Greek Haircut: Bankruptcy and National Humiliation tagged: , , , , ,

Greek Haircut: Bankruptcy and National Humiliation

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Economy, Editor

I woke up this morning, the first day of the Salvation Year “Greece in Haircut” with some voices in my ear. I had fallen asleep on the couch, watching television. People were arguing on TV about the “50% Greek Haircut”. While I was sleeping, people I don’t know and never voted for them took decisions for my future and that of my family, my relatives, my friends. That is the price I pay for been an Eu supporter for over 30 years. The  EU leaders took in Brussels at 5 o’clock in the morning with the Greek government in the role of a passive watcher, unable to strike good deals.

Three hours later, at 8 am Greeks were still trying to find out what exactly the ‘haircut’ means for our lives. As early as 8 am nobody can give a clear picture as to whether this historical day is good or bad. Not only because the EU decision has not worked out all the details, not only because EU and bankers will still have to fine tune to voluntary participation on the haircut of the Greek bonds. But also because we’d like to hide our head in the sand and pretend the country has been saved instead of openly accept “Yes, Sir! We’re bankrupt. Broke. Unable to pay our obligations.” This is a national humiliation that no Greek can easily digest.

State officials chew the government jelly candy “We take a debt breath. Debt relief. We saved the country from bankruptcy”.  Lines we’ve heard after July 21st Agreement, after the first Memorandum of Understanding (May 2010), after the Mid-Term Fiscal Plan (June 2011).  The majority of Greeks are fed up of ‘being saved’ on their way to the world of economically dead.

Hardly a government official dared to appear on Greeks’ television screens this morning. Those who did it, they reassured that pensions and bank saving are guaranteed – a burning question  on the lips of all Greeks; the average Greeks.

 Only a few banks can survive the haircut, maybe two or three, i.e. the following one… Banks will be nationalized, they will not disappear and have our savings vanished in the air.

The pension funds? The General Secretary for insurance funds told private ANT1 TV that the state will find money to strengthen them. Where from, she couldn’t say. From what I hear, pensions and civil servants wages may be guarantee for how long? Two years? And then?

Where Greece will find the money so pay its obligations if the agreement foresee that the country will stay out of the markets for the next decade? Citizens have been already drained and cracked under the load of heavy taxes and galloping unemployment.

The EU plan for the Greek Haircut foresees strict fiscal planning and that the country will spend only the revenues it collects. Should budget targets will not be met, they will do so by EU-force. In clear language: The Greek state will have to go on a strict diet. And every time the government (any Greek government) misses a target, expenditure cuts will be called in: cuts in pensions, in wages, in social allowances. Will the same politicians that pushed the country over the cliff will be able to turn into capable managers? Nobody believes that. there are rumors that the leaders of the opposition parties will ask the PM to call early elections. Should the mentality ”trade votes for state money” won’t change, no government will ever manage to change anything in this country and bring fiscal discipline under control.

New measures will be inevitable, strict austerity is supposed to last for one decade, at least. A new Memorandum of Understanding will have to signed between Greece and its lenders most likely at the beginning of December.

Oh, yes, we are thankful that German and French supervisors will move permanent to Athens and watch over that Greece will not cause a domino effect within the euro zone.

Yes, we are pleased to be the first country in Europe to be declared officially ‘bankrupt’. At least, we stroke a single lead….

And yes, we are proud to have managed the impossible: That October 28 and 27 will be a double National Day.  From now on, we’ll celebrate the Days of YES and NO. October 28th, the day when Greece proudly said NO to occupying Axis forces in 1940. And October 27th, the day, when Greece surrendered to Germany, with 71 years delay.

Pathetic? Maybe. You have to be Greek to understand the national feeling of been stabbed right in the middle of your heart.