While the victory of pro-bailout parties in Greece brought cheer to the markets on Monday, one expert warns it will not go a long way in boosting the debt-laden country’s economic prospects.
Wilbur Ross, the billionaire investor and Chairman of private equity firm, WL Ross & Co., says the real question facing Greece is what policies the new government will implement after the pro-bailout New Democracy party won the most votes in Sunday’s vote.
The euro reversed earlier strong gains against the U.S. dollar in Asian trade on Monday, as optimism surrounding the expected win by Greece’s pro-bailout parties in Sunday’s critical elections proved short-lived for the single currency.
Risk assets rallied in early Asian trade after Greece's pro-bailout New Democracy Party won the most number of votes in elections on Sunday, helping to ease concerns the country would leave the euro zone.
Antonis Samaras, the leader of the New Democracy party which won the most votes in Sunday’s election, told CNBC that investors should be reassured by his parties victory over radical leftist Syriza party.
Spiraling unemployment, biting austerity measures and political uncertainty have led to an upsurge in Greeks quitting the country for sunnier economic climes.
New Democracy may have won the largest share of the vote in the Greek elections which have held markets in thrall for weeks — but leader Antonis Samaras is unlikely to be cracking open the ouzo quite yet.
Recent weeks have seen the rhetoric from both sides of the Greek tragedy ramped up with naysayers claiming the days of the Hellenic Republic’s membership of the euro zone are numbered, and others insisting the bloc will stay intact come what may.
I am lucky enough to have met some bright and extremely patriotic Greeks who fully admit their country needs a radical overhaul. It’s these people Greece needs to help rebuild their broken state but these are very often the most mobile of people.
The estimated 1.4 billion euros ($1.8 billion) spent on bribes by Greeks last year wouldn’t pay off its bailout debts, but it might give its people more spare cash to deal with belt-tightening elsewhere.
Would a new Greek government be able to mobilize sufficient internal and external support as it embarks on one of the most difficult economic adjustments in modern European history?
Hundreds of employees at big firms, some part of special teams, will be on standby this Sunday, awaiting the results of Greece’s pivotal election. The New York Times reports.
I am lucky enough to have met some bright and extremely patriotic Greeks who fully admit their country needs a radical overhaul. It’s these people Greece needs to help rebuild their broken state but these are very often the most mobile of people.
“We are moving from being a Western country to a poor country,” George Protopapas, national director of international charity SOS Children’s Villages, told CNBC.
It seems nothing matters more to the market right now, than the outcome of the elections in Greece. And it's more likely than not, that they're a bullish event.
The very existence of deposits in Greek banks is a mystery to many outside observers. Why on earth would anyone—including Greeks—still have money in a bank located in Greece?
In a Europe where the outcome of most elections is predicted weeks before votes are cast, the triumph of left-wing Syriza in May’s Greek elections was one of the few shocks of recent years.
The supply of healthcare and medicines in Greece is already increasingly difficult – and if the country left the euro, the situation would get even worse, Greek healthcare officials have warned CNBC.
The stereotype of the lazy Greek worker, putting in long hours but not producing much, and not declaring everything to the taxman, has dogged the country’s efforts to get international sympathy.
As more and more Greek nationals turn to the promised land of Australia to escape unemployment and austerity, visa procedures may not make it as simple.
The 1,200 who waited for bread, rice and vegetable soup at a kitchen visited by CNBC this week are just a fraction of the many hungry people in Athens and the surrounding area, as the noose of austerity tightens around the Greek population.
One of Greece’s most powerful weapons in the fight to get its economy back on track and avoid a potentially catastrophic crash out of the euro could be the millions of Greeks who live elsewhere.
Greece is back on top of the international economic and political agenda after a brief respite. Check out a guide to the key players in the coming election and Greek political crisis.
If you think you've got it tough living in America, just be glad you're not going to be in Greece as that nation begins to confront the true reality of austerity.