What the lenders are giving and what they are asking for in return

Decision time is here and Merkel and Sarkozy shook hands, but they have still not come to an agreement with the Greek premier George Papandreou.

The negotiation is still ongoing even after the hour-long meeting the German and French leaders had with the Greek premier, while a government source said on condition of anonymity that negotiations are “crucial and tense”, but underlined the bankruptcy scenario will not be realized and neither will the activation of the cds.

A case of give-and-take:

1.   They are giving a haircut of over 50% and asking for a primary surplus from 2012.

2.   They are giving restricted national participation in European programmes down to 5% and are asking for free markets in order to enter the energy and tourism fields with more favourable terms.

3.   They are giving… Euros! They want the troika in Athens on a permanent basis.

What remains to be seen is if the government will pass the agreement with a simple majority or if it will go for the 180- vote goal. A new communication with Merkel and Sarkozy will define the route of things, as the lenders wish to know how the present leadership wishes to play the game and whether or not they are still considering early polls.

Why Wednesday?

The existing question is why the EU leaders did not seek a final solution on Sunday and decided to wait until Wednesday. The answer is because the banks are continuing to object to the haircut percentage. Berlin gave them three more days to reconsider their options, at the same time leaking the information that otherwise, bankruptcy will be the way to go!