Data and Financial Journalist
Eurozone Debt Crisis and Regulation of Credit Rating Agencies (World Scientific). The credit rating agencies (CRAs) have received a great deal of media, political, and regulatory attention since the early summer of 2007. With 2008 financial crisis, there was a common argument that CRAs had not been held accountable for the poor performance that…
June 30th 2015 could be an important turning point for Greece: an exit or a repayment of the debt as it reaches its debt repayment deadline. A crisis in Greece will affect markets all across the globe. In fact, they are already reflected in the stock exchanges across the world. The country is heading for a default and market reactions are the first sign that nothing is going good with Greece. Clearly, market perceptions are that Greece will be unable to meet 1.6 billion euro of loan repayment to the International Monetary Fund. The widespread panic happened last week due to the failing talks between Greece and its creditors.
This probably is a situation which will be a loss in either case: if Greece exits, it could be a bigger issue for Eurozone and Greece will have to fight its own battles with no common currency nation by its side.
The Eurozone comprises of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. Established in 1999, these countries have adopted a common currency called the ‘Euro’. ‘Euro’ itself was introduced as a single currency no later than 2002. By sharing a common currency, the countries follow common economic and fiscal policies. Monetary policy decisions are taken by the independent European Central Bank , also known as the ECB. Entry to join the eurozone is controlled by the so-called Eurogroup.