bailout

Eurozone crisis: live blog

December 8, 2011 10:42 am by FT

eurocoasterWelcome back to our live coverage of the eurozone crisis. By Tom Burgis, Esther Bintliff and Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura on the  newsdesk in London, with contributions from FT correspondents around the world. All times are GMT.

Europe’s leaders gathered in Brussels for another crunch summit. Expectations are running high for a new grand bargain to restore sanity to the eurozone’s finances and chart a course out of the debt crisis. Also today:

  • The European Central Bank cut interest rates by a quarter point to 1 per cent, as expected, and announced that it would accept more forms of collateral and offer longer-term loans to try to protect the banking system
  • Mario Draghi, ECB president, poured cold water on hopes the central bank was poised to take more aggressive action
  • The European banking authority unveiled its updated stress tests of 70 banks, which tripled the capital shortfall for the German banking sector and pushed up the Europe-wide deficit from €106bn in October to €115bn now

20:15: We’re winding up the liveblog for tonight, but you can follow the rest of the action at FT.com and we’ll be back again on Friday morning. Thanks for reading and for all the comments. Bon courage!

19.54: BREAKING – Peter Spiegel, the FT’s Brussels bureau chief, has this scoop from the summit:

EU leaders have begun their late-starting summit, and they were given a 6-page draft of their conclusions at the start. According to people who have seen it, some of the most interesting new language is on the eurozone bail-out funds.

The current version says the existing €440bn fund, the EFSF, will continue running for another 2 years financing its current programmes – which would not be transferred to the new fund, the €500bn ESM.

That would free up the ESM’s resources, giving the eurozone significantly more firepower, with the two funds running in parallel.

The conclusions say the ESM would have its maximum €500bn lending capacity, regardless of how much the EFSF is committed to.

That could mean as much as €200bn in new “bazooka” weaponry.

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Posted in Europe, Global economy |

Tom Burgis Eurozone crisis: live blog

December 7, 2011 10:17 am by Tom Burgis

Welcome back to our live coverage of the eurozone crisis. By Tom Burgis on the  newsdesk in London, with contributions from FT correspondents around the world. All times are GMT.

18.25 That’s the end of our live coverage of the eurozone crisis today. We’ll be back tomorrow morning for a day that includes the ECB rates decision and Mario Draghi’s press conference, as well as the meeting of centre-right European leaders in Marseille ahead of the start of the EU summit in Brussels in the evening. And, just as the leaders tuck in their napkins for a working dinner, the European banking authority will unveil the details of which banks need to raise what capital.

We’ll leave you with a round-up of today’s developments. Read more

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Posted in Europe, Financial crisis, Foreign affairs, Global economy, World affairs |

Tom Burgis Eurozone crisis: live blog

November 17, 2011 9:44 am by Tom Burgis

A tram passes the euro sign sculpture in front of the European Central Bank ( ECB) in Frankfurt, Germany. Photographer: Hannelore Foerster/Bloomberg

Welcome to our continuing coverage of the eurozone crisis. All times are GMT. By Tom Burgis, James Crabtree and John Aglionby on the news desk in London, with contributions from FT correspondents around the world.

The turmoil in the eurozone has taken a troubling turn in recent days, with anxiety spreading from Europe’s periphery to its “core” countries. Even as Italy’s Mario Monti readies his economic agenda to be presented today, investors are looking at France, the Netherlands and Austria with increasing unease and wondering whether the ECB might yet ride to the rescue. Over in Greece, today is the anniversary of 1973′s mass student protests – with demonstrators once more planning to take to the streets. And the bond markets are showing ever more strain, with today’s Spanish bond auction souring sentiment still further. Read more

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Posted in Europe, Financial crisis, Foreign affairs, Global economy, World affairs |

Eurozone crisis: Live blog

November 15, 2011 12:30 pm by David Crouch

Welcome back to the FT’s live coverage of the eurozone crisis and the global fallout. By Tom Burgis and David Crouch in London with contributions from correspondents around the world. All times are GMT.

