VAROUFAKIS

Vague Car Benefits

kolotoumba, , 1 Comment

 

mp-cars
Cars of Members of the Greek Parliament

8 Feb 2015: PM Alexis Tsipras during his inaugural parliamentary speech on budget costs, asked the Greek Parliament President Zoe Konstantopoulou to investigate the possibility of removing the car benefits from members of the Parliament on the grounds that MPs have the financial ability to commute on their own expenses.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/08/greece-prime-minister-alexis-tsipras-unveil-anti-austerity-plan-parliament

24 Feb 2015: Following the EUROGROUP agreement for a loan/program extension, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis drafted his REFORM AGENDA and under “Public administration & corruption” he proposed to:

Reduce (a) the number of Ministries (from 16 to 10), (b) the number of ‘special advisors’ in general government; and (c) fringe benefits of ministers, Members of Parliament and top officials (e.g. cars, travel expenses, allowances)

(Likely) Outcome: 26 Feb 2015 – Parliament President Zoe Konstantopoulou held a private session with the assembly of SYRIZA’s (main political party in the Greek Government coalition) Members of Parliament during which many MPs stated that they could not afford transportation expenses from Athens to their constituencies. It is expected that MPs shall continue to use the 300 cars leased by the previous parliemantary body (which was disolved in December 2014 upon its inability to elect a President of the Hellenic Republic). The lease agreement expires on 31 December 2015.

This morning, Yanis Varoufakis, during an interview, claimed that the REFORM AGENDA was deliberately “vague“.

“We are proud of the level of vagueness” in the agreement signed with EUROZONE finance ministers this week, Varoufakis told Antenna TV.

Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20150227-greeces-varoufakis-says-eu-deal-fig-leaf/

KOLOTOUMBA.com wanted to remove the vagueness out of the car fringe benefits and did a little research to discover that the cost per car per month per member of the Parliament is EUR 1,500 bringing up the annual expense to EUR 5.4 Million.

So much for VAGUENESS!

Source: http://www.kathimerini.gr/803746/article/epikairothta/ellada/kratika-aytokinhta-enenhnta-xronia-amartias

Vague Car Benefits

One promise gone per day

kolotoumba, , , 1 Comment

 

2015-02-25 vima article
They forget one every day

Vassilis Chiotis, of newspaper and radio station TO VIMA, consolidated a list of 29 “abandoned promises” made by SYRIZA during its campaign that led to a 35% win in the Greek January 2015 elections.

Source: http://www.tovima.gr/opinions/article/?aid=680054

We provide the English translation of the “Chiotis List” with some KOLOTOUMBA (KT) comments for clarity.

Continue reading “One promise gone per day” →

One promise gone per day

Reformed Government Reform

kolotoumba, , 4 Comments

 

WOW.

Greece’s Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis released the proposed “first comprehensive list of reform measures [the Greek Government] is envisaging”. This list has been submitted to the EUROGROUP for assessment and further processing.

GREEK GVT REFORM AGENDA-INTRO.24.02.15.pdf

It is well structured although it is more of a policy manifesto than a “technical” document for financial ministers (the EUROGROUP members) to financially assess.  Before approved as final, this document needs to be reviewed by the EU, IMF and the ECB (formerly known as TROIKA, currently referred to as “the Institutions” as well as the 19 Eurozone Governments.

Continue reading “Reformed Government Reform” →

Reformed Government Reform

Yes, Master FAFA

kolotoumba, , , 5 Comments

According to the man, Jeroen Dijsselbloem,  himself:

@J_Dijsselbloem
“Received Greek request for six months extension”

The actual text has been reported by @Reuters as well: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/19/eurozone-greece-request-idUSL5N0VT2S720150219

Yanis Varoufakis, Minister of Finance:

In this context, the Greek authorities are now applying for the extension of the Master Financial Assistance Facility Agreement for a period of six months from its termination during which period we shall proceed jointly, and making best use of given flexibility in the current arrangement, toward its successful conclusion and review on the basis of the proposals of, on the one hand, the Greek government and, on the other, the institutions.

