28/09 Greece will remain within Eurozone: Barroso

English.news.cn   2011-09-28 19:16:07

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BRUSSELS, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- "Greece is, and will remain, a member of the euro area." Juan Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission told European Parliament Wednesday.

He pledged that European Union would fully support Greece, on conditions that Greece fully implements its commitment.

Barroso told the Parliament Members that the Commission was working to help Greece reactivate its economy. "A program of 500 million euros to guarantee EIB (European Investment Bank) loans to Greek SMEs is already under way. The Commission is also considering a wider guarantee mechanism to help banks lend again to the real economy." He said.

He also pointed out that apart from helping debt-laden nations like Greece, maintaining stability in eurozone and preventing contagion of crisis should be primary tasks in the short term. "Some credible firepower and effective firewalls for Europe is needed to deal with sovereign debt crisis in the short term," Barroso said.

The first step was to quickly fix the way to solve sovereign debt crisis, and the measures should be built on the base of EFST and upcoming European Stability Mechanism, according to Barroso.

"EFSF shall be made both stronger and more flexible, this is what the Commission proposed in January," Barroso said. He also urged Member States to ratify resolution of July 21 summit, "only then, when you ratify this, it will be able to deploy precautionary interventions, intervene to support recapitalization of commercial banks and intervene in secondary markets to help avoid contagion." He said.

Barroso also pledged to speed up the making ESM into force, as well as deeper integration of coordination of eurozone. "This Six Pact reforms stability and growth prospect, and widen surveillance on macro-economic balances." He said. "I really want to thank you and congratulate you for that," Barroso also stressed that discipline and integration were key to future of eurozone, but meanwhile pledged to go further to combine the monetary union with economic union. "We need a truly community approach, we need to integrate euroarea, we need to complete the monetary with a real economic union." Barroso said. He described the "Six Pact" as foundation of economic union, and pledged that the Commission would present in the coming weeks proposals to deepen integrations. What's more, Barroso also stressed needs to combine it with "Euro Plus Pack" to enhance competitiveness. He also seeks the opportunity to advocate the idea of Eurobond, but stated that this could only be done when "Europe is fully equipped with instruments necessary to insure both discipline and integration." Related: Merkel vows support for Greece, urges actions from Athens BERLIN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that Germany wants a strong Greece staying within the eurozone and will offer all necessary supports, while urging indebted Athens to fulfill their own responsibilities. In a joint press conference with visiting Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Berlin, Merkel said "Germany is ready to offer every assistance necessary" for a strong Greece and will help the debt-crippled country stay in the 17-nation eurozone.    Full story Greece to receive sixth tranche of EU/IMF aid "in time": FM ATHENS, Sept. 27 Xinhua) -- Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos expressed confidence on Tuesday that Greece will get the sixth EU/IMF aid installment "in time" to avoid default this October. Amidst continuing anti-austerity protests, Venizelos told reporters here that Athens will fulfill all pledges for fiscal consolidation and growth under the terms of the three-year bailout pact secured in 2010 by foreign lenders.    Full story Greece announces fresh austerity measures ATHENS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Greece announced on Wednesday evening a fresh package of austerity measures to weather the debt crisis that threatens the eurozone country with default. Up to 30,000 civil servants will be dismissed by the end of 2011 through a labor reserve program, according to a statement following a marathon cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister George Papandreou.    Full story  Special Report: Global Financial Crisis Editor: Xiong Tong     1 2

Related News • Greece dismisses new bankruptcy scenarios, lowers 2011 privatization goal • New austerity package triggers strong reactions in Greece • Greece approves draft bill for EFSF expansion amid controversy • Greece reports satisfactory progress in teleconference with creditors • Greece hit by new wave of protests, braces for fresh austerity measures

28/09 Wall Street trims gains amid concerns over Greece bailout

English.news.cn   2011-09-28 06:10:39

A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, on Sept. 27, 2011. The U.S. stocks significantly cut early gains but still finished higher for the third straight session on Tuesday as investors were expecting that European leaders were coming closer to a plan which can help Greece avert a default on its debt. (Xinhua/Fan Xia)

NEW YORK, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -The U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday amid euro zone hopes, with three major indexes rising over 1 percent, despite shares came off their best levels of the day.

