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Eurozone - Page 2

G20 tells euro zone to fix debt crisis in eight days (Reuters)


Reuters - The world's leading economies pressed Europe on Saturday to act decisively within eight days to resolve the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis which is endangering the world economy.
Source: Yahoo! News: Business - European Economy

Eurozone

New euro 'empire' plot by Brussels:

European Union chiefs are drawing up plans for a single "Treasury" to oversee tax and spending across the 17 eurozone nations. Ref. Source 4

Eurozone History & Civil Business Politics

European Union leaders announced an agreement early Thursday in Brussels on debt crisis measures including a hard-fought deal with private sector investors to write down Greek bonds by 50%.

The agreement came at the end of marathon talks to finalize details of a comprehensive policy response to the government debt crisis threatening the stability of the euro currency and global economy.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Greek bondholders voluntarily agreed to write down the value of Greek bonds by 50%, which translates to 100 billion euros and will reduce the nation's debt load to 120% from 150%.

Sarkozy said the leaders agreed to boost the firepower of the EU bailout fund, known as the European Financial Stability Facility, "by four or five fold." He added that officials have negotiated additional funding from the International Monetary Fund.

The writedowns were one of three inter-related problems political l eaders must solve to devise a comprehensive solution to Europe's debt crisis. They must also determine how to leverage a government-backed bailout fund and stabilize the banking sector. Ref. CNN

Page 2 Eurozone

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is backing off plans to hold a controversial referendum on an international bailout for his country, he told his Cabinet on Thursday, saying there was no need for it given opposition support for the tough austerity measures that accompany it.

Papandreou caused shock this week when he announced the referendum that would have allowed the Greek people to reject the hard-won eurozone debt deal that seemingly put the bricks in place for the economic salvation of the continent.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that Greece would have to leave the group of 17 nations that use the European single currency if the country and its people failed to accept austerity and other measures that formed part of the bailout plan.

Thursday's developments came as leaders of the world's financial powerhouses met in Cannes, France, for the Group of 20 economic summit.

The G-20 meeting was scheduled to address adding confi dence and stability to the global economy, but the Greek crisis has dominated so far.

U.S. President Barack Obama, in France for the summit, said: "The most important task for us is to resolve the financial crisis here in Europe." Ref. CNN

Eurozone

Standard & Poor's said Monday that it placed 15 members of the euro currency union on review for a possible downgrade as the debt crisis in the eurozone continues to worsen.

The blanket warning applies to AAA-rated nations such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Luxembourg, the U.S.-based credit rating agency said in a press release.

But the review does not change anything for two members of the 17 nation monetary and currency union. Greece's credit rating currently reflects a high risk of default, and Cyprus was already under review.

S&P said the review was prompted "by our belief that systemic stresses in the eurozone have risen in recent weeks to the extent that they now put downward pressure on the credit standing of the eurozone as a whole." Ref. CNN

Eurozone

UK left out of EU crisis accord

EU to seek financial crisis accord involving 17 eurozone countries plus others, but not Britain Ref. BBC

Eurozone - Page 2

Standard & Poor's has lowered the credit ratings of nine eurozone countries, including France, Italy and Spain.

France's top-tier AAA credit rating was cut one notch to AA+, while Italy's A rating was lowered two notches to BBB+. Spain was cut 2 notches to A from AA-.

It's not clear how these downgrades will affect world markets. Investors have been anticipating them, but the debt markets in Europe remain on edge and government borrowing costs could climb. Ref. CNN

Eurozone Politics Business Civil & History - Page 2

Nazis & Communism - What's happening across the globe?

Did you pay attention to the international news from Europe this weekend? Just in case you missed it - Socialists have taken the presidency in France, Nazi's just got 20% of parliament in Greece, and all signs point to the impeding collapse of the Euro, if not the entire European Union. But it's just Europe! No need to worry. Ref. Source 9