Euro safe for now as Greece backs bailout June 18, 2012 GREEK politicians looked set to form a pro-bailout government with a very narrow majority last night, after a close run election gave no party a sizeable lead. The backing for the bailout programme could lead the Eurozone to give additional aid to the country, as the parties in line to form a coalition have shown [...]
Eurozone debt dominates agenda at G20 meeting June 18, 2012 WORLD leaders at the G20 summit in Mexico will be breathing a sigh of relief today after the pro-bailout New Democracy party claimed victory in the Greek election. The threat of the vote going to the Syriza party, which opposes austerity measures and could have forced a Greek exit from the euro, has been hanging [...]
Greece jumps out of the fire and straight into the frying pan June 18, 2012 IT was the kind of giant kicking sound that always warms the financial markets’ hearts. And no, I wasn’t referring to football, but to Greece’s nail-biting election finish, which saw the euro granted a stay of execution. Pro-bailout parties eked out a small victory, avoiding an immediate and explosive Eurozone crisis, albeit at the cost [...]
London bucks the gloom as firms expand June 18, 2012 STRONG sales growth and rising profits have boosted business confidence in London, a new study shows today, with the situation set to improve further over the next 12 months. Average turnover rose 4.5 per cent and profits by 5.2 per cent, pushing the ICAEW/Grant Thornton confidence index to 13.3, a 26.5 point jump on the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 18, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Scrap free current accounts, says departing RBS retail head Regulators and polititicans should forcibly bring an end to popular free current accounts, the outgoing head of retail at Royal Bank of Scotland said in a parting shot to the industry. In comments that put him at odds with other senior banking executives, Brian [...]
Markets welcome Greek result June 18, 2012 The Nikkei opened sharply higher this morning as traders welcomed the Greek election result. The Japanese stock index jumped 1.7 per cent after opening, in the global markets’ first response to the Greeks handing the most seats in parliament to the pro-bailout New Democracy party. And the price of gold fell for the first time [...]
Egyptian Islamists claim slim lead June 18, 2012 Egypt’s Islamists claimed a narrow lead early today in vote-counting for the presidential election but the generals who have run the country since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak issued new rules that made clear real power remains with the army. A decree from the ruling military council, published as the count got under way yesterday, [...]
Hollande’s left clinches victory in French vote June 18, 2012 FRANCOIS Hollande’s Socialist party won an absolute majority in France’s parliament yesterday, giving a boost to the President as he presses Germany to support debt-laden Eurozone states hit by austerity measures. The Socialists won between 296 and 321 seats in yesterday’s parliamentary election runoff, according to projections, giving him a comfortable majority to steer policies [...]
Q and A: What will happen in Greece now? June 18, 2012 Q How strong is the pro-bailout vote? A New Democracy got close to 30 per cent of the vote, followed by anti-bailout Syriza on 27 per cent. It may not sound like a big victory, but the winning party gets a bonus of 50 seats in parliament to give them an advantage in forming a [...]
Spanish banks may need ECB liquidity help June 18, 2012 SPAIN’S banks might need further help from the European Central Bank (ECB) after underestimating their losses, a top minister said yesterday. Deputy economy minister Inigo Mendez de Vigo told a Spanish newspaper that the extra liquidity injection from the ECB would help, just days after the IMF said the sector needed a €40bn (£32.2bn) recapitalisation. [...]
