It has now been reported that for logistical reasons it is very unlikely Greece will be able to draw down on further bailout funds before the week of November 19 at the earliest, notwithstanding the approval of the Greek Parliament on Wednesday of the austerity measures proposed last Monday. This is said to result from:
-
Germany insisting that the Greek Parliament first pass its 2013 budget, where the vote by the Greek Parliament is scheduled for Sunday, November 11; and,
-
a subsequent requirement of some of the Eurozone country contributors (including Germany) that the Parliaments of those countries must vote to approve the advance of further bailout funding.
-
Other comments:
-
further Greek funding is said to have to come from Eurozone countries and not the European Central Bank (ECB). In this regard, ECB head Mario Draghi is reported as saying this is because the ECB is not allowed to finance the debt of member countries. This leave one to wonder how the ECB can advance funds to any country, because presumably any such advance in all probability would indirectly be financing a country's sovereign debt;
-
recall that Greece is said to begin running into sovereign debt repayment problems on November 16, a deadline that seems now unlikely to be met; and,
-
one has to wonder about the inefficiency of the Greek and Eurozone governments handling of the Greek debt issue. It has been known for weeks that Greece is up against near-term 'running out of money' issues, and the date of November 16 was tabled about two weeks ago; and,
-
importantly, in the end government inefficiency - that is, not getting things done in a timely manner - contributes to the risk that at some point one or more country-specific economic trains might derail.
Topical Reference: Greece won't get its new round of bailout cash next week, from The Financial Post, from Associated Press, November 8, 2012 - reading time 3 minutes.
