ECB Extends Funding For Greek Banks - Reports

The European Central Bank has decided to increase its emergency funding to Greek banks, it has been reported.

"The increase has been approved," a bank source, who declined to be identified, told the AFP agency.

The source added the ceiling for emergency liquidity assistance - or ELA - to the banks had been raised from €65bn to €68.3bn (£50.3bn).

According to the source, the Greek central bank had requested an extension of roughly € 10bn.

Banks need extra funds as depositors continue to extract cash on fears the country's banking system will collapse if it fails to agree a new loan deal and it has to leave the euro.

Athens is expected to request on Thursday a six-month eurozone loan to replace its current bailout, which expires at the end of the month.

On Monday, it rejected a plan to extend its current €2 40bn (£178bn) bailout deal, describing it as absurd.

The offer came with more than 400 austerity measures - including shrinking pensions and lowering the minimum wage - conditions the Greek government blames for the country's failure to recover.

There are fears if a new deal is not agreed in principle this week, Greece could have difficulty servicing its debts.

That could lead to more capital being pulled out of Greek banks and a so-called messy default, which could see a return to the drachma.

Greece's finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said its request for a loan extension will be worded in such a way as to be acceptable to all parties.

He said it "will be written in a way that covers both the Greek side and the president of the Eurogroup," referring to Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

Mr Varoufakis said he was hopeful of a positive outcome by the end of the week.

Earlier, the Greek parliament elected veteran politician Prokopis Pavlopoulos as the country's new president.

The 64-year-old's election ends an impasse over the choice of president that triggered early general elections last month.

The latest developments come after a government source accused Germany of "arrogance" in its approach to the debt negotiations.

It followed German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble dismissing talk of a loan extension as unacceptable.

He told broadcaster ZDF: "It's not about extending a credit programme but about whether this bailout programme will be fulfilled, yes or no."

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

ECB Extends Funding For Greek Banks - Reports

Dengan url

http://raskindollar.blogspot.com/2015/02/ecb-extends-funding-for-greek-banks.html

Raskin Dollar