A day after we learned that the Greece tragicomedy just gets better and better after it had run out of ink to print tax forms, and hence is unable to collect taxes, and were forced to got over a minute long bout of hysterical laughter having learned that Greece plans on refinancing its rolling debt (which trades at over 100%) with Century Bonds, no seriously and this under the sage advice of BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Lazard, we now get the latest update in this progression of relentless Banana Republic upgrades after learning that the Troika is unable to conduct its much needed inspections of Greek deficit cut progress due to sit ins by protesting government workers at 8 ministries. From Kathimerini: “The troika has been in Athens since Wednesday but its monitoring of Greek finances is running into a variety of problems, as besides the disagreement with the government on a number of issues, the representatives of the country’s international creditors had to deal with sit-ins at the building they were about to visit on Thursday. Public sector employees blocked the entrance to the Finance Ministry and the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) in protest at the planned measure of putting thousands of them on labor standby status.” Seriously what else? News that government workers start shredding debt indentures for fun? In the meantime the Troika is having official meetings with what’s left of the government at the local Starbucks… From Kathimerini: The inspectors met with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos at the deputy prime minister’s office on Zalocosta Street instead, a meeting that went relatively well according to reports, making amends for a rather disastrous meeting in late August that had led to the troika’s hasty departure. The new snags concern the labor standby system, closed-shop professions and the privatizations. By Monday, the troika will need to have completed its assessment, while the government must have approved the labor standby system, as well as the new public sector salary system, the 2012 budget draft and the new midterm fiscal plan. Venizelos therefore had an extraordinary meeting with Administrative Reform Minister Dimitris Reppas on Thursday evening, and there will be an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Sunday. Public sector workers also staged sit-ins at seven other ministries on Thursday, but decided to leave during the day. Protesters intend to stay at the Finance Ministry until tonight while the sit-in at the ELSTAT building is not seen ending before Sunday. Meanwhile the government has resorted to withholding the salaries of state employees who have outstanding tax debts, provided their monthly salary exceeds 1,000 euros. Already 20 civil aviation authority employees have had their salaries withheld. Well at least the meeting went well…Greek Banana Republic Status Upgraded To AAA After Sit-Ins At Eight Ministries Prevent Troika Inspections
Friday, 30 September 2011
Sept 30, 2011
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