البورصةBourseBolsa股市AktienBorsaFinansФорексFXFinançasGiełdaΧρηματιστήριοBeursBörsPörssi금융
May 25, 2012 11:24AM GMT
     
 
  New York   London   Tokyo 
   
 

UPDATE 2-Slovak rebuff of Greek bilateral loan upsets Brussels

By   |  Forex News  |  Aug 11, 2010 07:33PM GMT  |  Add a Comment
 

* Slovakia torpedoes its bilateral loan to Greece

* European Commission says Slovaks breach solidarity

* Parliament approves participation in the EFSF

(adds comments from EU's Rehn)

By Martin Santa

BRATISLAVA, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Slovakia's parliament torpedoed a bilateral loan to debt-laden Greece on Wednesday and the European Commission reprimanded the euro zone's poorest member state for breaching solidarity principles.

Slovakia's politicians have questioned the fairness of calling on its taxpayers to aid wealthier countries who failed to control debt, and the new centre-right cabinet has placed conditions on its role in an emergency loan facility.

"I can only regret this breach of solidarity within the euro area and I expect the Eurogroup and the Ecofin Council to return to the matter in their next meeting," the EU's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement.

Rehn said Slovakia's decision to withhold its contribution did not put in danger the 110 billion euro ($143 billion) bailout package for Greece organised by the EU and the International Monetary Fund.

"The Slovak Parliament vote will not have any negative implication for the disbursement of the instalments of the loan," said Rehn.

Slovakia has one of the lowest debt burdens in the European Union with debt at around 36 percent of economic output, a point lawmakers made when they rejected their 816 million euro share of the IMF/EU package for Greece -- whose debt is bigger than its annual economic output.

The parliamentary votes went in line with recommendations from the cabinet. Only one deputy voted in favour of the Greek loan.

"I do not consider this as solidarity if it is solidarity between poor and rich, of the responsible with the irresponsible, or tax payers with bank owners and managers," Finance Minister Ivan Miklos told the parliament.

The monthly minimum wage in the ex-communist country is 308 euros, well below the Greek minimum legal wage of 863 euros.

Teams from the IMF, European Commission and European Central Bank are assessing Greece's progress in cutting its deficit and pursuing labour market and other reforms before releasing the second tranche from the 110 billion euro programme, due next month.

SLOVAKS JOIN EURO ZONE'S SAFETY NET

Parliament did, however, approve Slovakia's participation in a euro zone loan facility designed to aid countries in trouble.

Prime Minister Iveta Radicova's government had previously held up the 750 billion euro loan facility, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), after objections to bailouts became a campaign issue in a June election.

On Wednesday, parliament approved participation in the package and agreed to contribute Slovakia's share of the facility, which is 4.5 billion euros worth of guarantees.

Bratislava in July demanded the creation of stricter fiscal rules in the euro zone, including a mechanism for bankruptcy for countries with irresponsible fiscal policies, before any aid from the EFSF fund is released.

Slovakia joined the European Union in 2004 and adopted the euro currency in January last year.

(Additional reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; Editing by Susan Fenton/Ruth Pitchford)


Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data .

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.

Add a Comment

 
 
 
 

Successfully Reported

Thank you. This comment has been flagged for a moderator.
_touchLoadingMsg
 
 
CFDs Quotes
 SPX 500 Futures1323.45+0.95+0.07%  
 NQ 100 Futures2540.60+4.35+0.17%  
 US 3012529.75+33.60+0.27%  
 DAX6325.00+9.11+0.14%  
 UK 1005334.00-16.05-0.30%  
 Japan 2258580.39+17.01+0.20%  
 US Dollar Index82.21-0.23-0.27%  
CFDs Quotes
 Gold1563.05+5.55+0.36%  
 Silver28.243+0.086+0.31%  
 Copper3.453+0.025+0.72%  
 Crude Oil91.08+0.41+0.46%  
 Natural Gas2.674-0.035-1.31%  
 US Cotton No.273.93-0.01-0.01%  
 US Coffee C167.68+2.15+1.30%  
 
 EUR/USD1.2577+0.0045+0.36%  
 GBP/USD1.5689+0.0020+0.13%  
 USD/JPY79.51-0.09-0.11%  
 USD/CHF0.9554-0.0032-0.33%  
 AUD/USD0.9792+0.0030+0.30%  
 USD/CAD1.0268-0.0002-0.01%  
 EUR/CHF1.2017+0.0004+0.03%  
CFDs Quotes
 Euro Bund143.94-0.04-0.03%  
 Euro BTP102.26+0.12+0.12%  
 Euro BOBL126.225+0.025+0.02%  
 UK Gilt119.41-0.05-0.04%  
 US 2 YR T-Note110.21+0.01+0.01%  
 US 10 YR T-Note133.54+0.17+0.13%  
 US 30 YR T-Bond147.26+0.15+0.10%  
Recent Activity