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Finance ministers of the euro area, meeting in Brussels last night, finally managed to agree on a rescue plan of record 237 billion euros. Financial markets themselves remain cautious. Record bailout for Greece

The euro area has decided to forceps Tuesday a new record bailout, potentially reaching 237 billion euros for Greece in the hope of avoiding the release of the Monetary Union without allay concerns about future of the country.

The agreement came in the night after more than thirteen hours of negotiations between the Finance Ministers of the monetary union, during one of those crisis meetings in Brussels with the euro area is now used. The agreement must "secure the future of the country in the euro area," he told reporters their leader, Jean-Claude Juncker, while many economists believe the country is doomed to end to leave .

European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Olli Rehn, told him of a "real chance to make a fresh start" and "an essential step for Greece and the euro area". The aid package includes a component from a public assistance, loans-mainly-to the tune of 130 billion euros until the end of 2014, after an initial program of support for the country decided May 2010 had already reached 110 billion euros. This has proved insufficient. The IMF should be involved, but making less than in previous aid plans. It will take a decision in March.  

The other aspect concerns a debt relief of Greece held by private creditors, banks and investment funds. They must accept a loss of 53.5% in the final on the face value of their Greek claims, is an increased effort from the original target was 50%. This should reduce the country's debt amounting to 107 billion euros, a record in world economic history. This exceeds by far the effect of debt restructuring of Argentina, which reached $ 82 billion (73 billion euros during the day) when she failed in January 2002. With this support plan, Greece should be able to cope with a maturity of 14.5 billion euros which falls on March 20 and thus avoid default. Provided however, that banks respond in sufficient numbers to call.  

Athens said he was "very satisfied" with the result. The Greek government had fulfilled its part of the paper the contract by complying with the requirements of its creditors. It adopted a new austerity plan at the cost of violent street protests and renewed political turbulence and will have to quickly firm up the first steps, in token of good will, to see the money reach him. A savings plan painful 3.3 billion euros this year was passed, providing for a reduction in the minimum wage and a limitation of pensions in particular.

Financial markets remain cautious

But if negotiations dragged on, is that the major funders of Greece have hit on a hole of several billion euros to bridge towards reducing Greece's debt to 120% of GDP by 2020. It is the goal set by the International Monetary Fund to consider that it is sustainable in the long term. In the end, the bailout will reduce the Greek debt to the tune of 120.5% by 2020. To achieve this, banks will not only make a greater effort. The government also will have to put a little more hands in their pockets, by reducing interest rates of loans already contracted to Greece and, for central banks in the euro area, by participating in the effort. Greece will in return be further strengthened supervision on the part of creditors, the European Commission in particular, to ensure it does not deviate from the targets.

The negotiations were also made difficult by the fact that many countries are skeptical, despite repeated promises, the ability of Greece to make the necessary reforms, especially as the forthcoming parliamentary elections are likely to reshuffle the cards. The country itself is undermined by the economic recession, with five consecutive years of decline in gross domestic product, and the population is increasingly difficult to accept successive budget cuts demanded by creditors.

Financial markets have reacted cautiously. The euro rose against the dollar and the Japanese yen on Tuesday. But European shares open in equilibrium. Many economists doubt that the new rescue plan is the final chapter of the Greek crisis, and therefore the debt crisis that has shaken the euro area for over two years. They regret that it is turned toward fiscal restraint and not to revive growth in a country that could, in the eyes of many, to "die healed." "The Greek plan remains fragile and vulnerable. Even with this agreement, Greece still has most of its problems ahead, not behind it," warns Sony Kapoor, Director of Studies Centre Re-Define. The head of the Bruegel Institute is even more pessimistic, believing that the plan does not doubt "that extend the deadline fatal". "Greece will not implement austerity promised and will end up ultimately having to decide to leave the euro or to be pushed to the exit," he considers.

The Greek government on Friday approved a bill involving the country in the reforms demanded by the EU and the International Monetary Fund for the implementation of a second bailout of 130 billion euros, officials said government.

"This has been approved," said a minister attending the cabinet meeting.

The bill should be voted by parliament Sunday, which would make Greece a financial solution so that Athens must pay 14.5 billion euros in bonds maturing next month. The Mediterranean country will not honor these debts without further aid.

