COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION weekly digest

European Council Council of the European Union   Brussels, 24 May 2020 Weekly digest 18/05/2020 09:55 | Media advisory | Education & training Media advisory - Video conference of ministers of education, 18 May 2020 A press conference held following the video conference of ministers of education, 18 May 2020. Read the full item 18/05/2020 16:08 | Media advisory | Culture Media advisory - Video conference of ministers of culture, 19 May 2020 Press conference held following the video conference of ministers of culture, 19 May 2020. Read the full item 18/05/2020 16:09 | Media advisory | Education & training Media advisory - Video conference of ministers of youth, 19 May 2020 A press conference held following the video conference of ministers of youth, 19 May 2020. Read the full item Council of the European Union 18/05/2020 10:27 | Media advisory | Economy & finance Media advisory - Video conference of economics and finance ministers, 19 May 2020 Main agenda item, approximate timing and press opportunities. Read the full item 19/05/2020 11:38 | Press release | Economy & finance Western Balkans and Turkey: Joint conclusions of the economic and financial dialogue of 19 May 2020 The Economic and Financial Dialogue between the EU and the Western Balkans and Turkey was held in Brussels on 19 May 2020. Read the full item 19/05/2020 12:07 | Press release | Economy & finance COVID-19: Council adopts temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE) As part of its emergency support package to tackle the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the Council adopted a temporary instrument that will help people keep their job during the crisis. Read the full item 19/05/2020 12:07 | Δελτίο τύπου | Economy & finance Πανδημία COVID-19: Το Συμβούλιο ενέκρινε προσωρινά μέτρα στήριξης για τον μετριασμό των κινδύνων ανεργίας σε κατάσταση έκτακτης ανάγκης (SURE) Στο πλαίσιο της δέσμης μέτρων για έκτακτη στήριξη ώστε να αντιμετωπισθούν οι οικονομικές επιπτώσεις της κρίσης COVID-19, το Συμβούλιο ενέκρινε σήμερα ένα προσωρινό μέσο που θα βοηθήσει τους πολίτες να διατηρήσουν τις δουλειές τους όσο διαρκεί η κρίση. Read the full item 20/05/2020 14:04 | Press release | Economy & finance COVID-19: Council adopts €3 billion assistance package to support neighbouring partners The Council adopted a decision to provide up to €3 billion of macro-financial assistance in loans to neighboring countries to help them cope with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full item 20/05/2020 14:04 | Δελτίο τύπου | Economy & finance Πανδημία COVID-19: Το Συμβούλιο εγκρίνει βοήθεια 3 δισ. € για τη στήριξη των γειτονικών εταίρων Το Συμβούλιο εξέδωσε απόφαση για τη χορήγηση μακροοικονομικής συνδρομής σε δάνεια ύψους έως και 3 δισ. € στις γειτονικές χώρες ώστε να μπορέσουν να αντιμετωπίσουν τις οικονομικές επιπτώσεις της πανδημίας COVID-19. Read the full item Council of the European Union 18/05/2020 15:27 | Media advisory | Regional development Media advisory - Video conference of ministers responsible for tourism, 20 May 2020 Media advisory - Press conference after the video conference of tourism ministers, 20 May 2020. Read the full item Council of the European Union 20/05/2020 14:47 | Press release | Transport COVID-19 transport measures: Council adopts temporary flexibility for licences and port services The EU is enabling the extension of the validity of certain transport certificates and relaxing rules on port infrastructure charges to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus crisis. Read the full item Council of the European Union 23/05/2020 09:07 | Press release | Culture Forward look: 25 May - 7 June 2020 Overview of the main subjects to be discussed at meetings of the Council of the EU over the next two weeks and upcoming media events. Read the full item General Secretariat 19/05/2020 | Library blog Think Tanks' reports on COVID-19 To help you stay on top of the latest think-tank research on COVID-19, the Council Library is publishing on its blog a regularly updated list of recent publications on the subject. Subscribe to the Council Library blog to receive the updates if you don't follow us yet.

Απάντηση του Γραφείου Τύπου του Υπουργού Εξωτερικών στην ανακοίνωση του Γραφείου Τύπου του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ

Αθήνα, 23 Μαΐου 2020

Απάντηση του Γραφείου Τύπου του Υπουργού Εξωτερικών στην ανακοίνωση του Γραφείου Τύπου του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ

Ζητάμε από τον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ να μας ανακοινώσει ποιος αναλαμβάνει την πολιτική ευθύνη αυτής της ανεκδιήγητης ανακοίνωσης.

Η υποβολή ερωτήματος αν «αποχώρησαν ελληνικές στρατιωτικές δυνάμεις από ελληνικό έδαφος τη στιγμή που σε αυτό προσήλθαν δυνάμεις της Τουρκικής στρατοχωροφυλακής», αποτελεί συκοφαντία και προσβολή προς τους ένστολους Έλληνες και τις Ένοπλες Δυνάμεις της πατρίδας μας. Είναι βεβαίως αυτονόητο, ότι  ουδέποτε υποστήριξε κάτι τέτοιο ο Υπουργός Εξωτερικών Νίκος Δένδιας, όπως ψευδώς και με απίστευτο θράσος διατυπώνει η αξιωματική αντιπολίτευση.

