Euro zone finance ministers dismiss Greek exit "propaganda"

Euro zone finance ministers dismissed talk of Greece leaving the euro zone as "propaganda and nonsense" on Monday, but said the country had to respect the terms of the bailout program agreed ...

BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers dismissed talk of Greece leaving the euro zone as "propaganda and nonsense" on Monday, but said the country had to respect the terms of the bailout program agreed with the EU and the International Monetary Fund.

BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers dismissed talk of Greece leaving the euro zone as "propaganda and nonsense" on Monday, but said the country had to respect the terms of the bailout program agreed with the EU and the International Monetary Fund.

Those looking for a bit of humor in the European debacle can find it in statements from Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the eurozone finance ministers. Juncker says "I don’t envisage, not even for one second, Greece leaving the euro area. This is nonsense. This is propaganda. We have to respect Greek democracy." Bear in mind this statement comes from the same man who said "When it becomes serious, you have to lie."

OVER the weekend, a colleague wrote at Schumpeter on a conference he'd recently chaired:At an Economist Conferences event for CFOs and finance directors in London this week, I asked the audience whether Greece would end up leaving the euro zone. Every single hand went up. Asked whether more countries than Greece would leave, roughly two-thirds of the audience agreed they would...

(BRUSSELS) — Greece‘s international creditors failed to agree Monday on how to get the country’s bailout program back on track and put off again the release of the next batch loans that Athens is using to pay its day-to-day bills. However, European finance ministers meeting in Brussels did decide to give Greece two more years until 2016 to reform its economy — one of the conditions of its bailout package. But they could not agree on how to pay for the extension or when the country’s debts would reach a manageable level.

Marc Chandler submits:Three separate developments underscore the risk aversion theme today: Disappointing Alcoa (AA) earnings to kick off the US earnings season, the continued snugging of Chinese rates, including a 50 bp hike in reserve requirements (for large banks), and new worries about the outlook for Greece.The EU has raised questions over the credibility of Greek macro-economic statistics after having revised its budget deficit