The European Union urges the Greek government to provide details of further cuts in public spending of $ 325 million.

It also requires a clear commitment of party leaders of the coalition government to implement reforms.

"We can not let Greece go bankrupt. Our priority is to take steps to adopt the new economic program and the new loan agreement. It goes without saying that those who disagree and do not vote for the new program can not remain in government ", said Prime Minister Lucas Papademos to the Cabinet ……. Friday

.., the Greeks began a 48-hour general strike to protest the new austerity measures demanded by international creditors and that Athens can not be the economy, according to Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, at least to leave the euro area

. Clashes

between demonstrators and security forces erupted in Constitution Square (Syntagma), before Parliament but the manifestations, followed by relatively few, have generally held ; are peaceful. 

The first police union, which accused the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission to undermine democracy and national sovereignty, expressed his desire to no longer act against his "brothers". A local newspaper also publishes a photo montage showing German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a Nazi uniform.

SACRIFICES

The four government members from the LAOS, far-right party that belongs to the governing coalition, submitted their resignations in protest against the demands of international creditors, reports news agency ANA. George Karatzaferis, leader of the movement, had previously ruled to endorse the new austerity plan.

"I told the other political leaders that I could not vote for this loan agreement," he said at a news conference. "The Greeks can not be taken hostage and enslaved. We took our dignity. We were humiliated. I can not accept "

. The LAOS has 15 MPs out of 300 of the Greek Parliament, which means that his opposition to rescue plan would not prevent its adoption

. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou, member of Socialist Party (PASOK), has also resigned, but the movement has invited elected to support the plan

…… For … Venizelos, Greece can only accept the conditions of the new aid package of 130 billion to avoid bankruptcy accounts public for looming next month.

"The time has come for us to decide. Unfortunately, we must choose between sacrifice and even greater sacrifices, "he said in Brussels

. The device provides including a 22% decrease in the minimum wage, the elimination of 150,000 jobs in the public and reduced pensions for many

. Greeks, impoverished by five years of recession, in a country where unemployment is a worker in five, when the shops close one after the other, these new measures are unacceptable. 

Lucas Papademos had torn the agreement Thursday leaders of PASOK (left), New Democracy (right) and LAOS new measures demanded by donors, but their fire Green did not convince partners Athens and release the funds to conclude the Agreement on the Private sector involvement (PSI) in public debt.

Jean-Claude Juncker, Eurogroup president, warned that no aid would be disbursed without collateral submitted by the Greek political class. "In short, no release without implementation" of measures, he summarized.

Industrial production in France fell 1.4% in December over a month. Over the full year, manufacturing grew 3.8% on average.

Industrial production in France fell 1.4% in December over the month, reversing its rebound in November (1.1%), said Friday the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). In the manufacturing industry alone, which excludes mining and construction, production also fell 1.4% after rising in November (1.4%), INSEE said. Over the full year, manufacturing grew 3.8% on average.

In the fourth quarter of the year, output fell in manufacturing (-0.5%), as well as throughout the industry (-0.8%), INSEE said. She fell in electrical, electronic, computer and machinery (-1.1%) and in "other industrial products" (-0.9%).

Output also fell in the agricultural and food industries (-0.9%). In contrast, manufacturing output has been increasing in the transport equipment (+1.6%) and refining (+4.6%). On December alone, production fell in the agricultural and food industries (-1.2%), in electrical, electronic, computer and machinery (-3.2%) among others. She has been a slight increase in refining (+0.6%).

Wall Street finished slightly higher Wednesday in anticipation of a possible breakthrough in the Greek case, the Dow is now at its highest and four-year high yesterday.

The latter won 0.04% or 5.75 points, to 12,883.95. The S & P-500, wider, took 2.91 points, or 0.22%, to 1349.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 11.78 points on his side of (0.41%) to 2,915.86.

Tuesday, the Dow finished at its highest level since May 2008, focused since late 2011 by the actions of central banks to support economic activity and by a series of macro-é U.S. ECONOMIC deemed favorable.

The three party leaders of the Greek government coalition are currently meeting to try to agree on the reforms demanded by donors in Athens in return for a second ; help me plan. 