Επικίνδυνη είναι στην πραγματικότητα η ανευθυνότητα του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ,  που επιμένει να επικαλείται fake news. Ας μην παριστάνουν τους φύλακες του Έβρου αυτοί που κατά πλειοψηφία στο κόμμα τους δε διαπιστώνουν εργαλειοποίηση  των μεταναστευτικών ροών από τη γειτονική χώρα, ενώ  ακόμη και στη σημερινή τους ανακοίνωση διαπιστώνουν ότι «στην άλλη πλευρά των συνόρων υπάρχουν μετανάστες» και όχι η Τουρκία!  

ΙΝΣΤΙΤΟΥΤΟ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑΣ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΣ ΚΑΡΑΜΑΝΛΗΣ:Πρόσκληση σε διαδικτυακή συζήτηση (webinar)

Η συζήτηση θα μεταδοθεί στα ελληνικά εδώ:

https://live.idkaramanlis.gr/

https://www.facebook.com/idkaramanlis/

Και στα αγγλικά, εδώ:

https://www.facebook.com/ENoP.EU

IMF Weekend Read

CALLING ALL SHAREHOLDERS In a new op-ed published yesterday in the Financial Times, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva called for halting all bank dividends and buybacks, writing that shareholders who sacrifice now will prosper when growth restarts. After the 2008 financial crisis, global regulators required banks to increase their prudential buffers of high-quality capital and liquidity. That significantly strengthened the resilience of the financial system. Many observers now cite those buffers as a bulwark against the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. But as we brace ourselves for a deep recession in 2020, and only partial recovery in 2021, this resilience will be tested. Having in place strong capital and liquidity positions to support fresh credit will be essential. One of the steps needed to reinforce bank buffers is retaining earnings from ongoing operations. These are not insignificant. IMF staff calculate that the 30 global systemically important banks distributed about $250bn in dividends and share buybacks last year. This year they should retain earnings to build capital in the system. The need to preserve capital is already being recognized and needs to be so more widely. In some countries, banks have voluntarily decided to collectively suspend shareholder payouts and buybacks. In others, supervisors have had to push. In March, the Bank of England asked banks to suspend plans to pay dividends and cash bonuses to executives, indicating it was ready to use its supervisory powers if anyone refused. Read more here. REBUILDING AND RECOVERY “If you don’t like the pandemic, you are not going to like the climate crisis,” said IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in a recent 40-minute TED.com interview on how to rebuild the global economy. Within the next ten years, Georgieva hopes to see positive shifts towards digital transformation, more equitable social safety nets and a green recovery. As the environment recovers while the world grinds to a halt, she urges leaders to maintain low carbon footprints—particularly since the pandemic foreshadows the devastation of global warming. In the near term, Managing Director Georgieva told Reuters that the IMF was focused on risks, including high debt levels, increased deficits, unemployment, bankruptcies, and increased poverty and inequality during the recovery period. She also said the crisis was boosting the digital economy, offering a chance to increase transparency and e-learning, and give even small firms access to markets. But the recovery will take time. Speaking to POLITICO, Georgieva predicted that it could take until 2023 for the global economy to return to its pre-coronavirus levels. “The most severe shock has already occurred,” she said, noting that 170 countries have entered negative economic growth since March, and that the global economy is likely to shrink further beyond the current IMF estimate of -3 percent GDP in 2020. In a wide-ranging 1-hour video discussion with former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd from the Asia Society, Managing Director Georgieva said that there are three reasons to be hopeful: the huge scale of government actions in imposing lockdowns; the prospect of an economic bounce-back in 2021, "maybe even late 2020 in some countries", and; the power of science to come up with vaccines. Have your headphones? Listen to IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath in a new 25-min podcast with the World Economic Forum, in which she discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy, what's needed to climb out of the Great Lockdown, and the role that globalization will play in the recovery.

ΙΜF blog....

