ATHENS, Greece
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German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann delivers a speech during a dinner of the Hellenic Bank Association in Athens, Greece, August 30, 2018. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
February 27, 2019
BERLIN (Reuters) – The German cabinet gave the green light on Wednesday for Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann to extend his term for another eight years, a government source said.
Weidmann’s first term expires at the end of April and the cabinet’s decision paves the way for him to stay for a second term.
The extension would in theory keep Weidmann in the mix as a possible successor to ECB chief Mario Draghi, whose job will become available at the end of October, though Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau is seen as frontrunner.
(Reporting by Holger Hansen; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras speaks during the annual meeting of the bank’s shareholders in Athens, Greece February 26, 2018. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
February 19, 2019
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek central bank governor Yannis Stournaras called on the government on Tuesday to rein in a minister who he said had tried to interfere with the bank’s independence when he phoned him about inquiries into a bank loan the minister had received.
Deputy Health Minister Pavlos Polakis hit the front pages of Greek newspapers on Sunday for taking out a 100,000 euro consumer loan in 2018, collateralised with a house mortgage, from state-controlled Attica bank, which is supervised by the central bank.
Polakis confirmed he obtained the loan, saying on Facebook that he was forced to seek the funds “to meet family and political life needs”. His comments triggered an angry response from political opponents, who said ordinary Greeks would not have the same access to lending. Greek banks are still cautious about consumer loans as they emerge from a mountain of bad debt.
On Monday, the central bank’s supervisory authorities asked Αttica Βank’s management about the loan to Polakis, a central bank official said. Attica Bank said in a statement that all rules were followed and the guarantees were adequate.
Polakis called Stournaras inquiring if there was any probe into the loan, and, if so, to demand that the central bank also look into other politicians’ transactions.
“I’m calling to tell you that you are correct in running checks on me, but as soon as you finish with me … check them too. Because if you don’t, I will come round there and won’t leave until you order the probe,” Polakis said, according to an excerpt of the phone conversation obtained by Greek news website Documento.
Stournaras, who sits on the governing council of the European Central Bank, said it was unprecedented for a minister to record a private conversation and blasted what he said was an attempt by a person in government to influence him.
“The preposterous attempt by minister Pavlos Polakis to interfere with how the Administration of the Bank of Greece and I personally perform our duties is a gross institutional transgression,” Stournaras said in a statement.
“I call upon the Prime Minister and the government to take immediate steps in order to safeguard the independence of the Bank of Greece.”
Polakis denied that he taped the conversation.
A prosecutor ordered a preliminary investigation into the case on Tuesday.
Polakis is regularly in Greek media. Earlier this month he was reprimanded by the EU health commissioner for smoking in a public area. Via his Facebook page, Polakis retorted that it was none of the commissioner’s business.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas and Lefteris Papadimas Editing by Renee Maltezou and Frances Kerry)
Source: OANN
ATHENS, Greece – Greece’s central bank chief has asked Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to intervene after a cabinet minister phoned him to tell him how to do his job and then allegedly leaked the conversation to the press.
In a statement Tuesday, bank chief Yiannis Stournaras deplored the deputy minister’s "unheard-of" attempt to influence the central bank, and urged Tsipras to protect the central bank’s independence.
The Bank of Greece governor — a finance minister in Greece’s former conservative government — has a testy relationship with Tsipras’ left-wing administration, and is frequently targeted by pro-government media.
On Monday, Deputy Health Minister Pavlos Polakis announced on social media that he phoned Stournaras over an investigation into a bank loan that Polakis had received. He said he urged Stournaras to also investigate loans allegedly taken out by opposition politicians.
Source: Fox News World
FILE PHOTO: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attends a cabinet meeting in the parliament in Athens, Greece, January 28, 2019. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo
February 18, 2019
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Greece is at risk of not getting some 750 million euros next month that it won under a debt relief deal with the euro zone last year because it has not completed agreed reforms, euro zone officials said on Monday.
The money is part of about 4.8 billion euros of profits from Greek bonds held by euro zone central banks, to be handed back to Athens by mid-2022 in semi-annual tranches and a waiver of the step-up interest rate margin on part of the euro zone loans.
Together, the two measures add up to 750 million every six months. The money was designed as an incentive for Athens to continue with hard-won reforms adopted under its three bailouts since 2010, worth more than 280 billion euros in total.
The European Commission will issue a report on Feb. 27 spelling out Greek progress in implementation of the agreed reforms. The conclusion of this report will be key for euro zone finance ministers to decide whether to allow the disbursement.
“The report is likely to say that Greece has not completed the agreed reforms,” one euro zone official said.
“Euro zone finance ministers, who meet to discuss the issue on March 11, will not allow the disbursement unless Athens completes the actions between Feb 27th and March 11,” the official said.
There are 16 various reforms at different stages of completion, but the key ones, officials said, were linked to the clearance of government arrears, the roll-out of the primary health care system and centralized health-care procurement and the legal framework for non-performing loan resolution, in particular the household insolvency law.
“The main issue is the insolvency law, where a balance between protection of not so well-off house owners and the banks is needed. The Greek side is still working on the law and receives comments from the institutions,” a second euro zone official said.
If euro zone ministers withhold the money in March, it can still be disbursed at some later stage, once all the reforms have been carried out as agreed, officials said.
(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Source: OANN
ATHENS, Greece – Greek authorities say rescue crews have recovered the bodies of four people who were swept away in their car by a swollen river on the southern island of Crete, following heavy rainfall in the region.
The fire department said rescue crews located the car in the Geropotamos river on Monday, with all four people still inside.
The four — a young married couple, the wife’s sister and her mother — had reportedly been returning from a wedding celebration nearby late on Saturday night when their car was swept away by floodwaters. Two calls were made to emergency services from the car at around 1 a.m. Sunday, but rescue crews were unable to reach them in time despite a massive search operation.
Source: Fox News World
ATHENS, Greece – Dionissis Arvanitakis, a Greek baker who provided free bread to refugees who arrived on a Greek island, has died of unspecified causes. He was 77.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker released a statement Sunday expressing his respect "for an exemplary European citizen" who showed "rare generosity and sensitivity towards the hundreds of unfortunate immigrants."
Juncker said: "My Europe is the one Dionissis Arvanitakis symbolized."
Raised in a poor family of 10, Arvanitakis emigrated to Australia at age 16 and eventually returned to Greece, settling on the island of Kos in 1970. He opened a bakery with his savings.
In March 2015, he started giving away 100 kilos of bread (220 pounds) a day to the large number of refugees showing up on Kos.
Arvanitakis said at the time: "I know what it feels like to have nothing."
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