This extension refers to the MASTER FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FACILITY AGREEMENT (MFAFA).  So following KOLOTOUMBA’s search for the definition of what exactly is Greece requesting as an “extension”, we reviewed the MFAFA (available here for all readers who want to dig more: MASTER FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FACILITY AGREEMENT.12.12.12) and it is clear that it is tightly bound to the dreaded MNIMONIO (Memorandum of Understanding – MoU).

mfafa-page-5
Page 5 of the MFAFA

Outcome: Double KOLOTOUMBA:

  1. The TROIKA is here to stay but with a different name,  “THE INSTITUTIONS“. The ECB, IMF and the EU are still the supervisory bodies.
  2. The MNIMONIO is also here to stay for at least six months more. The INSTITUTIONS will still need to supervise and approve any regulations that may affect Greece’s fiscal surplus.

UPDATE: Eurozone finance ministers are due to meet on Friday 20 February in Brussels to discuss the Greek request. However the German Finance Ministry Spokesman Martin Jaeger released the following statement: “The Greek government is trying to agree bridge-financing without meeting the conditions of its existing rescue program. The request is not a substantive proposal for a solution”.

Greece and the entire Eurozone are in desperate need of a KOLOTOUMBA, this time  by the Germans themselves, to avoid a global monetary melt-down.

Yes, Master FAFA

So How Red Are Those Lines?

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Red Line

It all comes down to this:

Yanis Varoufakis: Faithful to the principle that I have no right to bluff, my answer is: The lines that we have presented as red will not be crossed. Otherwise, they would not be truly red, but merely a bluff.

This was the Greek Minister’s of Finance punchline in his op-ed article for the New York Times, published on February 16, just two hours before he entered a tough EUROGROUP meeting to discuss how Greece and its borrowers will “negotiate” the Debt (quotes are necessary since according to the Greek Government, this is not a “negotiation” but a “deposition of different views”).

Source: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/opinion/yanis-varoufakis-no-time-for-games-in-europe.html

So what are these “RED LINES” that the Government is drawing? According to reports leaked over the weekend:

  1. Value Added Taxes: Greece has a multitude of VATs depending on product/service offered and the region of the seller. Higher VATs result in higher income for the Government, however an increase in VAT makes a product less affordable thus leading to fewer sales. This has been an on-going chicken-and-egg debate ever since Greece entered the Financial Assistance Program.
    Red Line: No change in VATs. Current VAT percentages must remain “as is”
  2. Overtime compensation and Per-Diem expenses of Government Employees: Over the past years, public servants working in ministries, local governments, universities, public schools, etc, have seen their salaries reduced by approximately 35%. They have also suffered by the elimination of some weird bonuses such as “Bonus for Showing-up at Work On-time” and “Bonus for Washing Hands”.
    Red Line: Compensation for working overtime and allowance fees for travelling off-site shall remain “as is”
  3. Lay-off policy in the private sector: Back in the pre-austerity days, the law prohibited employers to fire more than 2% of staff over a period of one month. The reforms of the last years have made it easier for entrepreneurs to plan their work-force according to the market reality.
    Red Line: The Government needs to control all matters regarding lay-offs in the private sector.
  4. Employees’ rights to form trade unions and participate in strikes: The “INSTITUTIONS” (formerly known as TROIKA) want to impose limits to unions
    Red Line: This is a Radical Left led Government. Unions and Strikes are SYRIZA’s bread and butter. No changes whatsoever.
  5. Pension Reforms: The “INSTITUTIONS” demand that supplementary pensions should be limited, government should subsidize less in pension funds and public insurance agencies should establish zero deficit.
    Red Line: No change in laws regarding pensions and the relevant public insurance agencies.

KOLOTOUMBA Outcome: Remains to be seen but it does not look good…

So How Red Are Those Lines?

67% sounds about right!

kolotoumba, , , 1 Comment

2015-02-06 15_12_12-Financial assistance to Greece - European Commission

In 2010 Greece signed the MNIMONIO.  Actually it was the “Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece”, a memorandum of understanding on financial assistance to the Hellenic Republic in order to cope with the Greek government-debt crisis.

MNIMONIO is the Greek word for MEMORANDUM. In most Greeks conscience , it is the source of all problems that have caused austerity and a degradation of the quality of life in Greece. In reality it is a Contract defining the Economic Adjustment Programme which was signed between the Greek Government on one hand, and on the other hand by the European Commission on behalf of the Eurogroup, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/assistance_eu_ms/greek_loan_facility/index_en.htm

Since 2010 Greece has had five different Prime Ministers, three of them elected by the Greek people and two of them acting as temporary PMs between George Papandreou resignation in 2011 and Antonis Samaras election in 2012.

