Associated Press | Monday December 29, 2014 | 15:24 hrs
Atenas- The Greek government was forced on Monday to call early elections, causing financial concerns at a time when investors They are concerned that win the main opposition party, which does not meet the bailout agreement of the country.
The stock market closed 3.9% lower, which nevertheless was a recovery of declining 11.3 % at the news of early elections, which are due to the Parliament failed to elect a new president. European markets also fell and the Euro Stoxx index lost 0.6%.
Investors fear that SYRIZA, leftist and the main opposition party, which carries a small but steady lead in the polls, could work on the popular resentment at six years of austerity and seek a fundamental change in the international bailout deal.
During the hardest moments of the eurozone crisis in 2010-2012, the financial problems of Greece threatened to overthrow the European Union, which would have affected the world economy.
However, the risks are not as important today, analysts say. On the one hand, international investors have little Greek debt, which is largely in the hands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other eurozone countries.
In addition, the EU and the European Central Bank have programs aimed to stabilize markets and market confidence in the eurozone.
“Because of advances in policy, the implemented safeguards and public engagement (ECB) to do whatever necessary to keep the eurozone, developments in Greece now threaten the eurozone much smaller “than a few years ago, said in a note Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.
However, if a new government tries to modify the agreement, access to credit Greece would be delayed at a time when its bailout loans due. Greece does not have independent access to the debt markets and facing the threat of a default that could affect the finances of other European countries.
The International Fund said Monday that the ongoing review of Rescue -of which depends paying upcoming maturities of loans-will resume only when the new government takes office. The IMF said Athens has no immediate financing needs. The review has been bogged down for months due to disagreements on new spending cuts.
The conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said national elections, the fourth in six years of strong financial crisis, will be held “to as soon as possible “on Sunday 25 January, 18 months in advance.
” The country has no time to lose, “Samaras said in a televised address. “People have to learn the truth about how easy it is to fall back into a deep crisis.”
In the presidential ballot, the candidate of his coalition in charge, Stavros Dimas, 73, a former commissioner European Union, received 168 of 300 possible votes, less than the 180 needed. It was the third and final round of voting and according to the Constitution that means that Parliament should be dissolved in 10 days.
Syriza has promised to roll back some of the reforms that Greece has implemented for rescue loans worth of 240 billion euros. However, the party has recently softened his rhetoric about the country unilaterally withdraw the bailout agreement.
The leader of Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, said Monday that Monday’s vote was “a historic day for the Greek democracy “.
” Today, the government of Mr. Samaras, who for two years has plundered our society and is committed to further measures (austerity), belongs to the past, “Tsipras said. “With the will of our people, in a few days, austerity agreements will soon be a thing of the past.”
Commenting on the elections, the European Commissioner for Finance, Pierre Moscovici, said “a strong commitment to Europe “and supporting reforms will be” essential “for Greece to recover within the eurozone”.
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