The President of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, said Wednesday in a statement it had convened a meeting of finance ministers of the eurozone on Thursday in Brussels, meeting that should show up decide the outline of the new aid plan for Athens.

The leaders of the European Central Bank (ECB) remain divided on the potential contribution of the central bank to restructure Greek debt, two sources said on Wednesday the euro area.

"It will be a long and difficult process, as it has been from the beginning, but market participants want to see further," said Tim Ghriskey, Investment Officer at Solaris Asset Management , about the cautious optimism prevailing among market players. 

The Dow Jones jumped 21% since the beginning of October and again 80% of the ground lost during the down cycle covering the period 2007-early 2009. The benchmark index of Wall Street is now only 10% of its historic high reached in October 2007.

Energy stocks weighed on the coast after U.S. crude has erased its gains in the wake of the announcement of an increase in stocks of crude oil and gasoline States United, with the sector index yielding 0.55% and 0.64% ExxonMobil to 85.32 dollars.

The action Walt Disney rose 0.71% to 41.27 dollars after the media group has reported better than expected quarterly results.

The title Polo Ralph Lauren soared 9.18% to 171.49 dollars after better than expected quarterly figures of the clothing manufacturer, who also revised upwards its margin guidance. 

The action McDonald's has sold 0.85% to 100.05 dollars despite the announcement of a more-than-expected global sales of restaurants open at least a year better than expected in January.

The title Time Warner took 0.03% to 38.11 dollars after the media group released a better than expected quarterly profit, thanks to its re ; cable networks and franchises of the last episode of Harry Potter.

Of the 315 companies that, before the close of Wall Street, have published their quarterly figures, 61.0% reported better than expected results.

Lagardère Tuesday reported a turnover slightly below expectations for 2011, hit by the decline in revenues in publishing, and announced ; significant writedowns of around 900 million euros.

The media group has gone through a year 2011 marked heckled by two warnings on its results, a controversy over its leader Arnaud Lagardère and a fall of over 30% of his title scholarship. 

"In 2011, taking into account both an economic and market environment deteriorated, and other performances (recorded in the second half) and prospects for the industry Unlimited, should lead impairment in value of a significant amount, "the group said in a statement, referring to its division dedicated to sport and entertainment.

Lagardère adds that he also revised down the value in its accounts of its 20% stake in Canal + France.

The full year, revenue came out to 7.657 billion euros, against 7.966 billion during the previous year, an increase of 0.2% on a comparable basis. 

The Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S brought out a turnover of 7.684 billion euros on the basis of estimates of 18 analysts.

The group, which will publish its full year results on March 8, confirmed its forecast of a decline of 5 to 12% of its recurring EBIT before associates (EBIT) for 2011 Media .

The stock closed Monday at 1.51% to 23.1450 euros. Since the beginning of the year, it was up 13.5%, compared with increases of 4.62% of the media sector index.

Finance ministers of the euro area have indicated to Greece Saturday they could not give the green light to restructure its debt held by the private sector in the absence of guarantees on measures deemed necessary to the granting of a second international aid plan.

The ministers hoped to meet Monday to finalize the second aid package of 130 billion euros to be implemented by mid-March to avoid a bankruptcy of Public Accounts but the appointment was postponed because of reluctance to engage in Athens in favor of the reforms demanded. The meeting was replaced by a conference call.

"All participants of the conference sent a clear message to the Greeks: that's enough," said a member of the Eurogroup. "There are a lot of frustration because they are dragging their feet."

"They have to decide and start talking honestly, decisively and quickly with the troika of program aspects that remain to be finalized, such as tax reforms and those of the Labour Code , "he added.

The troika, consisting of representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission and European Central Bank, has prepared a plan to restructure Greek debt which depends on the granting of the second aid plan.

VENIZELOS POINTED FINGER

The private sector should accept a discount of around 70% of its obligations under the debt exchange program. This will help to lower than 100 billion euros of debt of Greece, which currently represents 160% of its gross domestic product (GDP).

International creditors demanded that the Greek parliamentary parties agree on including a decrease in the minimum wage and a reduction in premiums paid leave in the private sector but Athens fears a deepening recession and social movements.

