ECONOMICS Greece
Eurozone aims for quick approval of bail-out plan
By Jim Brunsden - 06.05.2010 / 05:16 CET
Governments push for parliamentary consent, while main lenders expected to approve loans this week.
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© 2012 European Voice. All rights reserved.
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The EU has made three mistakes in its approach to austerity and economic rebalancing. |
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Commission president says there is growing support from EU leaders for pro-growth strategies. |
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UK blocks compromise agreement on new bank capital requirements at meeting of EU finance ministers. |
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Fact file
Who lends what to Greece
õ International Monetary Fund €30 billion
õ Eurozone members €80bn
? Germany €22.4bn
? France €16.8bn
? Italy €14.7bn
? Spain €9.8bn
? Netherlands €4.7bn
? Belgium €2.9bn
? Austria €2.3bn
? Portugal €2.1bn
? Finland €1.5bn
? Ireland €1.3bn
? Slovakia €816 million
? Slovenia €384m
? Luxembourg €208m
? Cyprus €160m
? Malta €72m
How Greece's crisis unfolded
õ 5 October 2009: PASOK wins Greek elections
õ 5 November: Government issues revised deficit figure for 2009 of 12.7% of GDP, up from 5%
õ December: Credit ratings agencies downgrade Greek government debt
õ January 2010: Greek government unveils measures to cut deficit from 12.7% to 2.8% by 2012
õ 3 February: European Commission approves deficit reduction package, one day general strike.
õ 11 February: EU leaders pledge to ensure stability of the eurozone at informal summit in Brussels but give no details
õ 5 March: New package of measures to increase taxes and cut wages announced to save €4.8bn. €5bn Greek bond issue oversubscribed, but at a high interest rate
õ 15 March: Eurozone finance ministers agree outlines of assistance for Greece including use of bilateral loans
õ 25 March: Eurozone leaders agree joint rescue package with International Monetary Fund involving bilateral loans as a last resort if Greece cannot borrow on capital markets
õ 8 April: Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, gives strong backing to rescue plan for Greece
õ 11 April: Eurozone finance ministers agree €30bn rescue package for Greece, with two-thirds from eurozone and one-third from IMF
õ 22 April: Ratings agencies downgrade Greek government debt, Greek government announces higher deficit, 13.6% of GDP
õ 23 April: Prime Minister Papandreou asks for activation of eurozone/IMF aid
õ 27 April: Standard and Poor's downgrades Greece's credit rating to junk status, yields on Greek debt reach 14%
õ 28 April: Greek bond yields hit 23% as markets fear that Greece will default
õ 2 May: Papandreou says he has agreed terms of a deal with eurozone and the IMF to €110bn aid package in return for new spending cuts worth €30bn. Eurozone finance ministers agree that Greece has met the conditions for activating the mechanism
õ 3 May: European Central Bank agrees to accept Greek ‘junk' bonds as collateral
õ 4 May: Public-sector workers begin national strike
õ 7 May: Eurozone leaders meet to discuss state of parliamentary approval for bilateral loans and lessons of the crisis
õ 19 May: €8.5bn Greek bond matures
Germany will find itself under pressure to accept the idea of jointly issued debt.
Organisation's twice-yearly report says jointly guaranteed bonds would help strengthen eurozone.
US, UK leaders say failure to deal with crisis will infect economies across the globe.
Commission president says there is growing support from EU leaders for pro-growth strategies.
