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06/09/2011 12:05 PM
Troika Report
Greece Needs a New Bailout
ByStefan Schultz
The troika of the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF
has prepared a sobering report on Greece's efforts to combat a debt
crisis. The document, which has been obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE,
concludes that Athens will not be able to return to capital markets in
2012 and a further massive bailout will be needed soon.
It may be just nine pages long, but the report by the European Commission,
European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) packs a
punch. According to the keenly awaited report, which has been obtained by
SPIEGEL ONLINE, it is unlikely that Greece will be able to return to borrowing
money on the capital markets in 2012 as previously foreseen -- meaning
European taxpayers will probably have to prop up Greece with billions in
payments for much longer than was originally planned.
The troika's prognosis is bleak. Although there is some evidence that "the
rebalancing of the economy is ongoing and the quarter of deepest contraction
(has) already been passed," the report warns that "a further contraction in real
GDP is still expected in the second half of 2011." The real GDP growth rate for2011 is now protected to be minus 3.8 percent, the authors conclude, adding
that positive growth rates are not expected before 2012. Even then, they will only
be "moderate."
The current negative outlook presents the troika with a major challenge. The
IMF's statutes stipulate that the organization can only lend a country money if it
is certain that the state will be able to meet its payment obligations for the next
12 months.
The new report has now made it clear that Greece is not in a position toguarantee that, meaning that the IMF cannot transfer any more money while
there is still a chance of Greece defaulting within the coming 12 months. "Given
the remoteness of Greece returning to funding markets in 2012, the adjustment
program is now underfinanced. The next disbursement cannot take place before
this underfinancing is resolved," the report concludes.
This in turn means that Europe will have to come up with a new rescue package.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schuble estimates that Greece will need 90
billion ($132 billion) to cover its funding needs between 2012 and 2014,
according to government sources quoted by the news agency DPA on Wednesday
evening. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who is head of the
Euro Group, has also mentioned the same figure. On Wednesday, following a
telephone conference of euro-zone finance ministers, Juncker said that Athens'
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privatization plans should bring in 30 billion, covering one-third of the needed
funds.
But a new bailout for Greece could be a tough sell for the euro-zone member
states, which will have to get their national parliaments to approve a new
package. The German government will find that especially difficult, given
domestic resistance to providing Athens with more funds.
Fears of another Lehman
In May 2010, the European Union and the IMF put together a 110 billion rescue
package for Greece. The original bailout plan foresaw Greece returning to capital
markets in 2012. Until then, the so-called troika of the European Commission,
ECB and IMF needs to transfer money to the highly indebted state at regular
intervals. Without this support, Greece would effectively be bankrupt. Presently,
few investors are willing to lend the country money, and those who are would
demand a staggeringly high interest rate of 15 percent. Investors consider the
risks to be too great.
Many experts believe that a Greek default could have horrendous consequences,
with some even fearing it would cause the breakup of the euro zone and lead to
turmoil in the financial markets. The fallout might even exceed the impact of the
Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008, which triggered the global financial crisis.
According to the troika report, it will be difficult for Athens to regain the
necessary investor confidence that would allow it to borrow money on the capital
markets. "The recession appears to be somewhat deeper and longer than initially
projected," the report reads. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) shrunkby 4.5 percent in 2010, the authors write, more than had been assumed at the
start of the rescue efforts.
The EU-IMF aid is paid out in tranches, with each new installment dependent on
Athens meeting certain conditions in sorting out its finances. But reforms aimed
at reducing the country's huge levels of public debt -- which currently stands at
around 350 billion -- have stalled. Although the Greek government made a
"strong start" in reducing its macroeconomic and fiscal imbalances, the
implementation of necessary reforms has come to a "standstill" in recentquarters, the report reads. Greater efforts are needed to combat the country's
rising public debt, the troika says, arguing that structural reforms that would
underpin the economic recovery need to be stepped up.
In 2010, Greece's budget deficit was equivalent to 10.5 percent of GDP -- way
over the 3 percent allowed under euro-zone rules. But Athens is struggling to
reduce its debt burden, because tough austerity measures are hindering the
economic growth that is necessary to generate tax revenues. "If no action was
taken, the government deficit in 2011 would remain close to the 2010 level," the
report reads.
Private Creditors Bailing Out
Meanwhile, the German government, which had said it would wait for the
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publication of the troika report before deciding how to proceed, has been trying
to win support for a new rescue package for Greece. On Wednesday, Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Schuble argued in favor of a new bailout
during a meeting with the parliamentary groups of the governing parties -- the
conservative Christian Democratic Union, its Bavarian sister party the Christian
Social Union and the business-friendly Free Democrats -- according to
participants quoted by DPA. Merkel also expressed her support for Schuble's
initiative to involve private creditors in a new rescue package.
The only problem is that there are fewer and fewer private creditors to involve.
Private institutions are selling off Greek government bonds on a large scale amid
fear of a default or a so-called haircut. It is mainly public institutions such as
Germany's state-owned regional banks and the European Central Bank who still
hold Greek bonds.
According to a report in the German daily Die Welt, German insurance companies
now only hold 2.8 billion in Greek debt, down from a total of 5.8 billion just a
year ago. Similarly, German banks have sold off around a third of their Greekdebt since May 2010, according to new Bundesbank figures quoted by the
Financial Times Deutschlandon Thursday. German banks only held around 10.3
billion in Greek bonds in January and February 2011, compared to 16 billion in
April 2010.
URL:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,767559,00.html
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