The stocks opened higher with three major indexes jumping over 2 percent on euro zone hopes, but then dropped a lot in the final hour of trading, as reports said that some euro zone members disagreed with Greece bailout plan.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 146.83 points, or 1.33 percent, to 11,190.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 12.43 points, or 1.07 percent, to 1,175.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 30.14 points, or 1.20 percent, to 2,546.83. "Tuesday market' s dramatic performance was because of euro zone situation, "said Stephen J. Guilfoyle, institutional sales trader of Meridian Equity. According to him, right now the U.S. stocks were traded on events, not on fundamentals any more.

That was why two important economic data released on Tuesday failed to attract much attention from investors.

The U.S. consumer confidence recovered slightly in September, but still stayed low as consumers were concerned about the economic outlook, according to figures released by the Conference Board on Tuesday.

The Board said its consumer confidence index was at 45.4 in September, up slightly from a more than-2-year low of 44.5 in August. However, the figure was below economist' previous estimation of 46.

The Board bases its index on results of a survey it conducts the first half of each month with 5,000 of randomly selected households nationwide. A reading above 90 indicates the economy is on solid footing, while above 100 signals strong growth.

Meanwhile, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices, U.S. home prices in 20 metropolitan areas nationwide, including New York, Miami and Boston, increased by 0.9 percent in July, the fourth consecutive monthly increase and a sign of the seasonal strength in the housing market.

However, home prices still fell 4.1 percent year-on-year, underscoring the headwinds the housing market was still facing amid tepid economic growth and high unemployment rate.

In the money market, the U.S. dollar fell against most major currencies in late New York trading on Tuesday. The dollar index lost 0.87 percent to 77.68.

Also boosted by Euro hopes, light, sweet crude for November delivery soared 4.21 dollars, or 5.25 percent to 84.45 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for November delivery surged 3.20 dollars, or 3.08 percent and close at 107.14 dollars a barrel.

28/09 Wall Street trims gains amid concerns over Greece bailout

English.news.cn   2011-09-28 06:10:39

A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, the United States, on Sept. 27, 2011. The U.S. stocks significantly cut early gains but still finished higher for the third straight session on Tuesday as investors were expecting that European leaders were coming closer to a plan which can help Greece avert a default on its debt. (Xinhua/Fan Xia)

NEW YORK, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -The U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday amid euro zone hopes, with three major indexes rising over 1 percent, despite shares came off their best levels of the day.

The stocks opened higher with three major indexes jumping over 2 percent on euro zone hopes, but then dropped a lot in the final hour of trading, as reports said that some euro zone members disagreed with Greece bailout plan.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 146.83 points, or 1.33 percent, to 11,190.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 12.43 points, or 1.07 percent, to 1,175.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 30.14 points, or 1.20 percent, to 2,546.83. "Tuesday market' s dramatic performance was because of euro zone situation, "said Stephen J. Guilfoyle, institutional sales trader of Meridian Equity. According to him, right now the U.S. stocks were traded on events, not on fundamentals any more.

That was why two important economic data released on Tuesday failed to attract much attention from investors.

The U.S. consumer confidence recovered slightly in September, but still stayed low as consumers were concerned about the economic outlook, according to figures released by the Conference Board on Tuesday.

The Board said its consumer confidence index was at 45.4 in September, up slightly from a more than-2-year low of 44.5 in August. However, the figure was below economist' previous estimation of 46.

The Board bases its index on results of a survey it conducts the first half of each month with 5,000 of randomly selected households nationwide. A reading above 90 indicates the economy is on solid footing, while above 100 signals strong growth.

