organization:european central bank

IMF demands further austerity in Greece - World Socialist Web Site

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/05/10/gree-m10.html

Dans la série le FMI n’apprend rien

IMF demands further austerity in Greece
By Robert Stevens
10 May 2013

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a “Concluding Statement” May 3 demanding there be no relaxation of the austerity programme it has imposed on an already severely impoverished Greek population.

The statement follows the IMF’s recent inspection mission to Greece, alongside the European Union (EU) and European Central Bank (ECB).

The reaction of the bourgeois media in Greece and internationally to the report was to stress its call for the coalition government to do more to prevent tax evasion. Typical was the BBC’s headline, “IMF hails economic ‘progress’ but warns on tax evasion.”

#grèce #crise #fmi #austérité

ECB indicates south Europeans can endure more austerity – The European Sting | Les #faisans!
http://europeansting.com/2013/04/10/ecb-indicates-south-europeans-can-endure-more-shock-therapy

According to a European Central Bank report which was published yesterday, the average household in south European countries like Cyprus, Greece, Spain and Italy possess more net wealth than their peers in the north (net wealth is defined as the difference between total assets and total liabilities). The obvious conclusion is that they can endure more austerity and shock therapy measures. For example the study finds that the mean net wealth of a Cypriot household is €670,900, of a Spanish one €291,400, of an Italian € 275,200, in comparison to only €195,200 in Germany, in the Netherlands € 170,200 and in Finland just €161,500. The authors of the report note that, “The data for Cyprus appear not to be comparable with those for other euro area countries in a number of dimensions and should therefore be interpreted with caution. However, once the above mentioned factors are accounted for, the net wealth figures for Cyprus appear less of an outlier”.

#democracy, #solidarity and the European Crisis
http://www.kuleuven.be/communicatie/evenementen/evenementen/jurgen-habermas/democracy-solidarity-and-the-european-crisis

Lecture delivered by Professor Jürgen #habermas on 26 April 2013 in Leuven Tags: democracy solidarity #europe habermas

Alternative Regionalisms | The Great European Fire Sale
http://www.tni.org/article/great-european-fire-sale

Infographie du site « Tansnational institue » sur la privatisation du secteur public en Europe à la faveur de la crise économique.

EU, Greek government plan more mass layoffs, privatisations - World Socialist Web Site

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/19/gree-a19.html

On Monday the Greek coalition government and the “troika” of the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank announced an agreement over the disbursement of a further loan instalment of €2.8 billion. The release of the tranche, from the overall loan package of €240 billion due at the end of last year, was delayed for months when previous talks broke down.

The troika’s statement noted, “Fiscal performance is on track to meet the program targets, and the government is committed to fully implement all agreed fiscal measures for 2013-14 that are not yet in place.”

#grèce #crise #privatisations

C’est en toute connaissance du caractère parfaitement insoutenable des pratiques prédatrices des banques chypriotes que l’Europe a invité Chypre dans la zone Euro, et donc, en toute connaissance du caractère spéculatif de son économie et du bail-out à venir :

In a so-called convergence report dated 2007, one year before Cyprus joined the eurozone, the ECB mentioned the large influx of capital.

“Much of the financing of the deficits in the combined current and capital account over the past two years has also come from capital inflows in the form of ’other investment,’ comprising non-resident deposits and loans,” the report says.

“Other investment inflows amounted to a sizeable 11.3 percent of GDP in 2006. Since capital inflows exceeded the current and capital account deficit between 2004 and 2006, Cyprus experienced an accumulation of official reserve assets in this period,” it adds.

http://euobserver.com/institutional/119531

European Union demands cuts after Portuguese court rules bailout unconstitutional - World Socialist Web Site

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/09/port-a09.html

Portuguese and European officials are demanding renewed social cuts amid a crisis unleashed by a ruling of Portugal’s constitutional court, declaring European Union (EU)-mandated budget cuts unconstitutional. These cuts were central to the governments’ €78 billion loan agreement with the “troika” (the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank) in 2011.

#portugal #crise

European Union imposes austerity bailout on Cyprus - World Socialist Web Site

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/09/cypr-a09.html

The loan terms dictated to Cyprus by the troika of the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are predicated on the destruction of the pay and conditions of the working class and an onslaught against vital social and welfare programs.

