It is another day in Greece. There is by now a ritual quality to it. Flights are grounded, hospital workers are striking, tax collectors and customs officials are sitting on their hands. Hundreds of thousands of civil servants are staging a four-hour walk-out.
Yesterday it was police, firefighters and harbour police who were doing the protesting. There have been six general strikes this year.
Today the anger is… more...
Prime Minister Zapatero needs to satisfy investors as well as the Spanish public
The Spanish government’s cost of borrowing has hit a new record amid renewed concerns over the state of its economy and public finances.
The interest rate Spain is being… more...
Greek pensioners took to the streets at the weekend in protest at budget cuts
Greek government bonds have been downgraded four notches to “junk” status by Moody’s credit rating agency.
The agency said there was still “considerable uncertainty” surrounding… more...
Europe
Europe’s debt crisis has created “hurdles” on the path to economic growth, the World Bank has warned.
Its latest report forecasts global GDP will expand by between 2.9% and 3.3% in 2010 and 2011 - then strengthen to between 3.2% and 3.5% in 2012… more...
Greece has outlined plans to part-privatise a number of publicly-owned companies in an effort to raise funds to boost government finances.
The government plans to sell minority stakes in its state-owned rail company, the postal service and in two water companies.
The plans form part of the Greece’s austerity measures, designed to cut borrowing and reduce its debts.
The plan is expected to raise at… more...
Refusal to approve the package would have been a blow to Prime Minister Zapatero
The Spanish parliament has backed a 15bn-euro ($18.4bn; £13bn) austerity package by one vote as the country strives to cut its budget deficit.
The vote saw 169… more...
European markets have lost more ground on fears that the region’s debt crisis could spread around the world.
The main UK, French and German indexes were more than 1% down, with London’s FTSE 100 dipping below the 5,000 level for the first time since November 2009.
Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei index fell by 2.5%, while markets in Singapore, Taiwan and Australia also retreated.
The sell-offs coincided… more...
Spain’s PM has outlined a plan to tackle the country’s budget crisis, amid concerns that problems afflicting Greece may spread across the eurozone.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced a 5% cut to public sector salaries, as well as reductions to pensions and regional government funding.
He said the plan would save about 15bn euros ($19bn; £12.5bn) over two years.
At the weekend Spain said it wanted… more...
VAT is set to rise under the new coalition government, according to a BBC survey of influential economists.
Of 28 independent economists currently used by the Treasury to assist its forecasts, 24 said they expected the rate to rise in the coming parliament.
The majority predicted a rise from the current 17.5% to 20% before the end of 2011. Analysts say a 20% rate would raise an… more...
Emergency measures worth 750bn euros ($975bn; £650bn) have been agreed to prevent the Greek debt crisis from affecting other eurozone countries.
The 16 members of the single currency bloc will have access to 440bn euros of loan guarantees and 60bn euros of emergency European Commission funding.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will also contribute up to 250bn euros.
Global stock markets surged, with London 5% up… more...