Meanwhile, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices, U.S. home prices in 20 metropolitan areas nationwide, including New York, Miami and Boston, increased by 0.9 percent in July, the fourth consecutive monthly increase and a sign of the seasonal strength in the housing market.

However, home prices still fell 4.1 percent year-on-year, underscoring the headwinds the housing market was still facing amid tepid economic growth and high unemployment rate.

In the money market, the U.S. dollar fell against most major currencies in late New York trading on Tuesday. The dollar index lost 0.87 percent to 77.68.

Also boosted by Euro hopes, light, sweet crude for November delivery soared 4.21 dollars, or 5.25 percent to 84.45 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for November delivery surged 3.20 dollars, or 3.08 percent and close at 107.14 dollars a barrel.

27/09 2 for 2, or 2 for 1?

OP-ED COLUMNIST

2 for 2, or 2 for 1?

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Published: September 27, 2011

Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and President Obama all spoke at the U.N. last week and, honestly, it is hard to decide whose speech was worse. Netanyahu’s read like a pep rally to the Likud Central Committee. Abbas’s read like an address to an Arab League meeting. Obama’s read like an appeal to Jewish voters in Florida. The president meant well, but domestic politics required that he whisper where he once spoke bold truths to both sides.

Josh Haner/The New York Times

Thomas L. Friedman

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The whole soap opera was just another reminder of how broken the peacemaking effort is today and how much both sides still suspect the other of really wanting two states for one people rather than two states for two people.

I’ll explain that in a moment, but, first, let me note that the Israeli newspaper Haaretz summed up the Netanyahu and Abbas performances perfectly, saying: “From these two narratives of demand and complaint, it appeared as if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict traveled in a time machine back to the end of the last century, and decades of dialogue were wiped out — to the great joy of the extremists on both sides. Not peace, but rather the very fact of direct contact between the parties is once more perceived as a goal, and even that is increasingly fading into the distance.”

That is, indeed, where we are — questioning whether the two sides will even talk to each other anymore, let alone negotiate an implementable deal. Yet both sides act as if time is on their side. I beg to differ.

This is a “New Middle East” — but not in the way that we had hoped. When you leave the field empty of diplomacy now, with so many unstable characters roaming around — like extremist Israeli settlers given to occasionally daubing “Muhammad is a Pig” on Muslim buildings in the West Bank and extremist Palestinians from groups like Islamic Jihad given to shooting Israeli civilians or lobbing mortars from Gaza onto Israeli towns — you are really asking for trouble because many of the old firewalls are gone.

If clashes erupt between Israelis and Palestinians today, there is no President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to absorb the flames. Now there is a Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ready to fan them — toward Israel. It is not an exaggeration to say that if serious clashes erupted between Israelis and Palestinians, both the peace treaties between Egypt and Israel and Egypt and Jordan could be undermined. And if Palestinian violence spreads in the West Bank, Abbas may just tell the Israelis that he is shutting down the Palestinian Authority and will no longer serve as Israel’s policeman on the West Bank. That would be the last nail in the coffin of the Oslo accords. So all three pillars of peace — imperfect as they may have been, but so vital to Israel’s security since the 1970s — are in danger.

Given these stakes, here is what a farsighted Israeli government would say to itself: “We have so much more to lose than the Palestinians if all this collapses. So let’s go the extra mile. Abbas says he will not come to peace talks without a freeze on settlement-building. We think that is bogus. We gave him a 10-month partial freeze and he did nothing with it. But you know what? There is so much at stake here, let’s test him again. Let’s offer him a six-month total freeze on settlement-building. What is six months in the history of 5,000-year-old people? We already have 300,000 settlers in place. It is a win-win strategy that in no way imperils our security. If the Palestinians still balk, they will be the ones isolated, not us. And, if they come, who knows? Maybe we cut a deal.”