After the IMF finalised its €1 billion (US$1.3 billion) portion of the recent €10 billion loan to Cyprus, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a press release, “This is a challenging program that will require great efforts from the Cypriot population. We believe that it provides a durable and fully financed solution to the underlying problems facing Cyprus and provides a sustainable path toward a recovery.

#chypre #crise

Histoires de l’union monétaire européenne - La Vie des idées
http://www.laviedesidees.fr/Histoires-de-l-union-monetaire.html

Deux ouvrages mettent au jour de nouvelles archives et montrent la continuité et les déboires de près de trente ans de négociations qui aboutirent à l’union monétaire. Un éclairage essentiel sur les blocages actuels et les failles de la monnaie européenne.

http://www.laviedesidees.fr/IMG/jpg/mourlon-druel4auth.jpg
#Europe #monnaie

Never mind Cyprus – look to Germany for causes of the euro crisis | The Raw Story
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/27/never-mind-cyprus-look-to-germany-for-causes-of-the-euro-crisis

L’équipe de Hollande est incompétente ?

...On 14 March Draghi made a presentation to heads of state and government on the economic situation in the euro area. His intent was to show the real reasons for the crisis and the counter-measures needed. In this he succeeded – although not in the way he intended.

Draghi presented two graphs that encapsulate his central argument: productivity growth in the surplus countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands) was higher than in the deficit countries (France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain). But wage growth was much faster in the latter group. Structural reforms and wage moderation lead to success; structural rigidities and greedy trade unions lead to failure. QED.

According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which reported the affair approvingly, the impact of Draghi’s intervention was devastating. François Hollande, the French president, who had earlier been calling for an end to austerity and for growth impulses, was, according to the newspaper, completely silenced after the ECB president had so clearly demonstrated, with incontrovertible evidence, what was wrong in Europe – or rather in certain countries in the eurozone – and what must be done.

Things are not as they seem, however. Draghi’s presentation contains a simple but fatal error – or should that be misrepresentation? ...

(...)

If Hollande had been aware of this, he need not have been silent at all. On the contrary, he could have pointed out that his country almost perfectly fits this benchmark: on Draghi’s chart, the gap for France is about 32%. Similarly, the figure of 28% would need to be subtracted from the supposed competitiveness gaps of the other deficit countries, substantially reducing – although not eliminating – them.

Moreover – and this is the key point – using the correct figures transforms Germany from the wage-productivity paragon, as portrayed by the central bank, into what it really is: a country that has systematically undershot the stability norm for balanced growth in a monetary union, and thus been a major contributing factor to the crisis.

Cyprus to face savage cuts and economic dictatorship - World Socialist Web Site

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/03/23/cypr-m23.html

Cyprus to face savage cuts and economic dictatorship
By Jordan Shilton and Chris Marsden
23 March 2013

Cyprus’ fate illustrates how the European Union imposes the dictatorship of the global speculators, banks and corporations on the working class. The EU yesterday continued to demand massive austerity in Cyprus to raise €6 billion ($7.8 billion) in return for a €10 billion bank bailout.

#chypre #crise-bancaire #europe #bce

La définition même d’un paradis fiscal : 10% des dépôts bancaires réalisés dans l’ile de Chypre équivalent à 80% de son PIB http://pawelmorski.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/cyprus-fight-club-capital-controls

Le point de vue d’un journal pas vraiment gauchiste…

Chypre, pigeon de la campagne électorale allemande ?
http://www.latribune.fr/actualites/economie/union-europeenne/20130318trib000754533/chypre-pigeon-de-la-campagne-electorale-allemande.html

Voici donc quel est le prix de l’obéissance. Pendant des mois, les électeurs chypriotes ont entendu cette mise en garde : s’ils voulaient que leur pays bénéficie de l’aide européenne, il leur fallait « bien » voter. Se débarrasser de cette « anomalie » dont tous les journaux européens se gaussaient : un président « communiste » qui bloquait toute négociation en refusant de se plier aux « ajustements nécessaires. » Raisonnables, les Chypriotes ont donc confortablement élu le 25 février le candidat conservateur Nikos Anastasiadès, qui avait affiché fièrement durant sa campagne son « amitié » avec Angela Merkel. Entre amis, on se respecte, pouvait penser le citoyen de l’île.

