Merkel Warns Greece
Time Running Out to Save Place in Euro
Monday, 06 Jul 2015 10:06 PM
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was given hours to come
up with a plan to keep his country in the euro as citizens endure a second week
of capital controls.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said "time is running
out" as she and French President Francois Hollande, leaders of the two biggest
countries in the euro bloc, responded to Sunday’s referendum. The European
Central Bank piled on the
pressure by making it tougher for Greek banks to access emergency loans.
Finance ministers and leaders from the 19- member region gather Tuesday.
After promising Greek voters a "no" outcome
against austerity would strengthen his negotiating hand, the onus is on Tsipras
to prove he can get a deal with creditors insistent on tax hikes and spending
cuts as the price for a new bailout of Europe’s most indebted nation.
"The last offer that we made was a very generous one," Merkel said Monday at the Elysee Palace in Paris. "On the other hand, Europe can only stand together, if each nation takes on its own responsibility."
Heading into the Brussels talks -- 1 p.m. for the finance
chiefs, and 6 p.m. for the summit -- Greece made a pre-emptive concession to
its trio of creditors with the resignation of outspoken Finance Minister Yanis
Varoufakis who clashed with his counterparts from other countries, especially
Germany’s Wolfgang Schaeuble.
Draghi Appeal
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by phone with Hollande and
the two agreed on the need for a way forward that’ll allow Greece to resume reforms and
return to growth within the euro area, according to a White House statement.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew spoke
with Tsipras and new finance chief Euclid Tsakalotos and urged a constructive
outcome.
With bank closures extended through Wednesday to stem
deposit withdrawals, Greek lenders are being kept on the equivalent of a drip
feed by the ECB.
In a phone call with ECB President Mario Draghi, Tsipras raised
the issue of lifting capital controls, providing more Emergency Liquidity
Assistance to Greek lenders, according to a Greek government official speaking
on condition of anonymity in line with policy.
Earlier, the ECB kept its lifeline at a prior level, rather than raise it as Tsipras wanted. Yet it increased the haircuts on collateral pledged against emergency liquidity, raising the discount applied to reflect the dire situation.
Bridging Gap
Financial market reaction to the latest stage in the crisis
was muted, suggesting its effects can be contained. The euro was little changed
at $1.1049 in Asia and U.S. Treasuries pared back some of last session’s gains.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7 percent from its lowest level since March.
Euro region finance officials on a Monday conference call
made little progress towards bridging the gap between Greece and its creditors,
two people involved in the talks said. The call took place in preparation for
Tuesday’s round of talks.
Tsipras can claim a strong domestic mandate to negotiate
after 61 percent voted "no" to the latest creditor proposals. The
endorsement came even after banks had been closed for a week, causing
widespread lines at ATM machines as Greeks waited to withdraw a daily maximum
of 60 euros ($66) each.
"No question about it in the short term. Tsipras
won," said Hans Humes, founder of Greylock Capital Management, on Bloomberg
Television. "There’s latitude for the Greeks to go back to the Europeans
and present them with something that’s a little bit more palatable."
Narrowing Window
Unless it finds a solution to its cash crunch, Greece could
drift toward a euro exit. Without funds to pay salaries and goods, the
government could eventually be forced to issue IOUs or some other medium of exchange,
which might gradually evolve into a parallel currency.
"You can’t understate the importance of today’s
meeting," Laura Fitzsimmons, Sydney-based vice president for futures and
options at JPMorgan
Chase & Co. said on Bloomberg Television. "The ball is in
Greece’s court to come to the party. Unless they bring something that is
workable to the Eurogroup it will be difficult to go much further from
here."
European Central Bank
European
Central Bank is the central bank for European
Union, and sets the monetary policy for the Eurozone.
Note: Mario Draghi is the
president of the European Central Bank,
and was an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think
tank), the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the International Rescue Committee.
Christine Lagarde
attended George Soros’s 2013 wedding
reception, and is a managing director at the International Monetary Fund.
Dominique
Strauss-Kahn was a managing director at the International Monetary Fund, and the minister of economy for France.
Francois
Hollande is the president of France.
C. Douglas Dillon
was a U.S. ambassador for France,
and a chairman for the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Crandall C. Bowles
is trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), and a director at JPMorgan
Chase & Co.
Ellen
V. Futter is trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and a director at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Newton
N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
William
M. Daley is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, a trustee at the Third
Way, Richard M. Daley’s brother,
was the chairman Midwest region for JPMorgan
Chase & Co., and the chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.
Andrew Feldstein
is a trustee at the Third Way, and
was a managing director at the JPMorgan
Chase & Co.
Richard
M. Daley is a senior adviser for JPMorgan
Chase & Co, William M. Daley’s
brother, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of
Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
James
S. Crown is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, a director at the JPMorgan
Chase & Co, and a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Phillips
Talbot was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank),
and a
U.S. ambassador for Greece.
Jacob
A. Frenkel was the chairman, international for JPMorgan Chase & Co, and was a governor for the International Monetary Fund.
William T.
Winters was a co-CEO JP Morgan Investment Bank for JPMorgan Chase & Co., and is a director at the International Rescue Committee.
Gordon A. Smith
is the CEO, consumer & community banking for JPMorgan Chase & Co., and is a director at the International Rescue Committee.
Timothy F.
Geithner is a director at the International
Rescue Committee, was an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, was the secretary at the U.S. Department of the Treasury for the
Barack Obama administration, and a
director of policy development & review for the International Monetary Fund.
Jacob
J. Lew was the Treasury secretary;
former chief of staff for the Barack
Obama administration, is the secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and a U.S. governor for the International Monetary Fund.
Christine
Lagarde is a managing director at the International
Monetary Fund, and attended George
Soros’s 2013 wedding reception.
George Soros
was married in 2013, and the
chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think
tank).
Mario
Draghi was an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and is the president of the European Central Bank.
European
Central Bank is the central bank for European
Union, and sets the monetary policy for the Eurozone.
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