Greece items of interest impacting the economy

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_22/05/2012_443286

Credit Agricole renews Greek liquidity line request Credit Agricole has renewed a request for the Greek Central Bank to grant its Emporiki unit access to a liquidity facility which has been made available to some other local banks, the French bank's chief executive said on Tuesday. Jean-Paul Chifflet said the request was part of a wider range of measures aimed at reducing its potential exposure to Greece, including 1.6 billion euros ($2.04 billion) in European Central Bank financing for Emporiki. "Finally, we have seriously reiterated our request to take advantage of a direct financing line from the Greek Central Bank, via the ELA (emergency liquidity assistance), the public tool of access to banking liquidity,» Chifflet said in prepared remarks at the bank's annual shareholder meeting. Credit Agricole has suffered some 6 billion euros in estimated losses related to Emporiki since it acquired the Greek bank in 2006. Chifflet, faced with angry questions and some catcalls from shareholders, acknowledged that it had been a major drag on the bank's shares, which are down 31 percent this year. [Reuters] and... http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_21/05/2012_443229 Pharmacists warn of drug shortage, call strike Pharmacies will close on Wednesday as owners protest the fact that social security funds have yet to settle their mounting unpaid drugs bill, while pharmacists are warning that some medicines are already in short supply. Pharmacists have decided to close their stores for one day and to stop supplying customers with medicines on credit until the National Organization for Healthcare Provision (EOPYY), the country’s main healthcare provider, settles debts of some 250 million euros for prescriptions issued in March. The pharmacists claim they are also owed about 250 million euros for medicines they sold on credit in 2011 to customers insured with social security funds that were incorporated into EOPYY earlier this year. In fact, pharmacists claimed on Monday that they have seen an internal EOPYY document that suggests the organization will get a maximum of 784 million euros in funding this year. The pharmacists point out that the bill for medicines they supply to those insured with EOPYY reaches 250 million euros most months and that the organization will soon not be able to pay its drugs bills. State spending on medicines was cut by 1.75 billion to 3.8 billion euros but the government wants to bring it below 1 billion euros this year, partly through the use of cheaper generic medicines. An electronic prescription system, which has had a troubled launch, is also expected to reduce waste. Attica Pharmacists Association head Costas Lourantos claimed on Monday that his members alone are owed 74 million euros for drugs sold on credit in January and February. He also warned that shortages of as many as 163 drugs had been recorded, including medicines for cancer treatment, heart disease and blood pressure. He said that pharmacies and hospitals often find themselves unable to afford to stock expensive drugs. At the news conference held by Lourantos, a 40-year-old cancer patient recounted her struggle to get hold of her medicine. “I have to take this drug 18 times over the next year but I have to find it on my own,” she said. and... http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_22/05/2012_443273 Banks to be recapitalized by Friday, says banker Greece's four largest commercial banks will receive 18 billion euros ($23 billion) recapitalization funds by Friday, a senior banker at one of the four said on Tuesday. "We will get the money by Friday at the latest. Maybe we will get it tomorrow,» said the banker, who declined to be identified. The funds are needed to recapitalize Alpha Bank, National Bank of Greece, EFG Eurobank and Piraeus Bank. Once they receive the recapitalization, in the form of European Financial Stability Fund bonds, the banks will be able to resume funding operations with the European Central Bank, he said. "With this 18 billion euros in EFSF bonds we will participate again in ECB liquidity operations,» the banker told Reuters on condition he not be identified. The ECB suspended some Greek banks from funding operations last week because their capital was too low, forcing them to obtain higher-cost funding from an emergency program at the Bank of Greece. Greek banks saw much of their capital vanish this year because of losses in an historic bond swap that wiped out most of the value of their holdings of Greek government debt. Recapitalizing the banks is a crucial element of a bailout Greece received in March from the European Union, ECB and International Monetary Fund. [Reuters] and....

http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/11/55647

Top trade insurer eyes restrictions on Greek cover

21 May 2012

Trade credit insurers are now joining the "Greece to leave euro" free-for-all. (file photo) Euler Hermes, the world's No. 1 trade credit insurer, said it might restrict the cover it provides to exporters doing business with Greece, citing fears the country could be forced out of the euro. "Euler Hermes will most probably have to switch to a more prudent approach, also in the interests of customers," Euler Hermes chief executive Wilfried Verstraete said. "Euler Hermes has maintained a high level of cover for its customers until today, but now we are confronted with a changing situation. The risk of Greece exiting the eurozone has been revived." The company, majority-owned by Allianz, Europe's biggest insurer, offers exporters worldwide protection against the risk of non-payment. It insured deals worth 702 billion euros last year. Netherlands-based Atradius, the second-biggest trade credit insurer, declined to comment on the terms it offers to customers, but said it was carrying out an "in-depth" analysis of Greece's economic plight. "The risk of Greek companies failing to pay their bills has increased substantially," a spokesman said. Euler Hermes' Verstraete said the company would reach a decision on cover limits for Greece by the end of May. Trade credit insurers advise customers on the creditworthiness of their counterparts as well as insuring their transactions. They typically respond to increases in the risk of non-payment by imposing lower limits on the value of the business they cover. A Greek exit from the eurozone would force companies based here to revert to the drachma, which would likely fall sharply against the single currency to reflect the country's economic difficulties. That would severely restrict Greek importers' ability to pay euro-denominated bills, potentially inflicting big losses on their overseas suppliers. Greece imported 45.6 billion euros worth of goods last year, more than double the 20.2 billion euros it exported, more than double the 20.2 billion euros it exported, according to International Monetary Fund figures. (Reuters) and.... http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite2_1_21/05/2012_443240 Industrial output drops Industrial output declined in March by 4.3 percent year-on-year, against a 7.7 percent annual increase posted a year earlier, according to data released on Monday by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). On an annual basis, over the April 2011 - March 2012 period, production grew 6 percent, but this was smaller than the 6.9 percent rate posted the year before. The decline of the general turnover index in the industrial sector is mostly attributed to the drop in turnover in manufacturing industries and in the sales in the domestic and foreign markets. March was also the first month in which orders from abroad posted a yearly decline (by 3.5 percent), in line with domestic orders (-3.9 percent). and.... Bank deposit fears subsiding By Yiannis Papadoyiannis The Greek credit system is slowly reverting to normal after the significant turbulence witnessed over the course of last week, as bank officials are now suggesting that the deposit outflow seen in the period right after the May 6 election has subsided. They said that the bleeding of bank accounts had almost stopped on Friday and yesterday, while local lenders are still eagerly anticipating the transfer of 18 billion euros ahead of the recapitalization process. Hellenic Financial Stability Facility (HFSF) sources said yesterday that the temporary recapitalization, which will strengthen the capital base of the country’s four main commercial banks, is in the final straight and should be completed by the end of the week. Last week HFSF head Panayiotis Thomopoulos said the 18 billion euros would be paid by tomorrow. These funds are to be transferred to National, Alpha, Eurobank EFG and Piraeus as a temporary payment ahead of the recapitalization that the government to emerge from the June 17 elections will plan and implement. ekathimerini.com , Monday May 21, 2012 (23:05)