Franco-German deal reached over Greece's debts

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

France and Germany have reached a deal on a financing plan to help debt-laden Greece, which will include IMF money.

The safety net - not yet agreed by the whole eurozone - would total about 22bn euros (£20bn). It would apply only if market lending to Greece dried up.

Eurozone countries would grant co-ordinated bilateral loans, and there would be "substantial" IMF loans. The "majority" funding would be European.
...
A draft of the plan, seen by the BBC, says the Greek government "has not requested any financial support", so "no decision has been taken to activate" the mechanism yet.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8587847.stm

[Joanne98]

1. Are they still forcing Greece to buy weapons from them?

[pampango]

2. Al Jazeera: European leaders 'back' Greece deal

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/03/2010325201619217658.html

European leaders have agreed to a plan to help debt-stricken Greece out of its financial troubles, a Greek government spokesman has said.

Eurozone countries reached the deal during a meeting in Brussels on Thursday as a means to provide an economic safety net for Greece, should its own cost-cutting measures prove inadequate.

"The plan meets our requirements fully ... we agree," the Reuters news agency quoted George Petalotis, a spokesman for the Greek government, as saying.

"We consider it to be a message of stability and it will have a positive impact on the Greek economy."

Good for Greece and the EU.

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. France, Germany Agree To Involve IMF In Greece Bailout Package

Source: RTT

(RTTNews) -

Germany and France agreed Thursday that any possible financial aid package to Greece to help the EU-member country in tackling its huge deficit will be shared by the the eurozone and International Monetary Fund (IMF), with eurozone shouldering the majority of the burden.

A draft of the agreement reached by the French and German delegations ahead of the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday indicated the deal is based on a European framework of bilateral loans with a provision for IMF involvement.

"As part of a package involving substantial International Monetary Fund financing and a majority of European financing, euro area member states are ready to contribute to co-ordinated bilateral loans," the draft said. The rescue package would be mainly European with non-subsidized interest rates.

Read more: http://www.rttnews.com/Content/MarketSensitiveNews.aspx?Id=1251814&SM=1

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And who will bailout the US, should we come to this? Read recently that what has been happening financially in Greece is close to what is happening in the US.

[Whoa_Nelly]

4. Am surprised

that no one has been posting about this, or did I miss it?

This is the link to the article I read earlier this month:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100310/ap_on_an/us_power_and_debt_analysis
Analysis: Greece's crisis could presage America's

8< snip---------------

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer Tom Raum, Associated Press Writer – Wed Mar 10, 1:46 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Greece is a financial basket case, begging for international help. Is America heading down that same road?

Many of the same risky financial practices that now imperil the Greeks were at the center of the all-too-recent U.S. meltdown.

As with Greece, America's national debt has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past decade, to the point where it threatens to swamp overall economic output. And in the U.S., as in Greece, a large portion of that debt is owed to foreign investors.

Not good, if these debt holders begin to wonder if they'll be paid back. A foreign flight from U.S. Treasury securities could sow financial chaos in the United States, as happened when many investors lost faith in Greek bonds.

more at link


Would like to hear thoughts on this.

[Ghost Dog]

5. Compare not the US to Greece. Compare it, rather, to the Eurozone.

These are two similarly-sized economies. The Eurozone is composed of historically-evolved nation states of which Greece is one. The US (at the federal level) contains states such as California, with debts and deficits just as untenable as Greece's. Should California dump the dollar and float its own currency for economic prosperity? Should resource-rich Alaska?

[xchrom]

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