Italian bond yields are back up over 7 per cent, and French and Spanish bonds are also under pressure. Stock markets are down across Europe. Meanwhile, Mario Monti – Italy’s prime minister designate – is battling to create a new government capable of dragging Italy out of the eye of the storm.

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17.59 We are wrapping up our rolling coverage – thank you for reading. But before we go, here is a quick reminder of today’s latest FT news and insights on the eurozone crisis:

  • Italian prime minister designate Mario Monti will see president Georgio Napolitano on Wednesday morning to present his new government, after he received the backing of outgoing premier Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Lilverty party
  • Following anaemic data on European economies today, more than three quarters of fund managers predicted Europe will slide into recession next year
  • Italy’s 10-year bond yield once again soared above the 7 per cent mark and French yields hit a record spread over German Bunds, causing global markets to wobble
  • US Treasury yields were close to unchanged as better-than-expected retail sales data offset safe-haven buying due to rising eurozone yields
  • The Austrian coalition government, faced with rising yields on government debt and a possible downgrade, decided to accelerate the pace of spending cuts
  • German frustration over Britain’s approach to the eurozone crisis was laid bare after a close ally of Angela Merkel accused the UK of selfishly pursuing its own interests just days before a meeting in Berlin between the German chancellor and UK prime minister David Cameron

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Posted in Europe, Financial crisis, Global economy, Greece, Italy |

John Aglionby Eurozone crisis: live blog

November 9, 2011 9:10 am by John Aglionby

Silvio Berlusconi – shutting one's eyes won't make the problems go away. Image AFP/Getty

Welcome back to the FT’s coverage of the eurozone crisis. Curated by John Aglionby, Tom Burgis and David Crouch on the news desk in London, with contributions from correspondents around the world. All times are GMT.

Greece really is expected to get a new prime minister today – 48 hours later than expected. Italy, well who knows what’s going to happen there as bond yields surge and the EU’s economic inspectors arrive … And policymakers and financiers are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of the crisis on global liquidity levels.

18.53 That’s it for our live coverage today. We leave you with a round-up of where we stand at the end of another turbulent day in Europe – and some cold hard numbers (and letters) for your bedtime reading.

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Posted in Europe, Financial crisis, Foreign affairs, Global economy |

Tom Burgis Eurozone crisis: live blog

November 4, 2011 9:00 am by Tom Burgis

Nicolas Sarkozy, French president and G20 host, blows a kiss to someone – presumably not the Greek prime minister (AFP/Getty)

  • Welcome back to the FT’s live coverage of the eurozone crisis. By Tom Burgis and John Aglionby on the news desk in London, with contributions from correspondents around the world. All times are GMT.

One issue dominates the agenda for as the Group of 20 leading economies enters its second and final: the fate of the eurozone amid the turmoil in Greece.

16.41: That’s it for the live blog for today. See FT.com over the coming hours for news and analysis on the G20 summit, Berlusconi’s woes and the outcome of tonight’s Greek vote.

16.31: Before we wind up the live blog, a brief re-cap of the day’s developments

  • The IMF is to monitor Italy’s progress on promises to reform its economy
  • Italian bond yields rose to fresh euro-era highs as Berlusconi said he was going nowhere
  • The Italian PM insisted his majority at home was “solid”, though it looks anything but
  • The G20 summit in Cannes ended with plenty of rhetoric urging the euorzone to get its house in order but no actual cash to help it do so
  • Any decision on boosting the IMF’s resources to help tackle the crisis was put of until when G20 finance ministers meet in February
  • Greek MPs are debating a vote of confidence in the government and will vote at midnight Athens time, 10pm London

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Posted in Development, Europe, Financial crisis, Foreign affairs, Global economy, Greece, World affairs |

Tom Burgis Eurozone crisis: live blog

November 3, 2011 8:37 am by Tom Burgis
 

Getty

Welcome back to the FT’s live coverage of the eurozone crisis. By Tom Burgis and John Aglionby on the news desk in London, with contributions from correspondents around the world. All times are GMT.

