Soaring interest rates Greeks did not leave the choice to Athens. Greece today called the release a device with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. A solution to which it had previously refused, but reimbursement by the May 18 deadline for a $ 8.5 billion was forced to act.
It is now "a national need," said George Papandreou on live television."Our partners will take steps to offer a safe haven for help to put our ship afloat (…) and send the message to the markets if the Union does not play and it protects the euro."
The joint assistance of Europeans and the IMF consists of a loan of around 45 billion euros at a rate of about 5%, including 30 billion for member countries of the European Union and about 15 billion of IMF.
The area countries are taking their laws to release the funds. France has indicated Wednesday it was ready to grant 3.9 billion euros. In Germany, the situation is much more complicated. The government of Angela Merkel faces a strong challenge to the public.
Three events have accelerated the decision of the Greek government in recent days.Since the beginning of the week, interest rates on debt Greek continue to break records, preventing use of the Athens market in the near future. On Thursday, the European Institute of Statistics, Eurostat, has revised upward the Greek budget deficit for 2009 and reiterated his doubts about the national statistics. Finally, in the process, the rating agency Moody's downgraded the rating of Greece.
The markets reacted positively, the Athens Stock Exchange (Athex) was up by midday Friday, gaining 3.77%. By late morning, London gained 0.93%, Paris and Frankfurt 0.82% 1.25%.
More to come …
See also:
"SPECIAL CASE – Greece, a challenge for Europe