Marathon talks to prevent an international crash

The ECB president wishes for an agreement between the Eurogroup countries regarding the crisis that wreaking havoc on the Italian economy. Jean-Claude Trichet would like all parties to have agreed on Italian bonds by Monday morning and before the opening of the markets, a notion Germany is resistant against.

Reuters sources report that both G20 and ECB discussion data will remain out of the mass media's reach as none of the two sides wish to inform the press on the decisions they have made or will make; if any, that is.

At the same time, Paris and Berlin seem to be completely ignorant of the situation and are pushing Italy and Spain to adopt extra fiscal measures.   

Barrage of phone conferences

Suddenly, and especially after the shock caused by the downgrade of the American credit rating by S&P, the leaders of the strongest economies worldwide are communicating with each other on a 24hour basis in order to prevent the worst.

In this framework, the Greek PM George Papandreou had a phone contact with the president of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, triggered by the recent developments in Europe and the States. According to information, from tomorrow on Papandreou will most probably have similar contacts with other EU officials, too.

During his talk with Rompuy, the two men also discussed about potential aid by the ECB to Italy. Papandreou then mentioned his letter to the Commission’s head, Manuel Barroso, and his wish for a fast and accurate implementation of the 21^st-July EU summit decisions. Moreover, the Greek leader spoke of the possible ways the markets might react.

Based on certain information, the Greek side is following all developments with great interest and is not worried about the implementation of the decisions related to the country.