STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 9 February 2012

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17. Greek Talks Stuck on Pensions as Euro Ministers Meet

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/greek-bailout-talks-stall-on-pension-dispute-talks-to-resume-imminently.html

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos headed to Brussels today as politicians in Athens narrowed their differences to the single issue of pension cuts needed to secure a 130 billion euro ($172 billion) bailout.

Talks stumbled over pensions as European Union spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said he couldn’t confirm reports the EU gave Greece 15 more days to identify measures totaling 300 million euros. “No one seems to be aware of such an extension,” he told reporters today in Brussels before today’s emergency finance ministers’ meeting starting at 6 p.m.

“There are issues outstanding that must be resolved,” Venizelos told reporters in Athens today after a meeting with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and EU and International Monetary Fund officials that ended just before 6 a.m. “As the prime minister said, there is agreement on all the issues bar one.”

The latest hitch came after six days of talks as the political parties battled to complete a package that’s been on the table since July. Greece faces a 14.5 billion-euro bond payment on March 20 and is struggling to secure financing to avert a collapse of the economy that could spark a new round of contagion in the euro area.