Weekend Edition - Sun 3.14.10

International Headlines
· Greece - Euro zone finance ministers are likely to agree on Monday on a mechanism for
aiding Greece financially, if it is required, but will leave out any sums until Athens asks for
them, an EU source said on Saturday. It would be the principles and parameters of a facility
or mechanism, which then could be activated if needed and requested. The Guardian
reported that officials will agree to provide assistance worth up to EU25B, although this
amount prob. won’t be made public officially. Germany’s finance minister said there was no
need for finance ministers to make any decision on aid for Greece during their meetings Mon
& Tues CNBC/Reuters http://www.cnbc.com//id/35850776
· Greece – France’s finance minister Christine Lagarde says there is no need for a Greek
financial bailout at the moment, stating that Greece’s moves to clean up its budget have
negated any push for outside assistance. WSJ
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704131404575117963361743800.html#mo
d=todays_us_page_one
· ECB’s Trichet says the Greek government’s “courageous” budget cuts should be enough
to win over both investors and rating agencies – Bloomberg
· ECB member Ewald Nowotny says some eurozone countries could face a debt “death
spiral” unless they don’t start cutting their budget deficits. Bloomberg
· UK elections – according to the latest YouGov poll published by the Sunday Times, the
Labour party would wind up w/the most seats in parliament after elections that must be held
by June. Labor would end up w/302 seats in the 650-member parliament and the
Conservatives would take 227, w/no party in overall control. The poll showed the Labor
party w/33% support and the Conservatives w/37% (as recently as Dec the Conservatives had
a 17% advantage). Bloomberg
· China is facing a GBP350B debt time bomb according to the London Telegraph - A
report by Citigroup and Victor Shih of Northwestern University warns that the Chinese
government may be forced to bail out banks that made loans for government-backed projects
under the huge stimulus program put together at the height of the financial crisis in 2008 –
London Telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/7436653/Chinese-facingdebt-
time-bomb.html
· China & the Yuan - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made wide ranging comments at the end
of the country’s annual People’s Congress; Wen has rejected criticism that China is keeping
its currency undervalued in order to boost exports; Wen said the yuan isn’t undervalued at
current levels and blamed Washington for the current deterioration in relations between the
two countries. "We will maintain the continuity and stability of our macroeconomic
policies," he added. As circumstances changed, Beijing would make every effort to make its
policies "more flexible". Wen said the yuan would be kept “basically stable” – BBC/London
Times.
· The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority said in its first annual review Sunday that it made an
annualized return of 6.5% a year over the last 20 years – WSJ
· Dubai – Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed al-Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Supreme fiscal
Committee, said the Dubai government is “always behind” Dubai World and is separating the
bad business from the good business – Bloomberg