Yannis Palaiologos
Yannis Palaiologos is a features reporter for the Kathimerini newspaper in Athens, Greece.
Recent Articles
Greece Bets Once Again on Austerity
The country's parliament approves deep cuts to social services as rioters overrun central Athens.
Feb 13, 2012
(AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis) Protesters pass by a burning cinema in Athens, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012. Riots engulfed central Athens and at least 10 buildings went up in flames in mass protests late Sunday as lawmakers prepared for a historic parliamentary vote on harsh austerity measures demanded to keep the country solvent and within the eurozone. ATHENS, GREECE —After a night of high drama, both inside and outside parliament, the Greek government passed the slew of new austerity measures demanded by its official lenders in return for a second bailout package worth 130 billion euros. The deal slashes the minimum wage by 22 percent, reduces pensions, and will result in public-worker rolls shrinking by 150,000 employees, among other measures. The final count for the controversial package, which was announced after 1 a.m. Monday morning, was 199 in favor and 74 against. Politicians accused each other of national betrayal, and tensions erupted into angry exchanges about a deeply divided...
Greece's Desperate Measures
A budget agreement reduces the minimum wage and cuts pensions.
Feb 09, 2012
After days of intense negotiations during which its membership in the eurozone seemed to hang by a thread, Greece finally reached an agreement today on the measures that will accompany the new loan package from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund. The measures agreed on are draconian. They include a 22 percent cut in the monthly minimum wage, reducing earnings from 751 euros to 586 euros per month. For people under 25, it will be even lower, down to 511 euros, and any increase before 2016 is ruled out. In addition, further reductions to the minimum wage may take place in July. Meanwhile, all automatic wage increases that are included in collective-bargaining agreements will be frozen until unemployment falls below 10 percent (it is currently at 20.9 percent). Employers are also considerably strengthened in their bargaining position vis-à-vis the unions through changes in arbitration regulations and a contraction of the time period (from six to three months...
Under Threat of Greek Default
The European Union outlines a budget pact in the shadow of economic disaster.
Feb 01, 2012
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM —The specter of Greek default haunted Monday’s informal European Union summit. Despite valiant efforts by EU leaders to focus on promoting growth and jobs, an issue they finally seem to have woken up to, and on finalizing the new fiscal compact agreed on last December, Greece’s debt odyssey hovered menacingly over the proceedings. And, as if the Greek situation were not enough, nerves were further frayed by the evolving Portuguese disaster. As talks were under way in Brussels, ten-year Portuguese bond spreads were reaching euro-era highs of more than 15 percent amid growing fears that the Iberian country would follow in Greece’s footsteps and restructure its debt. The most significant development coming out of the summit was the agreement on the specific terms of the new fiscal compact, which aims to enforce greater budgetary discipline among signatory countries. But the Czech Republic opted out of the new pact during the negotiating process,...
Eurozone Overexposed
EU leaders scuttle a Greek bond deal for fear of greater losses.
Jan 24, 2012
Greece is once again the focal point of efforts to stem the bleeding of investor confidence and save the eurozone. Intense negotiations continue on the precise terms of the restructuring of privately held debt in the struggling Mediterranean country. Agreement is a necessary condition for the approval of a second bailout package from Greece’s eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which, at 130 billion euros or more, will exceed the first one. On Friday, it looked as though the Greek government and the Institute of International Finance (IIF), the global banking lobby group, were close to a deal and a tentative agreement on interest rates, averaging out around 4 percent for coupons on the 30-year bonds issued in exchange for Greece’s existing debt. As the day progressed, however, it became clear that, even though the Greeks and the bankers had reached the essentials of an agreement, the deal could not be finalized. The IMF and the eurozone countries,...
Look Who's Downgraded Now
The reappraisal of Austria's and France's credit ratings shows that the Greek economic crisis is at high-risk of contagion.
Jan 16, 2012
Friday was another very bad day for Europe’s crisis managers. Within the space of a few hours, it was revealed that talks between Greece and its international creditors had reached a dead end and were being put on hold and that Standard & Poor’s had downgraded nine eurozone countries, including France and Austria, which formerly held AAA ratings. Both developments are alarming, but the Greek situation is the more immediately pressing. The Institute of International Finance, whose managing director, Charles Dallara—a former high-ranking Treasury official under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush who has lately made Athens his home away from home—issued a statement Friday afternoon saying that “discussions with Greece and the official sector are paused for reflection on the benefits of a voluntary approach.” The main sticking point, according to people familiar with the talks, is the level of the interest rate to be paid on the new, lower-principal...
