Spain Debt Downgraded / Germany No Aid To Greeks / Portugal Sees Rates Rise On Debt Crisis

[HOLLYWOOD]

The European Crisis continues... austerity measures not nearly enough. The Socialistic policies of Europe coming under pressure from member countries. Spain's Debt Downgraded, Portugal rates rise, Germany not a Euro more for Greece, Finland, Netherlands object to further bailout packages

Spain debt rating downgraded by Moody's
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12697397
10 March 2011 Last updated at 03:36 ET

Reforms designed to reduce the budget deficit have proved unpopular
Spain's debt has been downgraded by one notch to Aa2 by ratings agency Moody's.
It raised concerns over the Spanish government's ability to improve its finances against a backdrop of "moderate" economic growth.
The cost of bank restructuring could "considerably exceed" current government projections, Moody's said.
Spain, which has the highest rate of unemployment in the eurozone at about 20%, is seen as one the region's weaker economies.
Its economy expanded by 0.2% in the fourth quarter last year, but contracted by 0.1% over the whole of 2010, according to official estimates from the National Statistics Institute.
Spending cuts The Spanish government is under pressure from investors and other eurozone governments to reduce its budget deficit, which is also one of the highest in the region.
In order to do so, it approved a budget in September last year designed to help cut the deficit to 6% of GDP this year, down from 11.1% in 2009.
Measures in the budget included cutting public spending by 7.7%, including a pay cut of 5% for public sector workers, and increasing personal income tax for those earning above 120,000 euros ($166,000; £103,000) a year.
Madrid has also said it will increase the compulsory pension age from 65 to 67, phased in from 2013.
Earlier this week, Moody's downgraded Greek debt to "highly speculative", provoking an angry response from Athens.
"Having completely missed the build-up of risk that led to the global financial crisis in 2008, the rating agencies are now competing with each other to be the first to identify risks that will lead to the next crisis," the Greek finance ministry said.


'We will not offer Greece a cent': German economy minister deals hammer blow to Athens as rioters attack police on the streets


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl...eece-cent.html

By Karl West
It could almost be a battle from Greece's ancient past - a melee of fighting at close quarters with shields, raised weapons and flags.
But this was the scene in Athens yesterday as riot police clashed with protesters outraged by cutbacks designed to slash the country's huge budget deficit.
The violence came as Germany ruled out offering Greece 'a cent' of financial aid, insisting it should sort out it own problems.

Euro Stability Fund Hostage to Domestic Resistance


Published: 11 March 2011

Eurozone leaders will struggle to calm jittery markets at a summit in Brussels today (11 March) as calls to up the bloc's rescue facility become increasingly unpopular in Germany, Finland and the Netherlands.
http://www.euractiv.com/en/euro-fina...ce-news-502997

After a series of meetings about the Libyan crisis, the euro zone's leaders will meet at 5pm today to discuss the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and a package of reforms to monitor and reduce national debt.
Pressure is mounting to up the facility's 440bn ceiling as borrowing costs for the euro zone's most indebted countries – Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Greece – continue to rocket and Moody's downgraded Spain's credit rating by one notch yesterday.
National resistance
Indeed, the pressure is coming from all directions. Regional elections in Germany and parliamentary debates in both Finland and the Netherlands affirm that leaders' hands are tied by discontent among their national electorates over the euro bailouts.
Germany's objections to bailouts have been known since the first loans were disbursed to Greece in May 2010. Now it emerges that both the Netherlands and Finland will resist attempts by Brussels to extract more money from them for the rescue facility, say EU diplomats.
The Dutch parliament reacted with surprise to the news that the Netherlands would be expected to provide another 20 billion euro for the EFSF, according to reports in Dutch newspaper Trouw.
In addition, there was outrage at a proposal originated in Berlin to lower wages and to raise pension ages and tax revenues. The Franco-German 'competitiveness pact,' was presented to other eurozone nations at a summit in February.
The proposal, presented by Paris and Berlin as an attempt to complete monetary union with an economic union, has now been taken on by the European Commission in a watered-down version. But the draft EU paper has riled many member states fearful of too much Brussels and shrinking national sovereignty.
Finnish and Dutch opposition
"Brussels will not decide whether wages will rise, at what age we retire and whether we have to raise our corporation tax," Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, told national parliamentarians at a debate on Wednesday.
Yesterday (10 March), the Finnish parliament's Grand Committee, which deals with EU policy, voted against giving its government a mandate to increase the contribution of Finland's loan guarantee in the EFSF.
Finland's current share is €8 billion and there has been talk that this amount could double.

The Finns appear to be deadly serious, as the vote was taken even despite the government having not yet formally asked for a mandate.

Portugal’s 5-year bond slumped, with the yield jumping 15 basis points to almost 8 percent
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...-measures.html

[Acala]

The slow-motion train wreck continues.