Greece bailout: Large protests expected against cuts
Greece bailout: Large protests expected against cuts
Greece is braced for large protests against further budget cuts, following a 130bn-euro (£110bn; $170bn) bailout deal aimed at avoiding bankruptcy.
There are fears of more violence during the rallies called by trade unions as the public mood hardens, a BBC correspondent in Athens says.
Meanwhile the government is finalising emergency legislation demanded by international lenders.
It says Greece has avoided a nightmare scenario by agreeing to the bailout.
The country has a week to approve a raft of spending cuts of more than 3bn euros tied to the bailout.
Emergency legislation, discussed by the Greek cabinet on Tuesday night, will be debated by MPs on Wednesday afternoon, although no vote is expected until Thursday.
The bill proposes cutting the current 751-euro minimum monthly wage by 22%, and also further cuts of pensions, reports say.
A key part of the bailout deal – the debt writedown by holders of Greek bonds – will be discussed at committee level before going to a vote by MPs on Thursday.
The protest against measures demanded by the IMF and other eurozone governments has been planned to coincide with Wednesday’s session of parliament.
A week ago, Athens saw its worst rioting in years as MPs passed a series of deeply unpopular austerity measures.
Greeks are a resilient people, well-versed in surmounting obstacles through their history. But that resilience is being sorely tested.
The country has been living with punishing austerity for much of the past two years: unemployment has reached record heights at over 21%, the economy contracted by 7% in the last quarter of 2011.
And now, with the bailout deal approved in Brussels, the cuts are set to get deeper still.
And Greeks are growing ever more doubtful that the path ahead will lead them out of this crisis. The government is acutely aware that support for the bailout and the austerity measures is costing it dearly in the opinion polls.
The view from Athens
“Workers in our country refuse to accept the barbarity of the tougher neo-liberal measures that have been extortionately imposed by our creditors,” the GSEE private sector trade union warned earlier this week.
Under Tuesday’s agreement hammered out after marathon talks in Brussels:
Greece will undertake to reduce its debt from 160% of GDP to 120.5% by 2020
private holders of Greek debt will take losses of 53.5% on the value of their bonds, with the real loss as much as 70%
eurozone experts will permanently monitor Greece’s economic management
a constitutional change will give priority to debt repayments over the funding of government services
‘Daily struggle’
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the deal had given Greece a new opportunity, and had “avoided the nightmare scenario”.
George Papandreou speaking on BBC Hardtalk: ”We will not default and we will not exit the euro”
“What we have is the clear, explicit commitment of our peers that they will support us even after the end of the programme, until Greece returns to the markets,” he said.
Opinion polls suggest that the two parties in the coalition government, which currently dominate parliament, are facing huge losses at the next election, scheduled for April.
Parties on the far left and far right, which are set to make big gains, are opposed to the bailout deal.
The head of the opposition Communist party has vowed to oppose new cuts.
“We insist on daily struggle to thwart the measures and this struggle cannot be a defensive one,” said Aleka Papariga.
Eurozone leaders hailed the deal as a triumph, and said it had saved Greece from going bankrupt.
Former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou told the BBC’s Hardtalk programme that Greece had made major sacrifices and deserved more respect from international analysts and financial markets.
“We have made major sacrifices in Greece,” he said
Budget 2012: CBI calls for ‘targeted’ tax cuts
Budget 2012: CBI calls for ‘targeted’ tax cuts.
In its submission ahead of the 21 March Budget, the business lobby group has urged the chancellor to deliver “Plan A plus” to bolster growth and investment.
It proposes a new tax cut for firms that invest in infrastructure projects.
The group also wants a simplification of taxes on carbon emissions and a lower rise in air passenger duty.
The CBI claims many businesses have the potential to grow and create new jobs, but confidence in the private sector remains weak.
“The chancellor must use this Budget to score the growth and investment policy goals he put forward in his Autumn Statement,” said CBI director general John Cridland.
“With our economy firmly under the international spotlight, there is no time to lose: Plan A plus must become a reality.
‘Not home and dry’
“We’re calling on the government to make some targeted changes to the UK tax system, which could make an impact on business decisions and create new opportunities for growth.”
The CBI also wants to ensure that existing policies set out in the Autumn Statement – such as credit easing, designed to make it easier for businesses to borrow – are fully delivered.
The shadow chancellor Ed Balls has called for tax cuts in the Budget, suggesting a cut to VAT and a 3p income tax cut for a year.
But Mr Cridland said he did not think Mr Balls’ call for more significant tax cuts was affordable.
He said increasing borrowing by a further £12bn was not the right solution, particularly when the negative outlook for the UK’s credit rating was a signal that the UK was not yet “home and dry”.
Britain threatened with the loss of its AAA credit rating
Chancellor George Osborne has defended the Government’s austerity package after Britain was threatened with the loss of its AAA credit rating amid fears over weaker growth prospects and potential shocks from the eurozone crisis.
Ratings agency Moody’s has put the UK on “negative outlook”, increasing the chance of the country being stripped of its cherished status.
