Germans deserve pay hikes says finance minister

MOST of Germany's political leadership continues to state unwavering support for euro zone. And perhaps if push came to shove and an economy truly were on the brink of exit, the German government would accept quite significant sacrifices to forestall that possibility. One wonders, though. For now, many prominent Germans seem to believe that discomfort should be shunted onto the periphery to the greatest extent possible.

Reuters reports Greek PM, Finance Minister Will Miss Summit Due to Illness. Illness means both Greece's new prime minister and finance minister will miss an anxiously awaited summit of European leaders later this week and delayed a visit by the country's international lenders.

BRUSSELS/BERLIN – Germany signaled on Wednesday it was ready to back plans for the European Central Bank to be made the chief supervisor of banks, raising the prospect of a breakthrough on the European Union’s most ambitious financial reform. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the German cabinet he was “optimistic” about a deal ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, a German official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The head of Austria's central bank, Ewald Nowotny, and German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble have both made statements over this weekend that affect bailout options for Spain. In particular, Nowotny says Spain must seek help before ECB buys bonds. Spain would have to apply for a rescue package before qualifying for inclusion in the European Central Bank's plan to buy debt of struggling euro zone members, ECB policymaker Ewald Nowotny said.

Germany's government on Monday categorically ruled out any hike in bailout fund guarantees following the ratings downgrade of nine countries by Standard and Poor's."The guarantees for the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility) are largely enough for what it has to do in the coming months," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Deutschlandfunk public radio.He said the EFSF had already had to pay higher rates to borrow on the markets in the past, meaning "that it does not therefore only depend on the rating".

Germany's government on Monday categorically ruled out any hike in bailout fund guarantees following the ratings downgrade of nine countries by Standard and Poor's."The guarantees for the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility) are largely enough for what it has to do in the coming months," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told Deutschlandfunk public radio.He said the EFSF had already had to pay higher rates to borrow on the markets in the past, meaning "that it does not therefore only depend on the rating".