Greece saw another night of violence on Tuesday as the Troika of international lenders arrived in the city to discuss Greece’s finances and to ensure that the debt ridden nation is sticking to its reform promises.
The group of international lenders from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund had hoped to meet with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras yesterday but opted to delay the meeting to give them more time to double check their figures.
Greek finance minister Yannis Stournaras said last night “We decided to have an additional day of discussions with the Troika’s team of technical experts.” He and the rest of the Greek government are hoping that they have done enough to convince the Troika to release the next €2.8 billion of bailout funds.
Tuesday night however saw fresh violence after home-made bombs exploded at three separate locations in Thessaloniki, damaging Greek politician’s offices, including that of the deputy environment minister. The attacks follow Monday’s bomb attack outside a courier company in the centre of the capital, Athens. No one was injured, but there were evacuations as firemen took over the buildings.
However, this is the latest in a long line of attacks on politicians and businesses since the deeply unpopular austerity measures were implemented. In January, gunmen opened fire at one of PM Samara’s offices.
The explosive devices were made with gas canisters, as in several attacks by Greek guerilla groups which have targeted politicians and businesses for years, causing casualties in some cases. Extremists have linked recent attacks with the acute debt crisis which has hit Greece since 2009, blasting the political and financial system.
“Terrorism acts do not daunt the government. In democracy decisions are taken by people through elections and parliamentarians, not masked bombers,” government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou commented.
Elsewhere Euro zone industrial output has recorded a big decline as production in France and Germany slipped adding to concerns that the region is heading deeper into recession. Industrial Production across the region fell 0.4% in January. Economists had been predicting a decline of 0.1%. Factory output fell by 1.4% on year-by-year basis with sharp declines being recorded in Franc, Italy and Germany.
As a result of the data the Euro has weakened against the majority of its peers. Against the Pound it slid by 0.46% and against the US Dollar it declined by 0.10%.
The latest disappointing reading may provide the European Central Bank with more of an incentive to consider cutting interest rates to below the current 0.75% rate later this year to lower the cost of borrowing for companies and households.
“The ECB is reluctant to use the remaining room to manoeuvre. Cuts in the main policy rate are being kept for an even rainier day,” David Mackie, an economist at JP Morgan, wrote in a research note. “We believe that the ECB should respond to this macro outlook,” he said.
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