| Angry Voters Hand Spain’s Ruling Party Heavy Regional Losses; Podemos Scores Upset Victories in Barcelona, Madrid Posted: 24 May 2015 04:44 PM PDT The Spanish economy will supposedly grow at three percent. The bad news is Spanish employment is well over 20 percent and is also expected to stay that way. Angry voters unhappy with that setup took it out big time on PP, the party of prime minister Mariano Rajoy. Please consider PP Suffers Heavy Regional Losses. Spain's ruling Popular party suffered heavy losses in Sunday's string of regional and local elections, as two upstart movements made dramatic gains at the expense of the country's established parties.
The PP still emerged as the biggest party in nine of the 13 regional contests, but its ability to head governments at both the regional and local level was severely curtailed. According to preliminary results, the party of Mariano Rajoy, Spain's prime minister, failed to obtain an absolute majority even in its historical strongholds — meaning it can govern only with the support of at least one of its rivals.
The PP suffered a particularly marked decline in Madrid. Esperanza Aguirre, its high-profile candidate for mayor, beat a coalition of leftwing groups only by the smallest of margins but has little prospect of forming an administration. A similar leftist alliance also scored an upset triumph in Barcelona, meaning Spain's two principal cities are now likely to be led by a pair of charismatic, leftwing women from outside the political establishment: Manuela Carmena in Madrid and Ada Colau in Barcelona.
The ruling party's losses were mostly the gain of two political newcomers, the anti-austerity Podemos movement and the centrist Ciudadanos party. Both were on track to enter regional parliaments in force in several key regions, potentially handing them the role of kingmakers. Podemos was also the leading force behind the two municipal victories in Madrid and Barcelona.
Sunday´s elections took place in 13 of Spain's 17 regions and in more than 8,100 municipalities, providing a crucial test of the national mood ahead of general elections later this year. The overall picture, based on preliminary results, confirm what polls have been saying for months: frustrated voters are turning away from the established parties in ever greater numbers, converting Spain's decades-old two-party regime into a much more volatile four-horse race. Like Syriza in Greece, Podemos had been running on an anti-austerity platform. Podemos went even further, threatening to exit the euro. Voters simply do not believe in the recovery. Nor should they with youth unemployment near 50% and overall unemployment near 23%. For discussion of Spanish unemployment, please see Spain's Unemployment Rate Increases to 23.7%; 114,300 Jobs Vanish in First Quarter, Public Sector Jobs Rise. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com |
| Greece Will Default on June IMF Repayment Says Interior Minister; Greek Choice Same As It's Always Been Posted: 24 May 2015 10:11 AM PDT One way or another the crisis in Greece is highly likely to come to a head in June. Greek finances are in such sorry shape it needs a third bailout or it will be unable to meet payment obligations in August. And unless an agreement in June is reached to unleash more funds, Greece will not make it to August. Today we learn, Interior minister warns Greece will default on June IMF repayment. Greece has again threatened to default on loan repayments due to the International Monetary Fund, saying it will be unable to meet pension and wage bills in June and also reimburse €1.6bn owed to the IMF without a bailout deal with creditors.
"The money won't be given . . . It isn't there to be given," Nikos Voutsis, the interior minister, told the Greek television station Mega.
He claimed the EU and IMF were pressuring Greece to make unacceptable concessions in the current bailout talks in return for unlocking €7.2bn of aid frozen since last year.
Predicting when Athens will run out of cash has proven a fraught affair for eurozone officials, who have been bracing for default since March.
Given the repeated warnings from Greek officials that bankruptcy is imminent, some officials have begun to disregard such threats, believing Athens is now using them as a negotiating tactic.
But a senior Greek official with knowledge of the government's funding position confirmed that Athens would be unable to make the IMF payments, which fall due in four separate instalments of more than €300m each between June 5 and June 19, unless a deal is struck.
"We won't accept blackmail that says it's either liquidity with a memorandum [the Greek term for a bailout programme] or bankruptcy", Mr Voutsis said.
The government has ruled out a domestic default on payment obligations to Greece's 2.9m pensioners and 600,000 public sector workers, saying they have first claim on the country's shrinking resources.
People who have spoken to Mr Tsipras say he is in a dour mood and willing to acknowledge the serious risk of an accident in coming weeks.
One official in contact with the prime minister said: "The negotiations are going badly. Germany is playing hard. Even Merkel isn't as open to helping as before." Recall that Greece was only able to make the May IMF payment by borrowing money from the IMF. That emergency credit line has been entirely used up. For details, please see Greece Empties IMF Reserve Account to Pay IMF; Liquidity "Terribly Urgent" Says Finance Minister. Although we have seen crisis after crisis come and go with various kick-the can mechanisms, at some point there is no can left to kick. Is this finally the time? 'Catastrophic' Eurozone RuptureThe Telegraph reports Greece to Miss IMF payments Amid Fears of 'Catastrophic' Eurozone Rupture. Finance minister [Yanis Varoufakis] said that the Syriza-led Greek government has now "made enormous strides at reaching a deal", and that it is now up to the ECB, IMF and EU "to do their bit" and "meet us one-quarter of the way".
One possible alternative if talks do not progress is that Greece would leave the common currency and return to the drachma. This would be "catastrophic", Mr Varoufakis warned, and not just for Greece itself.
"Whatever some analysts are saying about firewalls, these firewalls won't last long once you put and infuse into people's minds, into investors' minds, that the eurozone is not indivisible," he added.
Mr Varoufakis' and Mr Voutsis' words followed a declaration from Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, that bargaining with Greece's creditors would soon come to a close.
"Rest assured that in this negotiation we will not accept humiliating terms," Mr Tsipras told Syriza's central committee. "The overwhelming majority of Greek people want a solution and not just an agreement ... it supports the government in this tough negotiation," he added.
For Greece itself, using the common currency is now like using a "foreign currency", and any exit from the eurozone would be "a disaster", Mr Varoufakis said.
He continued: "Trying to get out of it is tantamount to announcing a devaluation 10 months in advanced." Economists warn that if Greece were to leave the euro area, it could trigger huge levels of capital flight.
In turn, Greece would almost certainly have to resort to capital controls in order to stem the tide of money out of the domestic economy.
Ratings agency Moody's has warned that there is now a "high likelihood" of such controls, which might be necessary to keep the Greek financial system alive. An estimated €30bn has been withdrawn from the country's banks since snap elections were called in December 2014.
Mr Varoufakis said that at some point the Greek government would have to make a choice between paying salaries and paying international creditors. Greek Choice Same As It's Always BeenThe choice Greece faces now is precisely the same choice four years ago: Whom to pay. Greek citizens overwhelmingly want to stay on the euro, but they do not want further cuts in pensions accompanied by higher taxes and more layoffs. So which is it? By fighting to retain pensions, Tsipras will at least have some cover if and when Greece returns to the Drachma. Meanwhile, the smart money has already left. Those with euro deposits in Greek banks above and beyond what is needed to make immediate payments are fools. I have been pounding the table for months warning Greek citizens to pull their money out. This may be the last chance. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com |
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