Tout le monde est frappé
Il récolte à présent le fruit de cette conduite raisonnable : une taxe sur ses dépôts bancaires. Une taxe auprès de laquelle la tranche de 75 % de l’impôt sur le revenu de François Hollande, tant critiqué en Allemagne et en France qu’il a dû l’abandonner, fait figure d’aimable plaisanterie. Cette fois, ce ne sont pas les « riches », les « banquiers », les « épargnants » ou les « marchés » qui sont frappés : c’est bien tout le monde. Sans compter évidemment que les malheureux Chypriotes vont devoir également passer sous les fourches caudines de l’austérité et de la Troïka.

(…)

Le risque pour l’Europe
Mais le danger menace également l’Europe. Pour la première fois, les dépôts sont visés. On comprend que, dans les pays sous aide, ou susceptibles de faire appel à cette aide, les déposants, c’est-à-dire tout le monde, soient le plus soupçonneux, voire le plus inquiet. Il pourrait en aller de même des investisseurs qui, observant les déboires de leurs confrères russes, ne seront guère tentés d’aller taquiner le diable en déposant leurs argents dans des banques italiennes, espagnoles ou portugaises. Quant aux citoyens de ces pays, ceux qui en ont les moyens vont se précipiter vers les paradis fiscaux, les autres constitueront, comme ils le pourront des « bas de laine. » Dans des économies menacées par la déflation, la thésaurisation est sans doute la dernière chose à faire. Globalement, c’est donc la confiance en la zone euro, rétablie par les annonces de la BCE en septembre, qui est désormais en jeu.

(…)

L’intérêt de la chancelière allemande
Mais alors, comment expliquer que les Européens aient construit un plan aussi risqué ? La première réponse tient sans doute à un certain mépris pour Chypre. Un petit pays, plaque tournante de l’argent russe, dont on pouvait faire un exemple. Il y a dans ce plan un arrière-goût amer des conférences de grandes puissances qui au 19ème siècle décidaient de l’avenir de la Belgique, de la Grèce, de la Bosnie ou de la Bulgarie sans se soucier de ces peuples et en ne songeant qu’à « l’équilibre européen. » Nikos Anastasiadès a parlé publiquement de "fait accompli". Mais l’essentiel est sans doute ailleurs.

En faisant souffrir les Chypriotes autant qu’il est possible, Angela Merkel va pouvoir se présenter devant les électeurs allemands et le Bundestag en héroïque défenseur des intérêts allemands. Elle aura fait payer les Chypriotes pour éviter de faire payer le prix fort aux contribuables allemands. Elle aura sauvegardé l’argent de ses électeurs en ponctionnant des Chypriotes « coupables. »

#banksters Hold up du siècle : un upgrade imposé pour la zone #euro

Le Figaro - Conjoncture : Chypre : un sauvetage inédit à 10 milliards d’euros
http://www.lefigaro.fr/conjoncture/2013/03/16/20002-20130316ARTFIG00293-chypre-un-sauvetage-inedit-a-10-milliards-d-euros

La zone euro et le FMI ont trouvé dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi un accord sur un plan d’aide. En échange, Nicosie va instaurer une taxe exceptionnelle sur les dépôts bancaires, qui rapportera près de 6 milliards d’euros.

George Osborne politicien conservateur britannique se pose en donneur de leçons mais les citoyens du Royaume Uni expatriés à Chypre risquent bien de « manger » #je_me_marre

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294388/Cyprus-bailout-Osborne-vows-protect-Britains-armed-forces-Cyprus-cash-m

George Osborne vowed today that those serving in Britain’s military or government in Cyprus will be protected after European finance chiefs ordered an unprecedented raid on personal bank accounts.

Up to 60,000 British savers are to lose thousands of pounds each as expats in Cyprus have their savings decimated in part of a painful bid to bail out the bankrupt island.

The Chancellor said the financial situation in Cyprus was ‘an example of what happens if you don’t show the world that you can pay your way’, adding: ‘We are not part of the bailout.’

