NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | For the IMF, it’s time for Europe’s fiscal union. Unless the 17 members of the euro zone are willing to lose some control over their budgets in favor of an insurance program and do common borrowing, bailout crisis like Cyprus’ are likely to cripple them, the Washington-based fund’s said in a report.
MADRID | By Luis Martí | Spaniards are not slim quite yet. Or that’s how the IMF’s last report sees it. While admitting that reforms have gone quite far, the IMF wants wage earners to run an extra mile. But there are a few reasons why the institution’s proposal doesn’t make the cut.
PARIS | Calling on the expertise of the IMF helped save the euro at the height of the crisis. However, the personal involvement of the head of the ECB and the creation of specific financial tools have now made recourse to the Washington-based institution unnecessary, says economist Stéphane Cossé.
MADRID | By José Luis Marco, via capitalmadrid.com | The IMF in its latest paper about the banking industry in Spain admits some points could be excessive and damage the economic recovery of the country.
ATHENS | The eurozone and the IMF decided on 8 July to hand Athens a new tranche of aid in exchange for the sacking of 15,000 civil servants. If they want to lose the support of the population for the necessary reform of public services, that’s the best way to go about it, says Panos Panagiotopoulos.
WASHINGTON | By Pablo Pardo | There is a silver line: Spain is reducing the fiscal consolidation’s impact on its economic growth.
ATHENS | By Giorgios Malouchos at Presseurop | The IMF bailout of Greece has above all allowed its creditors to dodge their responsibilities and guard against contagion. The Greeks should revolt and renegotiate the terms of the loan, writes To Vima.
China’s economic miracle was possible thanks to three decades of cheap manufacturing and exports. Thousands of workers left their villages to become the cheap labour force of China’s southern cities. Now this is a thing of the past.
NEW YORK | Their outlook remains negative, but there is some brightness in the horizon, the agency reckons. Standard and Poors will not cut Spain’s rating because it believes the country has done its homework, showing a strong commitment to economic and fiscal adjustment. It will continue to receive support from its European partners and the ECB and therefore its debt will remain below 80 percent of GDP beyond 2015….
By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | Merkel, Hollande, Monti and Rajoy. Four names for another crucial meeting in the euro zone, the one held today at Rome to smooth the path of next June 28-29 Summit. Christine Lagarde will not participate in this conversation but her name will surely loom large in the four European leaders’ minds. The International Monetary Fund’s managing director is raising the pressure for the European…