at Irish Economy calculating what it means for Ireland.  But the private sector involvement in Greece …

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Eastern promises

It would appear that our Asian friends have confidence (and an interest) in the survival of the European project. Japan and China will help fund the European Financial Stability Fund that will be used to bailout European banks,  sorry,  I mean Ireland. With Japan pledging to buy 20% or more of the bonds that will be sold later this month. From Bloomberg – There is a plan for the euro zone to jointly issue a large amount of bonds late …

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Europe gets serious. May double the EFSF, may burn bank senior bond holders

The Wall Street Journal are speculating that the size of the EFSF may double to almost €1trn, if German opposition can be overcome. This is an effort to assure markets that Europe can bail out Spain if neccessary. Doubling the EFSF’s capacity to €880 billion would remove any doubt about whether the facility has enough firepower to prop up Spain’s government. Such an expansion would require a bigger financial commitment from Germany, where many lawmakers and voters are skeptical about …

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Reuters: “Talks are ongoing and European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) money will be used”

Despite the apparent ‘good news’ yesterday, it appears the pessimists may be right after all.  The BBC picks up on a Reuters report quoting “euro zone” sources Euro zone sources told Reuters that aid discussions were under way, however. One official said it was “very likely” that Ireland would get financial assistance from the EU facility set up after Greece obtained a 110 billion euro bailout in May. “Talks are ongoing and European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) money will be …

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