One issue dominates the agenda for today and tomorrow’s summit of the Group of 20 leading economies: the fate of the eurozone amid the turmoil in Greece.

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19.30: And what will tomorrow bring? Who knows. It’s day two of the G20 summit, the confidence vote in the Greek parliament and the US non-farm payrolls (monthly unemployment data) are announced.

Thanks for all your comments and tweets today – especially the song suggestions! For further updates from the late-night meetings in Cannes follow ft.com Read more

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Posted in Europe, Financial crisis, Global economy |

Tom Burgis Eurozone crisis: the evening session

October 26, 2011 5:04 pm by Tom Burgis

Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the eurozone crisis as we head into the evening. Europe’s leaders have gathered in Brussels to try to deliver a solution to the sovereign debt crisis. It has been a nervy day in the markets and national capitals – all of which you can read about on our live coverage from earlier on. Tonight we should discover whether Europe’s leaders can overcome their differences and chart a course towards recovery or whether they will once again fail to reach a deal. We’ll bring you news and commentary as we get it.

All times are London time. By Tom Burgis on the news desk in London, with contributions from FT correspondents around the world.

22.38: We’re going to wrap up our live coverage from London now. But fear not, the FT reporters at the summit will not rest until we have an outcome from the evening’s second summit, of all 17 eurozone leaders. See ft.com for all the latest news.

It seems only right to give the final word on today’s developments to Justin Timberlake, whose new film, In Time, has the strap line: “Tomorrow is a luxury you can’t afford.” Over the coming hours we’ll discover whether European leaders – and the markets – share that sentiment.

22.35: A quick recap on what we know so far

  • The 27 EU leaders agreed a statement as per a leaked draft, fleshing out some headline details of how the bank recapitalisation will work
  • Silvio Berlusconi’s letter to his fellow eurozone leaders included a commitment to raise the Italian retirement age to 67
  • Nicolas Sarkozy will call his Chinese counterpart tomorrow in what seems to be part of efforts to win Chinese investment for a fund to buy eurozone debt
  • US markets dealt with all of this pretty calmly, finishing the day in the black

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Posted in Europe, Financial crisis, Global economy |

Esther Bintliff Eurozone crisis: live blog

October 26, 2011 8:30 am by Esther Bintliff

Welcome to our continuing coverage of the eurozone crisis. Today’s summit in Brussels could, in years to come, be viewed as a turning point in the eurozone crisis. Or, it could be just one more extended meeting at which policymakers tried – and failed – to agree on a plan big enough to calm the storm in Europe’s sovereign debt markets. We’ll bring you news and commentary until the summit begins.

All times are London time. By Esther Bintliff and David Crouch on the world news desk in London, with contributions from FT correspondents around the world.

17.10: The summit is about to begin and we’re continuing in a fresh post: Eurozone crisis: the evening session.

16.45: A reminder of the timetable for tonight:

  • 17.00 – 18.00 (London time): the leaders of all 27 EU member states meet
  • 18:15 onwards: the summit of eurozone leaders begins

Statements and possibly a press conference are expected when the meetings close, but they will likely continue long into the night.

Stanley Pignal, Brussels correspondents, reports:

“EU leaders have been arriving for the first of tonight’s two meetings, which will involve all 27 member states before the eurozone-only leaders convene afterwards.

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Posted in Europe, Foreign affairs, Global economy |

Rolling blog: Eurozone crisis

October 20, 2011 8:43 am by FT

Euro banknotes placed on a map of Greece. Photo: Dado Ruvic, ReutersWelcome to our live coverage of the eurozone crisis, by Esther Bintliff and John Aglionby on the world news desk in London with contributions from correspondents from around the world. All times are London time.

Hopes for the unveiling of a “comprehensive plan” to resolve the eurozone crisis at this weekend’s summit of European leaders have been squashed this afternoon. “No agreements” will be made, officials told the FT, until a second summit, which will probably take place on Wednesday. Read more

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Posted in Europe, Financial crisis |
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