#la_grande_perdition

Irish debt deal means decades of austerity to cover bank bailout - World Socialist Web Site

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/02/13/irel-f13.html

Irish debt deal means decades of austerity to cover bank bailout
By Jordan Shilton
13 February 2013

Ireland’s Fine Gael-Labour coalition announced an agreement with the European Central Bank (ECB) last week, ostensibly designed to remove the “promissory note” payments to bail out the failed Anglo Irish Bank.

In reality, the debt reorganisation means that the Irish population will take on responsibility for paying an even greater proportion of bank debt, which will be extracted through decades of austerity.

#irlande #crise-bancaire
The debt restructuring agreement exchanged the yearly payment of €3.1 billion (US$4.2 billion) of “promissory notes” for long-term government bonds. The government had been due to make these payments over the next 10 years to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC)—the entity charged with managing the assets of the old Anglo Irish Bank.

European Authorities Still Punishing Greece - Can They Stopped?

http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations-a-states/general-analysis-on-states-and-their-future/52234-european-authorities-still-punishing-greece-can-they-stopped.htm

Greece is enduring an exceptionally long recession superintended by foreign actors, through the troika of the European Central Bank, European Commission, and International Monetary Fund. Official sources and independent observers rarely provide optimistic predictions about the Greek economy. Although European powers have desperately tried to preserve the integrity of their monetary union, there is some reason to believe that removing itself from the eurozone could be Greece’s best option. While the country’s seemingly intractable economic problems can provide a semblance of legitimacy to international technocrats sent to solve them, it may be that their “solutions” have been part of the problem.

By Mark Weisbrot
Al Jazeera
February 2, 2013

Alexis Tsipras has a tough job. He is leader of the Syriza Party of Greece, a left party that has risen meteorically in the past three years: from 4.6 percent of the vote in 2009 to 27 percent last June. It is now the most popular party in the country and Tsipras could be the next Prime Minister.

Unlike most of the eurozone’s leaders, he knows what is wrong with Greece and the eurozone, and so does his party: austerity. “We have become the guinea pig for barbaric, violent neoliberal policies,” he said at a forum at Columbia University Law School last week, in which I participated.

#grèce #crise

Austerity without end

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/nov2012/pers-n29.shtml
29 November 2012

The media has largely ignored the main message from Monday’s meeting of euro zone finance ministers: that the Greek people confront years, if not decades, of austerity.

In comparison, the issues headlined by the media—whether Greek debt falls below 120 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 or in 2022; whether lending rates are lowered or a debt haircut is imposed—were of a marginal and largely hypothetical nature. They boiled down to the question of how many food scraps one allows the victim, in order to exploit him as long as possible, before he eventually dies.

No debt reduction for Greece

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/nov2012/gree-n28.shtml
By Peter Schwarz
28 November 2012

Euro zone finance ministers finally agreed early Tuesday to the pay the tranche of loans to Greece that had been due since the summer. However, they rejected calls by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), among others, to reduce the debt of the highly indebted country.

This was the third attempt by the euro zone finance ministers to reach agreement on how to proceed in relation to Greece. Over the preceding two weeks, hours of meetings lasting into the wee hours of the night had been dominated by fierce differences among the euro zone countries and between the euro zone and the IMF.

European Union demands further cuts in Greece

Oui, vous avez bien lu : « l’UE exige de la Grèce encore plus de coupes budgétaires... »

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/oct2012/gree-o05.shtml
By Christoph Dreier
5 October 2012

Last weekend, representatives of the troika—the European Central Bank (ECB), European Commission (EC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)—returned to Athens to discuss a third package of budget cuts with the Greek government.

Officially, the troika has the task of preparing a report on Greece’s budgetary situation for the European Union (EU) and IMF as the basis for agreeing to a further bank bailout to Greece’s creditors, amounting to €31.5 billion (US$41.6 billion).

#grèce #crise #banques #crise-bancaire #crise-financière

Financial parasitism and looting are the “new normal”
Latest moves by Fed and European Central Bank

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/sep2012/pers-s17.shtml
17 September 2012

The decision by the US Federal Reserve Board to provide indefinite support to financial markets under a third round of so-called quantitative easing (QE3), announced last week, coupled with the earlier decision by the European Central Bank (ECB) to intervene in the bond markets, marks a new stage in the breakdown of the global capitalist economy that began with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

The moves by the world’s major central banks to pump more money into the global financial system signify that four years after financial markets stood on the brink of collapse in September 2008, there is no prospect of a return to what were once considered “normal” conditions.

