Eurozone crisis live: Italian PM blasts handling of Greek crisis, as Germany keeps tough line
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Samaras issues growth call
Greece's prime minister issued a plea for fellow eurozone leaders to drag the region back to growth, during his press conference with Enrico Letta.
Asociated Press flags up that
Antonis Samaras said Greece's recession was "worsening problems that we must solve and complicating reforms which we must complete."He said a Greek recovery would not be possible unless the 17-country eurozone bloc itself emerges from recession.
Recent data has suggested that the eurozone's recession may end in the current quarter, but record unemployment levels and tight bank lending means the recovery could be slow...
Italian PM blasts mistakes over Greek bailout
Italy's prime minister, Enrico Letta, has delivered a deeply critical assessment of the way Greece's financial crisis has been handled by Europe and the International Monetary Fund.
Letta blasted the austerity measures imposed on Athens for deepening the crisis and making its unemployment crisis worse, during his two-day visit to the country.
During today's press conference with Greece's Antonis Samaras, Letta declared:
There is no doubt that serious mistakes were made about Greece by Europe in the past few years.The timing was wrong. The instruments were wrong. The interventions were not made in the right way and at the right time and this worsened the crisis.The crisis would have been different. It would have created less of a financial disaster, it would have led to fewer job losses across Europe if Europe's attitude to Greece had been different at the beginning.
(quotes via Reuters)
As I flagged up at 11.52am, both leaders said they hoped Europe could turn the corner next year.
Letta, though, insisted that the recovery must be based on growth and employment, not simply cuts:
These sacrifices are not an end in themselves, they're not the goal, they're the instrument to reach the promised land.
A message that should go down well in Italy, as well as Greece...
Updated
EC lowers Greece's privatisations target as asset sale flops
The EC has also tweaked Greece's privatisation targets, following Athens' failure to find a buyer for its national gas network.
Today's report showed that the 2013 privatisation target has been cut to €1.6bn, from €2.6bn, reflecting the lack of revenue from the sale of DEPA, which flopped in June.
However, Athens isn't off the hook -- 2014's target has been hiked to €3.5bn, up from €1.9bn six months ago.
The EC didn't hide its exasperation:
While progress has been made in preparing for privatisation, the overall speed of the privatisation process remains unsatisfactory.
And here's the key chart (from 26 of the report).
EC: Greek slump bottoming out
Today's report (12,.49pm) shows the EC is still confident that the Greek economy will return to growth in 2014.
It states that economic indicators for the first six months of 2013 show signs of "a gradual bottoming out of the decline in economic activity in Greece".
Tourism could play a big role, with pre-bookings up by at least 10%. And the EC is also hoping that the jobs crisis could ease, as "the contraction in employment is projected to decelerate over the year".
But despite this optimism, inspectors still expect GDP to shrink by 4.2% this year, and only rise by 0.6% in 2014. It then spies growth of 2.9% in 2015 and a positively healthy 3.7% in 2016:
Updated
EC: Greece is making slow progress
The European Commission has declared that Greece's bailout programme is broadly on track, but warned that the fiscal outlook remains highly uncertain.
The comments come in the EC's latest quarterly review of the Greek aid package, published online a few minutes ago, which approves its next aid payment.
The report explains that Greece is making "slow" progress:
Important progress has been made on public finances and the recapitalisation of the four core banks has been completed. The legal basis for the new semi-autonomous revenue administration has been created, but perseverance in implementing the ongoing reforms will be key to deliver concrete results in the fight against tax evasionSeveral important structural reforms have been implemented in the areas of healthcare, the opening of professions, and public financial management. However, far-reaching reforms are still needed in many other areas, including public administration reform, improvements of the business environment, energy and justice.
Click below to download it:
The Second Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece – Third Review July 2013
The first few pages of the report also lists a series of hurdles and problems facing Greece, including:
• Shortfalls, notably in the health sector, that threatened the
achievement of the fiscal targets for 2013 and 2014
achievement of the fiscal targets for 2013 and 2014
• Increasing public revenues and reforming an ineffective revenue administration are key priorities, but there remain concerns about the willingness and capacity of the Greek administration to collect revenues effectively and efficiently.
• Payment arrears weigh on the Greek economy and society and require a far-reaching reform
• Limited progress has been made in selling assets through privatisation, and proceeds in 2013 have so far been clearly below expectations
• Implementation risks to the programme remain important. the GUARDIAN
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