The speculation around the Greek Referendum is high: Following the big news that struck Europe of the Prime Minister of Greece Papandreou putting the EU plan of the Greek debt to a referendum, it was suggested that Papandreou will back out of the referendum .The recent news from Greece is that there will be vote today in its parliament; if the opposition will not vote against Papandreou, then he may cancel the referendum.
This referendum plan of Papandreou is very controversial and wasn’t accepted by the EU leaders mainly Sarkozy and Merkel; they have met with Papandreou yesterday in Cannes, France and probably influenced him to cancel this plan.
It was suggested that EU leaders may have threaded Papandreou that Greece will be removed from the European Union if he will proceed with the referendum.
There are still many perils that Greece will have to pass in the near future including the high unemployment rate, the government budget deficit, and the ongoing contraction in the nation’s GDP (as of Q1 2011 the growth rate reached -5.5%); all these factors won’t help Greece pay back its creditors even after the 50% reduction on its debt.
Currently the American stock markets are traded up along with major commodities prices while the Euro to US dollar is traded slightly down:
Euros to USD exchange rate is currently traded up at 1.3745 a 0.0171% decrease as of 16:57*.
Nymex (WTI) crude oil price, short term futures (December 2011 delivery) is traded up by 1.38%, at $93.79 per barrel as of 16:51*.
Gold price, short term futures (December 2011 delivery) is traded at $1,757.50 per t oz. a $27.9 increase or 1.61%, as of 16:50*.
(* GMT)
For more on this subject:
- ECB Cut Interest Rate to 1.25% – November 3
- Greece’s Papandreou Submits EU’s Deal for a Referendum
- EU Reached An Agreement on Debt Crisis – Will It Work?