#europe #crise-bancaire #crise-financière #banque

IMF urges “more clarity” on Ireland’s austerity plans

Le FMI n’hésite pas à dire de lui même qu’il a profondément revu ses modes opératoires et que ce n’est plus le grand méchant loup qui étouffait les pays endettés.

Aujourd’hui le FMi exige de l’Irlande de clarifier ses intentions pour ce qui concerne les coupes (forcément drastiques) dans les dépenses de l’Etat pour les quatre prochaines années. Il s’agit de rembourser une dette (immense) laissée en héritage par une banque (évidemment crapule) aujourd’hui disparue. Petite précision : les emprunts n’étaient pas garantis par l’Etat. Ce qui n’empêche pas l’UE et le FMI d’exiger que le peuple irlandais rembourse...

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/sep2012/irel-s13.shtml
By Jordan Shilton

13 September 2012

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stepped up the pressure on the Fine Gael-Labour coalition in Dublin, demanding that it lay out detailed plans on how it will slash government spending over the next four years.

The move came as the government was forced to announce €260 million in emergency cuts to the health care budget to comply with the bailout terms of the troika—the IMF, European Central Bank (ECB) and European Union (EU).

The IMF, in its latest report on Ireland’s progress under the €85 billion programme the troika extended in 2010, criticised the government for not implementing deep enough cuts to welfare benefits, and urged the speedy adoption of a new property tax. The demands are in line with the approach being taken across Europe towards highly indebted states, with Greece and Spain in particular facing calls to deepen the attacks on the working class to bail out the banks.

#irlande #banque #crise-financière #crise-bancaire #fmi #ue #crapules

Afrique Economie Europe Crise Eurozone

Les économies africaines frappées de plein fouet par la crise en Europe

http://www.globalpolicy.org/globalization/globalization-of-the-economy-2-1/general-analysis-on-globalization-of-the-economy/51818--african-economies-face-down-european-storms.html?itemid=id#646

By Adam Robert Green
This Is Africa
August 6, 2012

The eurozone crisis has reduced foreign aid, remittances, tourists and the demand for African exports. But the overall economic growth and investment trends are positive—some countries will benefit from the exchange rate changes and the rise in commodity prices such as gold. The eurozone crisis has blurred the distinction between “high risk” emerging economies and the “safety” zones of Europe and the US; “today, the rich world offers low growth and high risk.” As South-South foreign direct investment proved to be more resilient to global shocks, African economies can take this crisis as an opportunity to diversify their trade and create a new economic order.

Bubbles, German WWI reparations, vampire squids & discussion of massive defaulting to wrest power back to the people: http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/financial-predators-v-labor-industry-and-democracy-by-mich

#Grèce #Crisefinancière #Crise #Europe #Zone-euro

EU representatives discuss withdrawal of Greece from the euro zone

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jul2012/gree-j25.shtml

By Christoph Dreier
25 July 2012

A withdrawal of Greece from the euro zone is increasingly likely. In recent days, representatives of the “troika”—the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Commission, and the European Central Bank (ECB)—have signalled that they are willing to force Greece into bankruptcy if it does not impose further austerity measures.

Yesterday representatives of the Troika returned to Greece to review the progress of the austerity measures. According to media reports, continuing popular resistance, and especially the suspension of the austerity measures during the election campaign, led to a delay in the implementation of social cuts demanded by Greece’s creditors.

#Grèce #Crise #Crisefinancière

Greek government, European officials plan billions in new social cuts

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jul2012/gree-j27.shtml

By Alex Lantier and John Vassilopoulos
27 July 2012

Greek officials met with European Commission (EC) President José Manuel Barroso and international financial officials yesterday to discuss a new round of budget cuts worth 11.5 billion euros (US$14.4 billion) in 2013-2014.

These cuts, amounting to over 5 percent of Greece’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), will devastate a Greek economy already bled white by repeated waves of social cuts over the last three years. The Labor Ministry budget is to contract by €5 billion, largely at the expense of pensions.