Asia Roundup: Higher on China data, Wall Street
HONG KONG: Asian markets mostly rose yesterday as a huge Chinese trade surplus and upbeat corporate news in Japan boosted sentiment but European debt fears weighed after a downgrade of Greece’s credit rating.
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www.timesofearth.com Athens – The Greek government is preparing severe austerity measures to secure a multi-billion-euro aid package and avoid a financial catastrophe, with the prime minister vowing to “do whatever it takes to save the country”. But many Greek citizens are up in arms over proposed cutbacks, and protesters clashed with police when they tried to break through a cordon guarding the finance ministry on Thursday. “The immediate emergency measures will be a strong bridge to cross over to great changes, secure the life of every citizen and have dynamic growth in a more just society,” George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, said on Thursday. “We will do whatever it takes to save the country.” But he has his work cut out as Greek unions have called a series of strikes in the days ahead, with a general strike on May 5, saying the involvement of the EU and IMF was a disaster and that the government had crossed the line. Greek trade union officials voiced outrage at the conditions for the loans after a meeting with Papandreou, saying the IMF wanted the government to raise sales taxes, scrap bonuses amounting to two extra months of pay in the public sector, and accept a three-year pay freeze. “They want Greece to cut the deficit by 10 percentage points in 2010 and 2011 … so that Greece can go back and borrow on markets in the third year of the programme,” said a union official who requested anonymity. Officials from the International Monetary Fund, the European …
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