After a weekend of hotly debated proposals in government and fierce violent demonstrations in the street, the Greek government finally approved drastic austerity measures demanded by the EU as a pre-condition to receive over 130 billion Euros. However today leading EU finance ministers say the reforms agreed in Athens do not go far enough and today’s meeting in Brussels has been postponed.
A spokesman said simply “party leaders in Athens failed to provide the required commitment to reform.” Although all is not lost, while the face to face meeting has been cancelled a rescheduled telephone conference call has been arranged. However it is expected that the much needed 130Bn Euros will not be forthcoming in time to prevent a March declaration of bankruptcy.
Time is running out not only for Greece but for the entire Euro Zone since a credit default and bankruptcy in Greece could lead to a domino effect across the member states with Spain and Portugal eagerly waiting on the sidelines to see how as a reflection on Greece their economic woes will be handled the European elite in Brussels.
A Greek government spokesman was quoted late on Tuesday evening that Antonis Samaras, who’s expected to be named the next Greek Prime Minister, will sign a further reform commitment on this morning. Samaras, leader of the opposition in the coalition government had previously criticized the debated measures passed on Monday as the nation’s streets we filled with rioters across Athens.
Market Analysts have concluded that upon the current path Greece finds itself is far from sustainable predicting that Greek GDP could drop as much as 25-30 percent, an unprecedented drop in the economics of Europe and would put it on par with the Great Depression in USA where the country contracted by 29%.
“They’re suffering. It’s nasty,” said Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, another Washington think tank.
We expect further updates throughout the day.