Dear maria, We just published a new blog—please find the full text below. Translations coming soon.  COVID-19 WORSENS PRE-EXISTING FINANCIAL VULNERABILITIES By Tobias Adrian and Fabio Natalucci Much the same way COVID-19 hits people with pre-existing health conditions more strongly, so is the pandemic-triggered economic crisis exposing and worsening financial vulnerabilities that have built up during a decade of extremely low rates and volatility. Our recently released chapters 2-4 of the Global Financial Stability Report focus on three potential weak spots: risky segments in global credit markets, emerging markets, and banks. Should the ongoing economic contraction last longer or be deeper than currently expected, the resulting tightening of financial conditions may be amplified by these vulnerabilities, causing more instability or even a financial crisis. Risky corporate credit markets Risky segments of credit markets have expanded rapidly since the Global Financial Crisis. Potential fragilities include borrowers’ weaker credit quality, looser underwriting standards, liquidity risks at investment funds, and increased interconnectedness On the positive side, our analysis finds that investors’ use of borrowed funds to finance their investments in these markets is less prevalent and that banks’ are not as heavily exposed to leveraged loans and high-yield bonds as in the past. Both factors contributed to the Global Financial Crisis a decade ago. The risk of investor runs have also lessened in some segments because of a prevalence of long-term, locked-in capital in the private debt and collateralized loan obligation markets. In a severely-adverse scenario, overall bank losses in risky corporate credit markets should be manageable, although they could be substantial at a few large banks. Losses at nonbank financial institutions, however, could be more significant. Given that nonbank lenders have taken a more prominent role in these markets, this could hurt credit provision and lead to a longer and more severe recession. Policymakers should act decisively to contain COVID-19’s fallout and support the flow of credit to firms. In only a couple of months through late March, prices in risky credit markets dropped by about two-thirds of the declines experienced during the entire Global Financial Crisis (a portion of the losses were since reversed). At the same time, interconnectedness across risky credit markets has likely contributed to market turbulence.  A broad-based demand for cash has triggered selling pressures, and mutual funds have experienced large outflows (even though they have declined or reversed more recently). Regulators should encourage asset managers to be prudent and use all available liquidity management tools to address such risks. Once the crisis is over, a comprehensive assessment of the sources of market dislocations and underlying vulnerabilities it unmasked should be conducted. For example, policymakers should consider whether including nonbanks in the regulatory and supervisory perimeter is warranted, given their expanded role in risky credit markets. In particular, a framework for macroprudential regulation of nonbank institutions, taking into consideration the global nature of these markets, should be developed and the macroprudential toolkit should be expanded. Managing volatile portfolio flows Since the beginning of the pandemic, emerging markets saw capital outflows of over $100 billion, nearly twice as big (relative to GDP) as those experienced during the Global Financial Crisis. While outflows have since subsided, this dramatic swing underscores the challenges in managing volatile portfolio flows and the risks this may pose to financial stability. The prolonged period of low interest rates encouraged both borrowers and creditors to take on more risk. The resulting surge of portfolio inflows into riskier asset markets contributed to the buildup of debt and in some cases resulted in stretched valuations in emerging and frontier markets. As a result, they have become more reliant on foreign portfolio flows since the Global Financial Crisis. Our analysis suggests that both bond and equity flows are much more sensitive to global financial conditions during periods of extreme flows than in normal times, while domestic fundamentals (such as economic growth, external vulnerabilities, domestic financial market depth, etc.) matter incrementally more for equities and local-currency-denominated bond flows. Furthermore, greater foreign investor participation in local currency bond markets that lack adequate depth can greatly increase the volatility of bond yields. Emerging markets should manage external pressures by allowing their exchange rate to depreciate. If exchange-rate movements become disorderly, authorities should consider intervening in foreign exchange markets. Temporary capital flow management measures may also have to be used in the face of substantial outflows. Sovereign debt managers should prepare for longer-term funding disruptions by putting contingency plans in place to deal with limited access to external financing. Banking: low rates, low profits? Profitability has been a persistent challenge for banks in several advanced economies since the Global Financial Crisis. While very accommodative monetary policy was crucial to sustain economic growth during this period, providing support to bank profits, extremely low interest rates have also compressed banks’ net interest margins—the difference between interest earned on assets and interest paid on liabilities. Our analysis shows that, beyond the immediate challenges associated with the COVID-19 outbreak, a persistent period of low interest rates is likely to put further pressure on bank profitability in the coming years. Healthy banks play a key role in any dynamic economy, and are crucial for financial stability. When unable to generate profits, banks are less likely to provide loans and other financial services to households and firms, starving the economy of much needed credit. A simulation exercise conducted for a group of nine advanced economies indicates that a large fraction of their banks, by assets, may fail to generate profits above their cost of equity in 2025. The COVID-19 outbreak is an additional test to banks’ resilience. Once immediate crisis-related challenges recede, banks could resort to fee income increases or costs cutting to mitigate pressures on profits, but it may be challenging to fully allay such pressures. Meanwhile, taking excessive risks to recoup profits may sow the seeds of future problems. It is therefore crucial that policymakers rapidly find a balance that safeguards financial stability and financial institutions’ soundness, while supporting economic activity. Various strategies to preserve and strengthen capital should be considered, including restricting dividend payouts and share buybacks. In the coming years, authorities will need to take on some of the “structural” challenges banks face. For example, financial sector authorities should incorporate the potential impact of low interest rates in their decisions and risk assessments. Supervisory capital planning and stress testing should include “lower-for-longer” scenarios, and the strength of business models in such an environment should be evaluated. Supervisors should also remain vigilant and prevent any buildup of excessive risks that could reduce the banking sector’s resilience. Tobias Adrian is the Financial Counsellor and Director of the IMF's Monetary and Capital Markets Department. Fabio M. Natalucci is a Deputy Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department. ***** Thank you again for your interest in IMF Blog. I also wanted to share that the next quarterly issue of IMF Finance & Development magazine launches on June 1st—focusing on economic policies, politics and pandemics. Click here to access your newsletter subscriptions (enter your email) and select F&D to be notified of the launch. Take good care, Glenn Gottselig Blog Editor, IMF GGottselig@imf.org