Eurozone crisis live: Greek government wins confidence vote ahead of Eurogroup meeting:
• Antonis Samaras: result gives me more authority
• Spanish bond yields back over 7%
• Eurogroup meeting taking place tonight
9.43am: Investor confidence across the eurozone dropped to a new three-year low last month, according to data just released.
The monthly Sentix survey (which tracks investor sentiment across the single currency region) dropped to -29.6 this month (from -28.9 in June). That's the lowest level since July 2009, when the eurozone was in recession. July's drop was mainly caused by a drop in confidence with Germanby.
The German research institute institute blamed global jitters over the eurocrisis, saying:
9.22am: Wolfgang Münchau of Eurointelligence has predicted this morning that the eurozone crisis will last for the next two decades.
Münchau (a trenchant critic of Europe's approach to the crisis) argues that last month's Summit simply proved that euro leaders cannot guide the region out of the current mess:
More here (if the FT paywall lets you through).
9.05am: Speaking of Spain, there's an interesting story in the Financial Times about its banking bailout.
The FT reckons Spain is ready to create a single "bad bank" to house the toxic assets that are dragging down its banking sector. Madrid has been resisting this idea until now*, arguing that pumping more capital into the banks would suffice. But it could now cave in over the 'bad bank' idea, in return for the bailout aid agreed last month.
The FT says:
8.58am: Worrying signs in the bond markets this morning - the yield on Spanish 10-year sovereign debt has crept over the 7% mark.
At 7.1% (up from 6.978% overnight), this is the highest level since the EU summit at the end of June.
This reflects the uncertainty over how the measures agreed at the summit will be implemented, and opposition in countries such as Germany and Finland to some of the proposals.
Michael Hewson of CMC Markets comments:
8.44am: After the result came in, Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras declared that he now has more authority to argue Greece's case within the eurozone.
Samaras told Associated Press that:
This afternoon's eurogroup could be a bruising session for Greece, though. Finance minister Yannis Stournaras revealed last week that an official from one of Greece's creditors warned that he would experience "a tough time" at the meeting.
Stournaras will update the rest of the eurogroup on the state of play within Greece. If he cannot persuade Greece's lenders that it is committed to the financial plan, its next tranche of aid (due on 20 August) could be at risk.
8.24am: Antonis Samaras's government won its vote of confidence comfortably overnight.
Every member of the three parties which make up the coalition administration backed the motion, giving Samaras 179 votes in the 300-seat assembly.
The vote followed three days of heated debate over Greece's austerity programme, with many MPs warning that the terms of the deal need to be relaxed again.
Samaras told parliament that "growth and investments" were the only way to keep Greece in the euro, and rejected claims that its aid deal should be torn up. The PM said:
But Alexis Tsipras of the Syriza party (the largest opposition group), attacked the bailout as a "political and economic crime" as he railed against the government.
Tsipras told Samaras's government:
Here's a picture of Tsipras during his speech last night.
Finance minister Yannis Stournaras, though, told MPs that international lenders have already cut Greece plenty of slack, and the country can't simply demand further changes. He said:
8.15am: Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the eurozone financial crisis.
Coming up … the new Greek government won a confidence vote in the early hours of the morning. We'll have full details and reaction shortly.
Elsewhere … finance ministers from the euro countries are heading to Brussels to hold talks on the debt crisis. The Eurogroup meeting will discuss how to implement the decisions taken at the EU summit at the end of last month – including how to bail out the Spanish banking sector. The situation in Greece will also be discussed...
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
• Antonis Samaras: result gives me more authority
• Spanish bond yields back over 7%
• Eurogroup meeting taking place tonight
9.43am: Investor confidence across the eurozone dropped to a new three-year low last month, according to data just released.
The monthly Sentix survey (which tracks investor sentiment across the single currency region) dropped to -29.6 this month (from -28.9 in June). That's the lowest level since July 2009, when the eurozone was in recession. July's drop was mainly caused by a drop in confidence with Germanby.
The German research institute institute blamed global jitters over the eurocrisis, saying:
The euro land virus has proliferated...The weakness in euro land is spreading to the rest of the world...
