Galery

2

1

Greece will continue to be tested by the European Union this week as well. Greek Finance Minister Georgios Papakonstantinou will appear at the ministerial meeting in Brussels to try to inspire confidence in the government's plans to revive the Greek economy. The frequent strikes put into question the ability of the government to fulfill its promises to reduce the deficit and restore the health of the government finances. U.S. Wall Street Journal, however, showed optimism. "People understand that the situation is serious. Besides the most militant protesters nobody believes that the strikes will change the strict financial measures, but traditional culture in the country is to go out on the streets when the government decides something controversial." 

It is expected that Georgios Papakonstantinou and his colleagues will discuss options for possible assistance from the richer members of eurozone. Greece should bring about €20 billion to avoid rescheduling of debt to buyers of government securities. This will not help Greece's falling credit rating. But according to French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde: "Any speculations are premature. Nothing has been decided and I do not think anything will be decided on the issue of financial support. For now, the measures which the government is taking, are enough - let's see what the outcome is before we talk about support." 

If finance ministers manage to show unity this week, the Euro is expected to stabilize after weeks of decline against the USD and the GBP. The GBP will probably continue to fall - the most recent studies indicate that the forthcoming elections in Britain will not be decided by majority vote, so no party will be able to form a government. 

European markets seemed to revitalize after few weeks of stagnation - and optimism is expected regarding the state of the Greek economy (and after it the future of other countries like Spain and Portugal) to help lift the markets even higher in the upcoming weeks. British FTSE 100 increased by 0.5% to 5600 points and the Athens Stock Exchange increased with nearly 1.5 percent to 2115.7 points. Overseas, the Dow Jones closed with a growth of 0.5 percent and closed with 10,624.7 points.