Finance ministers from the eurozone believe further that their Greek counterpart Evangelos Venizelos cares more about elections in April that the financial situation.

"There are a lot of frustration regarding the Minister Venizelos, which is very difficult to mobilize because he is busy with the campaign for the leadership of PASOK. IT is not available to meet with members of the troika.

"He prepares his own political future, rather than his country," lamented the head of the Eurogroup.

The interested party has meanwhile spoke of "great anticipation and great pressure not only from the three institutions that make up the troika, but also from the states of the euro area". Evangelos Venizelos has also recognized that the call had been "very difficult".

"The moment is critical. All must be concluded before tomorrow night," he said.

Jean-Claude Juncker, Eurogroup President, has meanwhile not ruled out the possibility of bankruptcy of the Greek government accounts. "If we were to establish that everything went wrong in Greece, there would be no new program (aid) and it would mean that they should declare himself bankrupt in March" , he said.

The Chairman of the Consob Giuseppe Vegas reaffirmed Wednesday that as of Thursday, the ban on naked short sales would be extended to all classes of shares.

At the beginning of November, Constable Italian Stock Exchange announced a ban on naked short sales of all equity markets regulated to reduce market volatility, a decision to take effect from 1 December at midnight.

In an interview published Wednesday by the newspaper La Repubblica, Giuseppe Vegas has also discussed the requirements of the European Banking Authority (EBA) relating to the recovery bond and that he would ask the Bank of Italy to raise the issue at European level

The new EU regulation that requires banks to value sovereign debt in their accounts at market value may cause a new credit crunch that could cripple the economy of Italy, said the president of the Italian stock market authority .

"In Italy, there are fears on banks. The money does not circulate. The main risk is the development of a credit crisis."

"In this scenario, the risk that a bank collapse is secondary.

France is already in recession and is expected to slow growth of 0.3% in 2012 according to the OECD considers it essential to save 0.4% of additional GDP. 8 billion euros.

The OECD has drastically revised down its growth forecast Monday for France, which would be barely positive in 2012 after a "short" recession, a situation that "requires" a new anti-deficit to take the international commitment of Paris. Far from the 1% growth still officially expected by the French government next year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is no longer considering a meager increase of 0.3% of GDP in its latest economic forecast delivery biannual. Six months ago, it expected 2.1% but still on the deepening crisis in the euro area has been through it.

The recession that know France in the fourth quarter 2011 and first quarter 2012 would be "small scale", according to the organization. But faced with these projections, the poorest to date of an international institution, it urges Paris to a new fiscal tightening. "Given the slowdown in economic growth and the increasing burden of debt," the goal of returning the public deficit to 4.5% of GDP in 2012 "will require new measures of fiscal consolidation," says she said.

"We would suggest a further fiscal consolidation to achieve the desired objective," confirmed its chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan, during a press conference.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has extended its credit instruments Tuesday and announced the creation of a new liquidity line to six months to support the country weakened by the European budget crisis.

The IMF said that the new line Precaution and Liquidity would act as "insurance against future shocks and as a window for short-term liquidity to meet the needs."

This new line will provide access to liquidity to finance six months, up to five times the quota of the member country concerned, and may also be used as part of an arrangement for a period of 12 to 24 months with this time access up to 10 times the quota of the country.

The IMF also created a new Financial Instrument for Rapid countries with balance of payments is facing urgent needs due to "external shocks" such as natural disasters.

"We acted quickly and the new instruments will respond more quickly and efficiently for the benefit of all members (IMF)," said Executive Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde said in a statement.

The Inter, which participated FO, denounces "firmly austerity and rigor decided and imposed by the government." The leader Bernard Thibault of the CGT in Marseille to protest against austerity.

The Inter on Friday called for a "National Day of Action interprofessional, including rallies," to protest against government austerity plans in France.

Meeting at the headquarters of the CGT in Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis), five unions (CGT, CFDT, FSU, UNSA and Solidarity) also issued a "joint appeal" to employees to "challenge the government, elected representatives and officials companies in the period from 1 to December 15. "

FOR, which participated for the first time in two years this Inter, said he would not sign the joint appeal, but be associated with the day on 13 December.