EU leaders to sign off on a permanent rescue fundJanuary 30, 2012 - 10:32 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - EU leaders will sign off on a permanent rescue fund for the euro zone at a summit on Monday, Jan 30, and are expected to agree on a balanced budget rule in national legislation, with unresolved problems in Greece casting a shadow on the discussions. According to Reuters, the summit - the 17th in two years as the EU battles to resolve its sovereign debt problems - is supposed to focus on creating jobs and growth, with leaders looking to shift the narrative away from politically unpopular budget austerity. The summit is expected to announce that up to 20 billion euros ($26.4 billion) of unused funds from the EU's 2007-2013 budget will be redirected toward job creation, especially among the young, and will commit to freeing up bank lending to small- and medium-sized companies. But discussions over the permanent rescue fund, a new 'fiscal treaty' and Greece will dominate the talks. Negotiations between the Greek government and private bondholders over the restructuring of 200 billion euros of Greek debt made progress over the weekend, but are not expected to conclude before the summit begins. Until there is a deal between Greece and its private bondholders, EU leaders cannot move forward with a second, 130 billion euro rescue program for Athens, which they originally agreed to at a summit last October. Instead, they will sign a treaty creating the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a 500-billion-euro permanent bailout fund that is due to become operational in July, a year earlier than first planned. And they are likely to agree the terms of a 'fiscal treaty' tightening budget rules for those that sign up. The ESM will replace the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a temporary fund that has been used to bail out Ireland and Portugal and will help in the second Greek package. Leaders hope the ESM will boost defenses against the debt crisis, but many - including Italian premier Mario Monti, IMF chief Christine Lagarde and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner - say it will only do so if its resources are combined with what remains in the EFSF, creating a super-fund of 750 billion euros ($1 trillion). Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life, Strong Mind IDBank and Idram summarize the results of the May program of “The Power of One Dram”. Yerevan State University, Ucom sign Memorandum of Cooperation Rector of Yerevan State University Hovhannes Hovhannisyan and General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian signed the memorandum. EU to provide budgetary support to Armenia The agreement is aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the educational system of Armenia. Aliyev: No peace treaty unless Armenia changes constitution Azerbaijan will not sign a peace treaty with Armenia unless the latter changes its constitution, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said. |