Greek Gap to close...[ 2995 ]

European Finance Chiefs Seek to Close Greek Gap Amid IMF

By Patrick Donahue - Nov 19, 2012 12:54 PM GMT+0200/ / Bloomberg

 
European finance ministers aim to stitch together Greece’s next aid payment as a sputtering euro- area economy and a spat with the International Monetary Fund cloud efforts to resolve the debt crisis.
The finance chiefs meet in Brussels tomorrow for the second time in a week after they agreed seven days ago to keep Greece’s bailout aid flowing. In addition to a disagreement between the European Union and IMF over extending Greece’s debt-reduction target, the ministers will try to re-engineer the bailout without asking taxpayers to put up more money.

 

International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagarde took issue with European governments’ decision to push back Greece’s debt-reduction target by two years to 2022 against the fund’s recommendations. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

 Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Konstantinos Boukas, director of asset management at BETA Securities SA, discusses the outlook for the Greek economy and bank recapitalization. He speaks from Athens with Guy Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "The Pulse." (Source: Bloomberg)
The talks are “likely to be tense as all players set out their positions,” Thomas Costerg, an economist at Standard Chartered in London, said in an e-mail. “Greece’s debt can is likely to be kicked further down the road, but we could see some constructive statements.”
The meeting of the ministers from the 17-member euro area underscores skirmishing among EU officials confronting rising unemployment and a slowing economy as they struggle with the three-year-old debt crisis. The talks precede a Nov. 22-23 EU summit to resolve the bloc’s budget, a project threatened by a dispute with the U.K.
With tens of thousands of Europeans staging protests last week against austerity measures and unemployment, shifting dynamics in other European countries could foreshadow renewed conflict -- an early election in Italy, a regional vote in Spain and an approaching bailout package for Cyprus.
Greek Gains
Greek bonds rallied as analysts at Commerzbank AG, BNP Parisbas SA and Societe Generale speculated the finance ministers will achieve their aims. The yield on 10-year Greek notes fell 22 basis points to 17.25 percent.
“Greece, despite the exaggerated view in the German press, is in a tough situation yet where the indicators are pointing up,” German Deputy Finance Minister Steffen Kampeter said today in Frankfurt.
IMF Director Christine Lagarde took issue with European governments’ decision to push back Greece’s debt-reduction target by two years to 2022 against the fund’s recommendations, raising questions over whether the IMF would keep financing Greece.
Lagarde, who cut short a visit to Southeast Asia to return to Europe, signaled a potential clash in an interview in Manila on Nov. 17 by saying she’ll defend the IMF’s credibility.
Lagarde said that she was approaching the talks feeling “patient and resilient.” Even so, “we never leave the table,” she said when asked about dropping support.
IMF Target
The IMF target is for a reduction of Greece’s debt to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020, from a projected peak of 190 percent of GDP in 2014. An agreement on what qualifies as sustainable debt in Greece is required to plug a finance gap of as much as 32.6 billion euros ($42 billion).
Greece will probably need another aid package for after 2014, European Central Bank Board Member Joerg Asmussen said in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF yesterday.
Even though European leaders have pledged to do all they can to avert a Greek exit from the single currency, they’ve refused to return to parliaments for more funding. Finnish Premier Jyrki Katainen, speaking on YLE Radio Suomi at the weekend, again rejected further funds to Greece.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters last week that the current package could be re-jigged by cutting rates on loans or giving Greece extra time. In an interview on ARD television yesterday, he reiterated his rejection of a third option: write-offs of the country’s debt held by public institutions.
Debt Restructuring
Greece, which has already undergone the biggest sovereign restructuring in history after private investors forgave more than 100 billion euros of debt in March, may need another write- off, European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens Weidmann said at an event in Berlin on Nov. 16.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who oversees the finance chief meetings of the 17 euro nations, last week predicted a “definite decision” on releasing the next aid payment. He said the ministers might have to consult once more, possibly by teleconference, by the end of November to formally sign off on the updated rescue package.
“We have to find a common line and we have to do it on Tuesday,” Schaeuble said on ARD. “We’re working at full steam. I think we’ll do it.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net