Greek Official: Cabinet Backs Euro Plan Referendum
Baku, November 3 (AZERTAC). Greece`s government spokesman says a marathon Cabinet meeting has concluded with ministers expressing unanimous support for Prime Minister George Papandreou`s surprise decision to call for a referendum on a hard-won European plan to rescue the Greek economy. Ilias Mossialos said early Wednesday that the referendum will be held "as soon as possible" once the basics tenets of the debt agreement have been reached. Earlier, Papandreou said the referendum would be on the debt deal, Greece`s European course and its participation in the euro currency used by 17 European Union nations. Papandreou`s referendum announcement was strongly criticized across Europe and caused stock markets around the world to plunge. The referendum proposal piled more pressure on an already creaking deal that was facing scrutiny from markets that found details wanting. European leaders agreed last Thursday on $136 billion in new bailout loans for Greece to accompany a 50 percent debt writeoff on the debt owed to its private creditors. The broader plan will also push European banks to strengthen their finances against losses on Greek bonds and strengthen the bailout fund to backstop other governments. Yet key details were lacking: Would enough banks join the "voluntary" writedown? How would a scheme to magnify the bailout fund`s financial power work? Would banks refuse to raise new capital and instead buttress their finances by simply lending less money, hurting the economy? Would the 50 percent reduction still leave Greece with too much debt to repay? Now the referendum proposal adds even more uncertainty. Yields on Italian bonds have jumped above 6 percent despite an effort by the European Central Bank to drive them down by buying them in the secondary market. The referendum proposal also calls into question Greece`s commitment to the bailout plan. Parliament was due to vote on it, but hanging its fate on a popular vote in Greece, where protests have intensified over the past year, is perhaps too bold a political move.
Papandreou is hoping to get a solid mandate to implement austerity measures over coming years, but the uncertainty created by the proposal itself and the fact that the vote would be months away risks sinking the European deal before Greeks can even vote on it. Jean-Claude Juncker, the chair of eurozone ministerial meetings, suggested Greece may not get its next bailout loans — which had already been approved and were due to be paid out in coming weeks — if it goes ahead with the vote. Athens runs out of money to pay pensions and salaries by mid-November and has to pay bondholders money in December. Failure to do so could trigger a messy default with dire consequences for stock and bond markets. Markets would plunge. European banks would suffer losses, making credit harder to get for businesses and hurting the economy. Borrowing costs would rise for other European governments, companies and households, worsening their finances, on fears they will default, too. Banks and financial firms in other countries would suffer as well. American broker MF Global Holdings filed for bankruptcy protection after markets lost confidence in its heavy bet on European government debt. President Barack Obama and other leaders of the Group of 20 forum of rich and developing countries have urged Europe to wrap up a solution to the debt crisis by a summit in Cannes Thursday and Friday so that the crisis does not disrupt global growth. If Greece defaults, its banks will likely collapse because they hold large amounts of government bonds. They would probably need to be taken over by the government. Unable to borrow, Greece would have to immediately balance its budget by making even more drastic cuts.
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