If you thought the Dijsselbloem-Varoufakis 'exit' was uncomfortable; watching Jean-Claude "when it's serious, you have to lie" Juncker grab Alexis Tsipras' hand in an awkward solidarity gesture as they ambled off stage today was eye-gouging... Perhaps the biggest news overnight was Varoufakis comment that GREECE `WILL NEVER SEEK FINANCIAL AID' FROM RUSSIA but broadly speaking conversations continue with "no change" - Greek FinMin Varoufakis told ECB's Draghi about his "government’s utter and unwavering determination that it can’t possibly be business as usual in Greece," and The IMF has stated that there has been no discussion with the Greek government on a change to the framework. Varoufakis is on his way to meet Germany's Schaeuble next.
The 'awkwardness' begins at around 20 seconds...
* * *
Awkward...
[6]
* * *
Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis met with ECB Chair Draghi...and nothing changed...
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis commented after meeting ECB President Mario Draghi at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt on Wednesday.
“Today I had the great honor and privilege to be with Mr Mario Draghi, the president of the ECB, as part of this tour of ours, the purpose of which is to communicate with our partners both in major European capitals as well as of course the great institutions that are supporting the common project of the European monetary and economic union”
“Mr Draghi was particularly helpful in outlining the mechanism by which the ECB supports the euro-zone member states including Greece. We had a very fruitful discussion and exchange concerning the constraints, the rules, the regulations, the process by which the relationship between Greece, the euro zone and the central bank must unfold”
“I presented him our government’s utter and unwavering determination that it can’t possibly be business as usual in Greece both in terms of the reforms that we need in order to end the various malignancies that have afflicted the Greek economy and society for so many years, and also in terms of the program that has been leading to, or fueling, a debt deflationary crisis in our nation”
“We established an excellent line of communication that gives me a great encouragement for the future and I am now proceeding to Berlin where I am extremely eager to meet not with just the finance Minister but with the intellectual force behind the project of European monetary union, Mr Schaeuble. I look forward to it”
The IMF explains nothing has changed...
There’s an agreed framework for dealing with Greece’s debt in the current program, and there has been no discussion with the government on a change to the framework, International Monetary Fund says in e-mailed statement.
Varouyfakis finally appears to put a nail in the Russian pivot narrative:
In the same interview, Varoufakis ruled out that Greece planed to seek aid from Russia.
“That is not up for debate. We will never ask for financial assistance in Moscow.” [Reuters, Kathimerini]
* * *
But the photo-op proves - they are BFFs?
[7]
* * *
We still believe Greek Bank bonds are the most sensitive to the sentiment shifts and while it bounced, it is still dramatically lower...
[8]