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said the move was “a significant warning” and urged the Government to spark economic growth, but Mr Osborne said it was “a reality check for anyone who thinks Britain can duck confronting its debts”.
The Chancellor told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “We can’t waver in the path of dealing with our debts and here is yet another organisation warning Britain that if we spend or borrow too much we are going to lose our credit rating but, more importantly, what that leads to potentially is a loss of investor confidence in our economy.
“If people don’t invest in our economy, you don’t get growth and you don’t get jobs. It’s yet another reminder Britain doesn’t have some easy route out of the economic problems that have accumulated over the past decade, it’s got to confront those problems head-on and that’s precisely what I intend to do.”
Moody’s said it foresaw three main risks to the UK’s top rating, the first being a combination of slow growth with “reduced political commitment to fiscal consolidation” or a “failure to respond” to worsening conditions.
Other dangers were “a sharp rise in debt-refinancing costs, possibly associated with an inflation shock or a deterioration in market confidence over a sustained period” or a fresh crisis in the banking sector.
The AAA rating “continues to be well supported by a large, diversified and highly competitive economy, a particularly flexible labour market, and a banking sector that compares favourably to peers in the euro area”, it noted.
Significant structural reforms meant the economy was expected to return to 2.5% trend growth rate even if more slowly than previously anticipated, Moody’s said.
It added: “Although Moody’s sees rising challenges in achieving debt reduction within the timeframe that has been laid out by the Government, not least the possible impact of any future cutbacks on short-term growth, the rating agency believes the UK Government’s response to negative developments late last year indicates its commitment to restoring a sustainable debt position. This suggests the UK’s track record of reversing increases in debt is likely to continue going forward.”
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Premier New Earth Recycling fund reaches £100 million NAV as growth tops 46%
26 January 2012
Recycling fund reaches £100 million NAV as growth tops 46%*
The New Earth Solutions Recycling Facilities Investment Sub Fund (‘the Fund’), which is a unique recycling and composting fund, has now reached £100.12 million net asset value following launch in July 2008. As at January 2012 dealing, it had delivered total returns in Sterling of +46.60%* and continues to benefit from the need for Local Authorities to reduce landfill disposal and a growing demand for waste management facilities across the UK.
The Fund is managed by The Premier Group (Isle of Man) Limited (‘Premier’), an Isle of Man-based fund group, in conjunction with New Earth Solutions Group Limited (‘New Earth’), a leading British waste treatment and renewable energy specialist.
David Whitaker, Director at Premier said: “We are delighted that the Fund has reached this milestone in a little over three years. It is a unique proposition that enables investors to benefit from the growing interest in sustainable waste management practices and renewable energy. That momentum is reflected in the excellent returns delivered by the fund at a time when the financial markets are beset by volatility.”
The Fund is a sub fund of the Premier Investment Opportunities Fund, which is quoted on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange, and qualifies as an investment within a UK Self Invested Personal Pension (‘SIPP’). It is only available to qualifying investors with a minimum investment of £10,000 (or currency equivalent) if held directly or £5,000 (or currency equivalent) if held in a life assurance bond.
New Earth continues to grow quickly and impressively, tendering for further local authority contracts which will support additional waste treatment and renewable energy recovery facilities across the country.
Waste that is unsuitable for either composting or recycling is processed to produce a refuse-derived fuel. New Earth is seeking to employ advanced thermal conversion technologies to recover low-carbon renewable energy from biomass-rich fuels in renewable power plants and combined heat and power schemes for public and private customers.
Bank Of England Due To Announce More QE
The Bank of England is expected to unleash another multi-billion round of emergency support for the UK economy today.
Despite signs that the UK’s financial health may be starting to improve, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is forecast to take fresh action.
Analysts believe it will extend its quantitative easing (QE) programme by another £50bn, taking the total to £325bn, in a bid to stave off a double-dip recession.
The Bank will announce its plans at midday, and is also expected to keep interest rates at their record low of 0.5%.
But further QE could spell bad news for pensioners.
It can fuel inflation, which would mean more gloom for retirees who have already seen the value of their pension pots eroded by the high cost of living and low interest rates.
The current programme of asset purchases, also known as QE, was due to be completed early this month.
But recent, more positive data from the UK services industry and other business surveys showing stronger than expected confidence have made it a closer call.
How Do you Rate Yourself?
I make basic mistakes:
A Infrequently, and rarely repeat the same mistake
B Occasionally
C Frequently
D Very often
E Never (see honesty and integrity below)
Sales training proves its worth
I have been working for the last seven years with a large organisation, which I will refer to as ABC Industries. By investing in sales training, this company has been increasing sales and profit margins despite being faced with a discounting competitor.
Between 2004-2009 ABC Industries’ sales have risen from £10m to £17.3m per annum, while profits have risen from £1m to £1.8m. So sales during this period have increased by 73%, whereas sales by its major competitor have remained stagnant. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) ranged from 9.1% to 11.7%, while its major competitor had an EBIT of between 2.5% to 4%. (more…)