That is what a wise Israeli leader would do now. And when this Israeli government won’t do that, it fans the Palestinian fears that Israel really wants two states — both for itself. That is pre-1967 Israel and post-1967 Israel, i.e., Israel, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian leadership, though, could do much more to encourage such an overture because the only thing that can force Netanyahu to move is the Israeli center. It has done so before. Why not now? Because when the Israeli silent majority sees its army unilaterally withdraw from Gaza and uproot settlements there and get rockets in return, and when they see previous, dovish, Israeli prime ministers make far-reaching withdrawal proposals and get nothing back, and when they hear that Palestinians insist on the “right of return” for some of their people — not only to the West Bank, but to Israel proper — it raises Israeli fears that the Palestinians still dream of having two states, both for themselves: the West Bank and pre-1967 Israel. If Abbas spoke more directly to those fears, Netanyahu would be under much more domestic pressure to move.

We really are back at the beginning of this conflict. Until each side reassures the other that both of them really do want two states for two people — not just for one — nothing good is going to happen out there, but something really bad might.

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on September 28, 2011, on page A23 of the New York edition with the headline: 2 for 2, or 2 for 1?.

27/09 Governing by Crisis

EDITORIAL

Published: September 27, 2011

Thanks to some good luck and expert government accountants, theFederal Emergency Management Agency will limp, exhausted and nearly broke, to the end of the fiscal year on Friday. That removes its budget as the latest excuse for House Republicans to slash domestic programs they don’t like and momentarily defuses their threat to shut down the entire government to get their way.

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But, make no mistake, the threat has hardly disappeared. In fact, the country will probably be wrung through several more near-shutdowns as the 2012 budget process stumbles along, all prompted by conservatives in the House who will use any choke point to achieve their obsessive goal of shrinking government.

The next one will be on Nov. 18, when the temporary spending bill approved by the Senate on Monday night (and expected to be approved by the House) runs out. It was the House that originally proposed this seven-week bill earlier this month, even though its leaders could easily have passed a full year’s spending resolution and saved the country continuing — and costly — uncertainty.

After all, both sides agreed to the 2012 discretionary spending level of $1.043 trillion in the Budget Control Act of 2011, the ugly ransom paid to Republicans in the debt-ceiling crisis last month. As Stan Collender, a prominent budget expert, recently noted in the newspaperRoll Call, Congress could have passed a full year’s bill and still allowed the various appropriations committees to argue over individual agency spending levels without the threat of a shutdown.

But that’s not operating procedure for the current House, dominated by Tea Party members and furious spending hawks. They want that threat to recur, as often as possible, so that they can extort their political goals out of the Democrats in the Senate and the White House. There is no other reason for the current short-term bill, which is exactly the wrong way to manage the government’s annual budget.

For that matter, there was no good reason for this week’s near-shutdown. When it seemed likely that the summer’s bad weather might push FEMA’s disaster spending above its budgeted level, Republicans saw an opportunity for another phony fight designed to make them look frugal and Democrats careless with money. They used the occasion to try to cut an equal amount from a green-jobs program that the Obama administration has championed. Democrats stood up to this opportunism, refusing to let Republicans exploit the weather to cut spending, and the showdown was averted only when the extra money became unnecessary.

The next fight is likely to be over bigger issues. House Republicans have already made it clear that they want to slash the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency and curtail its regulation of air pollution through the appropriations process. They also want to cut back severely on a nutrition program for low-income women and children. And guess what is likely to happen if they don’t get their way? Another shutdown fight, and yet another, over more stopgap spending bills.

Each one of these confrontations has a high cost. They eat up valuable legislative bandwidth; they add uncertainty to the lives of federal workers, those who depend on federal programs, and the financial system; and they contribute to a cynicism and lack of confidence in the political system that damages everyone. They are a principal reason for the nation’s low esteem of Congress.

Republicans should think of the broad American public, rather than catering to the extreme elements of their base, the next time they push the government to the brink.

A version of this editorial appeared in print on September 28, 2011, on page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: Governing by Crisis: The latest standoff may be averted, but the next one is coming in just seven weeks.