9.22am: Wolfgang Münchau of Eurointelligence has predicted this morning that the eurozone crisis will last for the next two decades.
Münchau (a trenchant critic of Europe's approach to the crisis) argues that last month's Summit simply proved that euro leaders cannot guide the region out of the current mess:
They agreed that there shall be no common bank recapitalisation until a full banking union is established. And the Bundesbank has reminded us that the latter is not possible without a political union.
The logical implication is that we won't solve the crisis for the next 20 years.
More here (if the FT paywall lets you through).
9.05am: Speaking of Spain, there's an interesting story in the Financial Times about its banking bailout.
The FT reckons Spain is ready to create a single "bad bank" to house the toxic assets that are dragging down its banking sector. Madrid has been resisting this idea until now*, arguing that pumping more capital into the banks would suffice. But it could now cave in over the 'bad bank' idea, in return for the bailout aid agreed last month.
The FT says:
After repeated attempts to contain the problems in the Spanish banking sector, Madrid is prepared to establish a sector-wide body if it is a condition of accessing EU aid, Spanish officials said.
Such a move would potentially assuage eurozone concerns about how to oversee rescued banks because it would create a centrally-administered body that would be easier to monitor.
8.58am: Worrying signs in the bond markets this morning - the yield on Spanish 10-year sovereign debt has crept over the 7% mark.
At 7.1% (up from 6.978% overnight), this is the highest level since the EU summit at the end of June.
This reflects the uncertainty over how the measures agreed at the summit will be implemented, and opposition in countries such as Germany and Finland to some of the proposals.
Michael Hewson of CMC Markets comments:
The post meeting optimism from the late June EU Summit has all but evaporated as once again different political interpretations get put on the outcomes of what was supposedly agreed at the meeting.
8.44am: After the result came in, Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras declared that he now has more authority to argue Greece's case within the eurozone.
Samaras told Associated Press that:
with such a vote of confidence, I simply have a greater ability to speak up at the Eurogroup.
This afternoon's eurogroup could be a bruising session for Greece, though. Finance minister Yannis Stournaras revealed last week that an official from one of Greece's creditors warned that he would experience "a tough time" at the meeting.
Stournaras will update the rest of the eurogroup on the state of play within Greece. If he cannot persuade Greece's lenders that it is committed to the financial plan, its next tranche of aid (due on 20 August) could be at risk.
8.24am: Antonis Samaras's government won its vote of confidence comfortably overnight.
Every member of the three parties which make up the coalition administration backed the motion, giving Samaras 179 votes in the 300-seat assembly.
The vote followed three days of heated debate over Greece's austerity programme, with many MPs warning that the terms of the deal need to be relaxed again.
Samaras told parliament that "growth and investments" were the only way to keep Greece in the euro, and rejected claims that its aid deal should be torn up. The PM said:
We don't want to change the targets of the bailout but that which is causing recession and hampering us from attaining those goals.
But Alexis Tsipras of the Syriza party (the largest opposition group), attacked the bailout as a "political and economic crime" as he railed against the government.
Tsipras told Samaras's government:
You are not pro-Europeans, you are Merkelists. Berlin will lead Europe to dissolution.
Here's a picture of Tsipras during his speech last night.
Finance minister Yannis Stournaras, though, told MPs that international lenders have already cut Greece plenty of slack, and the country can't simply demand further changes. He said:
The Eurozone and the international community have provided Greece, in loans and grants, with a total of €500bn, more than 250% of our GDP....
The loans are provided with an interest of 3.5% and a very long repayment period...Without that money, our standard of living would regress back to that in 1960.
8.15am: Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the eurozone financial crisis.
Coming up … the new Greek government won a confidence vote in the early hours of the morning. We'll have full details and reaction shortly.
Elsewhere … finance ministers from the euro countries are heading to Brussels to hold talks on the debt crisis. The Eurogroup meeting will discuss how to implement the decisions taken at the EU summit at the end of last month – including how to bail out the Spanish banking sector. The situation in Greece will also be discussed...
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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