Greece

Greece's debt-ridden economy has received unexpected endorsement from China as the two countries announced multibillion euro accords to boost cooperation in fields as diverse as shipping, tourism and telecommunications, The Guardian reported. The deals, which will see Greek olive oil being exported to China, were a welcome relief for a government smarting over Moody's move hours earlier to downgrade the nation's credit rating to junk. As investors moved in the other direction, the world's pre-eminent emerging economy embraced Greece.

Newly elected and facing a huge budget deficit, Prime Minister George Papandreou arrived in Brussels for his first meeting with European leaders last December with few cards to play, The New York Times reported. Improbably, perhaps, his strategy of total transparency worked. Within months, he had managed to secure the bailout he needed while still maintaining good relations with his fellow European leaders — quite a feat, many observers say. At the height of the crisis in the spring, Mr. Papandreou brought the International Monetary Fund into negotiations.

Greek telecommunications company Wind Hellas said it has begun discussions with its owner, Weather Investments, and its creditors after the Greek government's austerity measures placed "significant extra pressure" on the company's capital structure, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Wind Hellas, which has debt of about €1.7 billion, said it has hired investment bank Morgan Stanley and law firms White & Case and Karatzas & Partners, to advise it on alternative capital structures.

If emerging markets could teach a lesson to cash-strapped euro-zone nations, it would be that a debt default isn't always the end of the world, Reuters UK reported. At least for Greece, burdened by about 300 billion euros (249.6 billion pounds) in debt it can hardly service, a restructuring could be a less painful alternative, as well as an inevitable political choice as stern austerity measures face growing popular opposition.

Spurred on by government incentives and bargain-basement prices, the Chinese are planning to pump hundreds of millions -- perhaps billions -- of euros into Greece even as other investors run the other way, The Washington Post reported. The cornerstone of those plans is the transformation of the Mediterranean port of Piraeus into the Rotterdam of the south, creating a modern gateway linking Chinese factories with consumers across Europe and North Africa.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel had to push hard to get the German parliament to approve last month's €750 billion (nearly $1 trillion) rescue package for Greece and other weaker members of the 16-nation eurozone. She did it because she and other European heads of state worry that a default by Greece, Portugal, or Spain would destroy the credibility of the euro, The Christian Science Monitor reported in a commentary.

There is one word that must not be uttered in this town: Restructuring, The Wall Street Journal’s Brussels Beat blog reported. When it comes to the €110 billion they've pledged to Greece, officials of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund insist that a debt default by the bedraggled country is beyond contemplation. "Let's be very concrete and precise," EU President Herman Van Rompuy said last week. The Greek package "does not include any provisions for debt restructuring." But even if Mr. Van Rompuy won't talk about it, private economists sure will.

Greece received the first installment of a three-year emergency-loan package from euro-region allies, allowing the country to repay €8.5 billion ($10.6 billion) of bonds due tomorrow and avoid default, Bloomberg reported. The EU completed the transfer of €14.5 billion, with 10 euro-region countries, including Germany, contributing to the first payment, the Athens-based Finance Ministry said today in an e-mailed statement. The International Monetary Fund, which is participating in the bailout, made its initial contribution of €5.5 billion last week.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou declared he is not ruling out taking legal action against U.S. investment banks for their role in creating the spiraling Greek debt crisis. Both the Greek government and its citizens have blamed international banks for fanning the flames of the debt crisis with comments about Greece's likely default, actions that are causing the country's borrowing costs to soar, The Associated Press reported. "I wouldn't rule out that (legal action) might be a recourse.

Fitch Ratings said today that Greek and Irish banks’ reliance on European Central Bank loans is out of proportion to the size of their assets, Finfacts reported. Greek banks accounted for 6.6% of the €749bn the ECB lent to financial companies by the end of 2009, though only held 1.6% of the Eurozone's banking assets, Fitch analysts wrote in a report. Irish banks took 12% of ECB funding, compared to a 5.24% share of the region’s bank assets.