The current PM, Alexis Tsipras, has invested his political ambition and mandate into a very harsh anti-MNIMONIO agenda, eventually receiving a 35% electorate vote in January 2015.  Mr. Tsipras and his party SYRIZA has labeled the MNIMONIO as “disgraceful“, “onerous“, “reason for suicides“,  “reason for loss of sovereignty“, etc.  Mr. Tsipras has promised that he will “tear apart” the MNIMONIO on “the very first day” that he would assume his responsibilities as the Prime Minister of Greece.

Outcome: Well this is a very long journey of KOLOTOUMBAs to come. It will take many posts to describe how the MNIMONIO will be torn or not (or renamed or transformed or what-have-you). What was a very first glimpse of the colossal KOLOTOUMBA to come, is the statement made on February 5 by Greece’s Minister of Finance, Yanis Varoufakis, during a joint press conference with his German counter-part Wolfgang Schäuble.

When asked by a journalist which parts of Greece’s programme is the new government not prepared to meet Mr Varoufakis said:

It is not that the current reform program is to be discarded altogether.

I would say that 67% of what’s in that list consists of moves and measures that we should want to take ourselves

Source: 46:00 in the following video

Interesting approach considering that SYRIZA, not even once, voted for a measure, law or regulation that was brought to the Hellenic Parliament between 2010 and 2014.

67% sounds about right!

IMF said what?

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The Greek Minister of Finance, Yanis Varoufakis, stated in an interview with the La Repubblica newspaper of Italy, that Greece has started negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a plan to swap its sovereign debt for growth-linked bonds.

Source: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_04/02/2015_546868

Outcome: This is a first for KOLOTOUMBA.com.  The reverse of course was imposed to Mr. Varoufakis not on his own accord but from Greece’s counterpart in the alleged negotiations.  The IMF denied that the two sides were discussing a debt renegotiation, as Varoufakis suggested in comments to the Italian newspaper.

An IMF spokeswoman said in a statement:

“There is an agreed framework for dealing with debt in the current (bailout) program. There has been no discussion with the authorities on a change in this framework”

Sources: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/04/eurozone-greece-imf-discussion-idUSL1N0VE0WX20150204

IMF said what?

The name is Bond, Perpetual Bond

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One of the cornerstones of SYRIZA’s election campaign was that they would demand that Greece lenders (the infamous TROIKA comprising the EU, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank) would write-off  Greece’s debt (or perform a “hair-cut” depending on which party representative you ask) .  Upon being asked for a PLAN B regarding the unlikelihood that the creditors declined to write-off, SYRIZA declared that they would “insist” on PLAN A.

SYRIZA now is  the prime member of the Greek coalition government, and the newly appointed Minister of Finance, Yanis Varoufakis, has started a round of one-on-one meetings with decision makers such as the EUROGROUP’s president  Jeroen Dijsselbloem and Ministers of Finance of France and the United Kingdom.

Outcome: On February 2, following his meeting with UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, Mr. Varoufakis told the Financial Times that the government would no longer call for a headline write-off of Greece’s €315bn foreign debt. Rather it would request a “menu of debt swaps” to ease the burden, including two types of new bonds. The first type, indexed to nominal economic growth, would replace European rescue loans, and the second, which he termed “perpetual bonds”, would replace European Central Bank-owned Greek bonds.

Source: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7af4252c-ab03-11e4-91d2-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Qg8PIBum 

Whether this turn of course qualifies for a KOLOTOUMBA remains to be seen.  The Greek Government’s Press Secretary Sakelaridis stated, only hours after Mr. Varoufakis’ interview, the following:

“There is no turn of course nor a kolotoumba. Are you concerned with the words used to describe the write-off or the actual result? We stay  focused on the fact that our debt must remain sustainable”

Sources: http://www.skai.gr/news/politics/article/274610/sakellaridis-ston-skai-kamia-kolotouba-gia-to-hreos/, http://www.protothema.gr/politics/article/448168/sakellaridis-kamia-kolotouba-gia-to-hreos/

The name is Bond, Perpetual Bond