We really need the Oracle of Delphi in the current Greco-Euro crisis. Yesterday, after the Eurostat official statistics office put out nasty revised figures for the Greek budget deficit, the spread on what Greek debt costs rose to 609 basis points (bp, or 6.09%) over the level paid for German debt. Since both countries are in the same currency union, that means the market expected Greece to leave the EU and devalue. The yield on 2-yr Greek notes moved to over 10%.
This morning the Greek govt called upon the IMF and the EU to shell out some of the euro 45 bn in available bailout money. This amounted to US$60 bn and a few hundred million bucks in change at the time it was announced but since the euro has also fallen in the current total may be lower. This appeal was hardly news. The money had been gathered for getting Greek debt refunded.
