Tag: default

Greek leaders failed yesterday (8 February) to agree on a reform and austerity programme, the price of a financial bailout to avoid a messy default, forcing Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos to go to the country's financial backers with an incomplete deal.

Greece has a future beyond the current crisis, whether the country defaults or not, argues Sophia Chrysopoulou.

Moody's lowered its rating on Italy's bonds by three notches on Tuesday (4 October), saying it saw a "material increase" in funding risks for euro zone countries with high levels of debt and warning that further downgrades were possible.

The EU should prepare for the possibility of the default or defection from the euro zone of some of its members, something which if prepared correctly would not cause a financial crisis and would allow the countries concerned to escape the vicious cycle of austerity and recession, argues George Soros.

As eurozone heads of state prepare for a summit on Thursday (21 July) to put together a second bailout package for debt-laden Greece, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she wanted clear commitments from private investors that they would contribute to further funding.

The European Union warned Greek lawmakers yesterday (28 June) that their country faced immediate default unless they approve a hated austerity plan, as strikers began new mass protests against the EU/IMF-imposed measures.

The United Kingdom is the third-largest lender to Greece and must accept its responsibilities by supporting the country's bailout, says British Liberal Democrat MEP Graham Watson, adding that any solution linked to an 'orderly default' is too risky.

As Greece struggles to avoid default despite repeated attempts by George Papandreou's government to restructure the country's debt, business leaders and policymakers meeting in Athens last week voiced their concern about ineffective policies and political corruption. EurActiv reports from Greece.

Just as Europe was talking about bailouts a year ago, it is now moving into 'restructuring' territory. But a year from now not even that will have been enough and the new order of the day will be the dreaded D-word: default, writes Jens Bastian, visiting fellow for the political economy of Southeast Europe at St. Antony’s College in Oxford, England in an exclusive op-ed for EurActiv.