Crunch week for Greece

22 June, 2015

Robin Haynes

EU leaders meet in Brussels today to try to reach agreement on the Greek debt saga. Finance ministers failed to make any progress last week, with the 2 sides at loggerheads over reforms needed in Greece in order for its creditors to release the next round of bailout funds. Greece is due to pay €1.6bn to the IMF on June 30th, and yesterday Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras set out new proposals for economic reform, which will be the starting point for today’s talks.

Meanwhile ordinary Greek depositors have been withdrawing millions of Euros from Greek banks, unsure as to whether a default on the debt repayment could mean their funds are locked and converted to a new currency should Greece leave the Eurozone.

The Euro has certainly been on the back foot through the crisis, with rates for sending Euros abroad nearing their best in recent years again on Friday morning. Over the weekend the single currency has gained some value again however, and we could see this continue if news through the day indicates that talks are progressing well.

There is added urgency as any agreed deal will take some time to structure, and with a busy European Council summit on Thursday & Friday, realistically the next 24 hours is absolutely crucial for the future of Greece and the Eurozone project.

Quiet week for data

There is very little important economic data out this week, with only tomorrow’s inflation report hearings of any importance in the UK. In fact there is very little important data due out around the world likely to affect exchange rates, so with the Pound looking relatively strong against most major currencies if could be a good time to consider locking in to your exchange rate before the unknown and potentially seismic effects of the Eurozone crisis.