Cyprus Bailout: Banks Relieved, Cypriots Squeezed
In the latest of the E.U. financial crises, the island nation of Cyprus has had a EuroZone bailout “successfully negotiated” on its behalf. However Cypriots themselves, as well as the members of the Parliament are less than pleased. The Eurozone bailout package, agreed upon today in Brussels between Eurogroup ministers and IMF officials, has in addition to the typical austerity measures demanded of nations accepting bailout money, such as deficit reduction and higher taxes, comes with another condition. Requiring a 9.9% deposit levy on all Cypriot bank accounts to stave off outright national bankruptcy, the deal is a first of…
This Time Portugal Protests Against Austerity
Thousands of Portugueses marched on the streets of more than 20 cities in Portugal today, protesting Portugal Government’s extreme austerity measures that were implemented in exchange of a €78 billion ($101 billion) international bailout needed in 2011. The people on the streets were shouting and waiving their placards that said “Screw the troika, we want our lives back.” in Lisbon, demonstrators threw tomatoes and beer bottles at the IMF’s office. ‘Troika’ is the nickname given to The European Commission, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank, the lenders behind the country’s financial bailout. It literally means a…
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