Spain’s economy emerged from an almost two-year recession in the first quarter, trailing the Euro area by six months. GDP expanded 0.1% in the first three months of 2010, the Madrid-based Bank of Spain estimated in its monthly report today.
Leaders of the 16 EU member states that use the Euro have approved a 110 billion Euro loan to Greece to prevent its debt crisis from spreading. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said the Eurozone would do whatever it took to safeguard Greece's financial stability. In return for the three-year loan, Athens must cut public spending.
A default by Greece on its debt obligations is not and has never been an option, a spokeswoman for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday. A Greek “default is not on the table, has not been on the table” insisted IMF director of external relations Caroline Atkinson.
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet faced down pressure for new moves to shore up the weakest Eurozone countries, but kept options open even as he said Spain and Portugal were “not Greece”.
Banks in the United Kingdom and Europe risk their credit ratings being damaged because of “contagion” from Greece's debt crisis, a ratings agency has warned. Moody's said banking systems faced “very real, common threats” if doubts were raised about their governments' abilities to pay debts. It referred specifically to UK, Irish, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish banking systems.
Stock markets fell sharply Tuesday as concerns about high levels of European government debt continue to shake investor confidence. The Euro fell to a 13-month-low against the dollar, dropping to 1.3004, after earlier slipping below the 1.30 mark.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has moved to shore up the €110 billion EU/IMF rescue of Greece by offsetting the impact of the “junk” rating on the country’s debt.
Germany's cabinet has approved its contribution to the Eurozone and IMF bailout of Greece. The German parliament is set to pass the legislation later this week to allow its loan—worth 22.4 billion Euros over three years—to be paid.
Euro zone members and the IMF have agreed to a 110 billion Euro (146.2 billion US dollars) three-year bailout package to rescue Greece's embattled economy. In return for the loans, Greece will make major austerity cuts which Prime Minister George Papandreou said involved “great sacrifices”.
The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the crisis in Greece could spread throughout Europe. Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that every day lost in resolving Greece's problems risks spreading the impact “far away”.