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Greece joins Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe on the latest to be in debt to the International Monetary Fund. As Athenians rallied underneath thunderclouds to show their support for keeping Greece in the eurozone of single currency nations, their broke government defaulted on a $2.2-billion payment to the International Monetary Fund. At midnight on Tuesday, Greece joined Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe as countries in arrears to the IMF. Also at midnight, the bailout assistance package that began in February 2012 formally expired, leaving Greece without access to any emergency finances. In Washington, the IMF acknowledged that Greece had failed to meet...

... Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke by phone with Mr. Juncker and European Parliament President Martin Schulz and asked for help getting an extension to the bailout, a Greek government official said. “The Greek prime minister [Tsipras]expressed the position that the democratic expression of the Greek people is hindered by the closure of banks, which doesn’t apply with the democratic tradition of Europe,” the official said. ... Mr. Tsipras and his government are calling on Greeks to vote “no” to send a signal to Europe and the IMF

Brussels is preparing plans for Greece to quit the euro, a senior official has revealed, as analysts warned that the country’s exit would cost European taxpayers at least €225bn (£180bn). European Union trade commissioner Karel De Gucht said that both the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) were working behind the scenes on contingency plans for a break-up. “Today there are in the European Central Bank, as well as in the Commission, services working on emergency scenarios if Greece shouldn’t make it. A Greek exit does not mean the end of the euro, as some claim,” he said....

Spanish Sovereign debt yields jumped again today following Restructuring Concerns expressed by Willem Buiter. Spanish bonds fell, pushing 10-year yields to the highest level in a month, after Citigroup Inc. chief economist Willem Buiter said the nation faced an increasing risk of a debt restructuring. Ten-year Spanish securities slid for an eighth day, widening the extra yield over similar-maturity German bunds, as a decline in European stocks sapped demand for higher-yielding assets. “Spanish spreads moved much wider after Buiter’s comments,” said Lyn Graham-Taylor, a fixed-income strategist at Rabobank International in London. “This highlights concern over further debt restructuring. Bunds recovered...

She needed him to soften the impression that Germany alone is leading Europe. He needed her to give the impression France is still, despite its economic difficulties, a political player. … From a frosty beginning their relationship evolved towards mutual respect. They met, bickered, compromised and then decided on eurozone policy. With France struggling to contain its budget deficit and French banks heavily exposed to Greece, Sarkozy embraced Merkel's economic view of the world—austerity measures until a balanced budget is achieved. He brought his admiration for the 'German model' into his electoral campaign. She said she would support Sarkozy in...

THE 800 POUND GREEK GORILLA (EXPOSED) When we have been given the data on Greek sovereign debt it appears we have been misled. I have added up now the ISDA debt issuances and I present them to you; all of these issuances are GUARANTEED by the Hellenic Republic; full faith and credit. GREEK SOVEREIGN GUARANTEED DEBT AMOUNT The New Economy Development Fund $139,000,000.00 The Hellenic Railway $2,240,000,000.00 Structured Notes (Not counting Floating Rate Notes) $20,683,000,000.00 Athens Urban Transportation $837,000,000.00 Greek Bank Guaranteed Debt $83,314,000,000.00 TOTAL GREEK GUARANTEED. DEBT $107,213,000,000.00 Here is $107 billion of OTHER debt; guaranteed debt that does...

The long-discussed Greek debt deal with huge haircuts for investors did what was expected: $3 billion in credit default swaps. A committee of credit-default swaps traders will expedite an auction to settle about $3 billion of contracts tied to Greece after the nation took steps to force investors to participate in the biggest sovereign-debt restructuring in history. The Greek Sovereign 5 year CDS is currently trading at over 25,000. Here is the CDS spread by date. Notice that the 6 month Greek CDS spread is at … 84,199%. How big is 25,000+? Here is the comparable U.S. Sovereign 5 year...

Greece Has Defaulted - Which Country In Europe Is Next?Michael SnyderMarch 3, 2012 Well, it is official. The restructuring deal between Greece and private investors has been pushed through and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has ruled that this is a credit event which will trigger credit-default swap contracts. The ISDA is saying that there are approximately $3.2 billion in credit-default swap contracts on Greek debt outstanding, and most analysts expect that the global financial system will be able to absorb these losses. But still, 3.2 billion dollars is nothing to scoff at, and some of these financial institutions...

Greece has cleared another hurdle as it struggles to avoid default, going through with its highly controversial debt restructuring (dubbed PSI), and effectively forcing the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) to rule, along with credit rating agencies, that the Hellenic Republic has indeed defaulted. This has paved the way for Greece to receive a second, €130 billion, bailout, while triggering CDS protection on its defaulted bonds. Friday was a chaotic, headline heavy day for those following Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. Greece confirmed that it had achieved an 85.8% participation rate on its debt exchange, which would allow the government...

Former U.S. Comptroller David Walker has warned that the U.S. could slide into a debt scenario similar to what Greece is experiencing. “The truth is if you count total U.S. government debt as compared to many of the European nations that are in the news, we’re already worse than they are, and we’re two years away from where Greece was when it had its crisis,” Walker said in a recent interview with CYInterview.com. But he said that the size and economic power of the U.S. means it would have more time to right itself before disaster. Walker served as U.S....

