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European patience for Greek debt grows thin

Stephen Beard Sep 19, 2011
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European patience for Greek debt grows thin

Stephen Beard Sep 19, 2011
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Steve Chiotakis: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreau says he won’t travel to the U.S. this week as planned, with so much business to attend to, and trouble going on at home. Meanwhile, the Greek finance minister today lashed out against European neighbors and international bankers.

From the Europe Desk in London, Marketplace’s Stephen Beard reports.


Stephen Beard: The pressure is piling on to the Greeks. They’ve been given two weeks to stave off default. They have to convince the E.U. and the IMF they deserve the next chunk of their bailout money. If they fail, they’ll run out cash in October. The Greek Finance Minister says the E.U. and IMF are using Greece as an excuse to hide their own incompetence. The ill-feeling seems to be mutual.

Julian Pendock of investment firm Senhouse Capital says Greece’s European partners are becoming more reluctant to bail out their recalcitrant neighbor.

Julian Pendock: The Germans recognize it won’t work. The Finnish recognize it won’t work. Other countries are becoming more hesitant. And attitudes are hardening. And people are getting more and more fed up with Greece’s promises, which many people suspect they cannot adhere to.

According to one report, the Greeks have been asked to cut 100,000 jobs in the public sector — and this in a country where unemployment has reached 17 percent.

In London I’m Stephen Beard for Marketplace.

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