Greek Default Looms As Voluntary Debt Deal Looks Set To Fail European leaders are braced for the eurozone’s first ever sovereign default this week as Greece’s efforts to secure a €206bn (£172bn) “voluntary” bond swap looks increasingly unlikely. Credit rating agencies have warned they will declare Athens to be in default if they force bond swap on investors. By Louise Armitstead 03 Mar 2012 Authorities in Athens are ready to enforce the controversial collective action clauses, or CACs, to impose the restructuring deal on all bondholders as the number of voluntary agreements look set to fall short of the required...

Germany's ruling parties are to introduce a resolution in parliament blocking any further boost to the EU’s bail-out machinery, vastly complicating Greece’s rescue package and risking a major clash with the International Monetary Fund. “European solidarity is not an end in itself and should not be a one-way street. Germany’s engagement has reached it limits,” said the text, drafted by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and Free Democrat (FDP) allies. “Germany itself faces strict austerity to comply with the national debt brake,” said the declaration, which will go to the Bundestag next week. Lawmakers said there is no scope to...

At a G20 summit in Mexico in two days the EU will plead for increased IMF contributions by non-euro countries to help shore up a eurozone "financial firewall" seen as vital to protecting Spain and Italy from Greek debt contagion. The IMF will refuse to make extra cash available to the EU and will threaten to pull the plug on its contribution to Tuesday's €130bn bailout of Greece unless the eurozone creates a €750bn fund, a move opposed by Germany. In the wake of this week's deal to prevent a Greek default, Olli Rehn, the EU's economic and monetary affairs...

The greatest problem facing Greece is not lack of money but a clientelist system that is accountable to no-one, writes a Greek journalist. Kostas Karkagiannis You are possibly fed up with the Greek crisis, and so are Europe’s leading politicians. Doubtlessly you think that Greece’s problems are of a financial nature: lack of competitiveness, gargantuan debts and deficits, and a counterproductive public sector. You are right, but these are just the tip of the iceberg. The heart of the problem lies firstly in its anarchic and poorly functioning legal system, and secondarily on the existence of a clientelist system...

Europe’s key powers are on the brink of a €130bn (£108bn) debt deal to rescue Greece and avert the first sovereign default in Western Europe in over half a century. Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble toned down threats to force Greece out of the euro, bowing to intense pressure from France, Italy, and the US-led bloc of global leaders. Mr Schäuble said the country is "on the right path" and signalled that pension cuts agreed by the Greek cabinet over the weekend would be enough to secure approval for the loan package from EU ministers on Monday. "If Greece can...

Documents Raise Awkward Questions For Washington, IMF & BerlinA written document giving firm dates and detailed actions for a planned Greek default has been in the possession of two top Wall Street bank currency trading bosses since the second week in January. The Slog has separate but corroborative sources affirming the existence of the document, and a conviction among senior bank staff that – at least at the time – the plan represented “a timetable, not a contingency”. The plan gives a firm date of March 23rd for default to be announced after the close of business. Senior bankers on...

According to this report the odds that Greece defaults on its obligations to the EuroZone is now at 98% which only proves, once again, that bailouts works....works to grind the economy to a halt and ensure that any recovery is impossible. Greece has a 98 percent chance of defaulting on its debt in the next five years as Prime Minister George Papandreou fails to reassure investors his country can survive the euro-region crisis. “Everyone’s pricing in a pretty near-term default and I think it’ll be a hard event,” said Peter Tchir, founder of hedge fund TF Market Advisors in...

Global stock markets took another battering today amid mounting concerns that Greece will default on its debts and others in the eurozone might follow. Asian shares slumped overnight, while the FTSE 100 Index in London tumbled by more than 2 per cent at one stage as investors also digested the impact of a tougher-than-expected report on banking reform. European markets saw heavy falls, with the CAC 40 in Paris down by more than 4 per cent and the Dax in Frankfurt 3 per cent lower. Ben Potter, market strategist at IG Index, said: 'The selling seen over the last few...

Seriously. There is persistent chatter about a Greek default over the weekend, which Greece denied, but the denier refused to be named. If it's not true, then put your damned name on the statement or be considered what you are - liars. Greece failed to place their short-term bill rollover. That's a declaration by the market that even for short-term paper the market has utterly lost confidence in Greece and the Euro. Germany's DAX market relative to the United States just hit a five year low today. To add to the "liar liar pants on fire" calls Germany is now...

• Private lenders to contribute €37bn to second Greek bail-out • Deal paves way for European monetary Fund and economic integration • Debt interest rates cut for Greece, Ireland and Portugal • Equity and debt markets rise on back of historic deal • 'We now have a programme and a package of decisions which create a sustainable path for Greece’ - Greek prime minister George Papandreou Greece is set to lead the eurozone's first-ever default as European leaders agreed that the private holders of Greek debt will take a hit of €50bn over three years. Breaking weeks of deadlock, the...