Euro debt deal ‘good news for Jersey’
Thursday 27th October 2011, 2:59PM BST.
Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf
THE trillion-euro debt deal clinched early this morning by European leaders will provide a knock-on boost for Jersey’s UK-dependent economy, according to the Island’s Treasury Minister.
Senator Philip Ozouf said that the current ‘economic chill’ on markets, businesses and jobs in the UK had a knock-on effect on the Island, and that a more stable and secure Europe was good for business and good for Jersey.
Speaking after agreement was reached on a deal for banks to write off 50 per cent of the Greek debt and bolster Europe’s ‘bail-out fund’ to one trillion euros (£880 billion), the Senator said that although Jersey would not be directly affected, there would be an indirect benefit to businesses and Islanders.
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Maybe he is right, yet i still find it hard to believe anything this man says.
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Given Jersey’s importance as a finance centre I’m surprised we weren’t involved in the talks in the same way other non Euro economies such as the UK.
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Dream on! They just wrote off half of Greece’s debt and that’s a result is it?! Europe has a number of countries in trouble and add the American debt clock to our woes and just give it another 5 years and Jersey’s premier finance industry will be annihilated followed by the Island going bust.
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Senator Ozouf always puts a positive spin on any news like that and says it will be good for Jersey.
I have no idea if it will help the island or not but I doubt that it will cause my pension to increase.
By the time anything is actually known about the consequences the words of the senator will have been forgotten by most people. Hopefully he will also be another job by then that will be less dangerous. Meanwhile we should all remember his words as reported 3 years ago,-
“I will robustly oppose any attempt to increase GST above 3%.”
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We should be humbled that such a man in our midst can solve a seemingly intractable global problem ,without the likes of Merkel, Sarkosy and Cameron even noticing that he had done it!
With the lesser tasks of ‘making the old young’, ‘stopping the wars’ and ‘bringing down the price of bread’ to come before his election as Chief Minister, all that he is left with is ensuring owners of Jersey owned businesses are not the only ones paying tax in Jersey, (except now for 1(1)k owned Jersey businesses whose owners will pay a paltry 1% instead of the 20% everyone else resident has to).
Perhaps a prescription of something to reduce the ego might help with a ‘reality tincture’ to reduce swelling.
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There were only two candidates in the recent election who actually understood the global economic situation (we elected neither of them) and clearly Senator Ozouf could use their advice What exactly a Greek DEFAULT on debt, followed by the collapse of a major bank whose assets were larger than the GDP of Belgium means is that there is now a risk of a further systemic failure in the banking system… that is not good news.
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I hate to say this but 3) Geeky Blogger may be more closer to reality than people want to admit.
This global debt problem is not going away and America is a major concern.
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A simple fact that people do not realise is that if the sovereign debt liability is not paid it will be once again the tax payer who actually pays the price adjusting the euro bailout fund is not the answer
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Ka-boom the world economy is on the verg of collapse yet “Jersey is well placed to weather the storm” according to the man of spin. And still he has some supporters!!!
James too true unfortunately there are too many dummies believing what they are told.
Greece is all but gone, this won’t be the end of it. Revolution isn’t far below the surface there push the people too far and they will bite back.
The rest of the PIIGS are also in trouble even France has issues now. A default by the PIIGS will have major repercussions for the UK economy as it can’t afford to lose 24% of GDP. Meanwhile back in la-la land….
With further issues yet to surface next year will be very interesting. It could even be the end of the world as we know it. One thing is for sure things can’t keep on as they are something will have to give.
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This has put off the evil day when there may be a default at enormous cost. The share for the French banks alone is EUR 8.9 billion.
This money will have to come from somewhere so staff cuts, salary freezes. more work for less reward, vanishingly small bonuses for years.
A real tonic for the finance industry geared economy of Jersey!
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Wasn’t someone saying last week that the euro crisis would provide opportunities for Jersey?
Ozouf and Jersey Finance DO put a positive spin on everything and never mention any possible downsides.
I suppose he(Ozouf) has to convince States members that all is well until the Chief Minister’s election has taken place(sigh).
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What is good news about neighbours debt? We have the leading 500 banks in the globe here, many are now exposed to huge loses as the greek debt is cut, leaving french and german banks here exposed too. The wizard of Oz does indeed live in a world of fantasy economics. Some of his cronies may have gone at the election but the sooner he goes the better. God save us all if he becomes chief minister.
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It is such a shame that everybody on this blog takes great delight in spreading misery. Will you all celebrate when doom finally arrives? Presumably the fact that we are all going to die cheers each of you up considerably.
Maybe if the EU members had walked away in complete disarray last night you would all have been happier. I suppose for you, you are right that it is must have been bad news that some form of agreement was reached.
For the rest of us who appreciate our island, our lives and who have a semblance of concern about the welfare and jobs of others, “yes” it is good news that agreement was reached last night.
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Does he get paid extra for advertising ‘diet coke’?
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Lets just hope they don’t make a pigs eat of this one.. There’s always travelling circuses if this fails..
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This has nothing to do with Jersey and will not make any impact on the island.
How much more rubbish needs to come out of this mans mouth before we stand together and ask him to go?
If enough people make enough noise then people might start to listen, We do not have to put up with this if enough of us speak up and take action but as no one has any brass then we will just have to rely on moaning till everything turns to sh–.
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Not good news when the bank you work for is exposed to Euro debt and will only receive 50% back on investment. How will they recuperate – cutting jobs.
Official edict already sent to my employer to reduce headcount by 10% or costs by 17%…
Merry Christmas Phil.
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Harry #13
That’s the trouble with this lot. They’ve never had the experience of living in a peasant economy so don’t realise what they are saying.
Jambo #14
Love it!
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All these countries did all right before joining the Euro and fixed their currency accordingly,now they can,t value or devalue so are stuck until the say so in brussels adjusts the currency.
Not one of them went bust, before joining the Euro most were booming,now folk are reluctant to go on holiday to these countries as bad exchange rate is not an option.
Which tells you one size doesn’t fit all.
They will continue in their quest for the superstate to “prop” up the currency by any means which-dire consequences ahead I fear.
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#13 Harry
You appear to have completely missed the point.
It actually would have been better if the EU members had simply walked away – that way we get the inevitable over and done with now so we can all move on.
All this agreement has done is simply kick the can down the road a few more months. Where do you think the extra one trillion is going to come from to shore up european banks against further defaults? You appear to lack knowledge on economics so in the simplest terms what they have done is borrow 1 trillion from each other to cover the vast over exposure of the banks that lent all the money which cannot now be paid back in the first place.
It doesn’t take a genius therefore to work out that increasing the fund to 1 trillion and cutting Greeces debt by 50% (incidentally, RBS alone would not have the assets or liquidity to cover anywhere near the other 50% they have lent) hasn’t actually solved anything. It was merely a number shuffling exercise by a few overpaid accountants.
The next step is to fire up those Euro shaped printing presses, when that inevitably fails it’s game over….for all of us. If you beleive any money you have in your bank account will be accessible to you whenever you want it you are sadly mistaken, even more so when everyone else wants there cash out at the same time.
Call it doom mongering if you choose to stick your head in the sand, personally i’ll be taking steps to reduce my exposure to any bank collapse.
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Listen carefully to everything that man says,think about it for 10 seconds, then go for the opposite, you won`t be far away!
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Is Europe a better and more stable Continent since the introduction of the “Euro”?
How many people think so?
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Schadenfreude – is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. And GST at 5% – for now!!
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Welcome to Sterling Devaluisation, Have a nice day and print half a billion if you want to keep up with QE, No the donkey politicians don’t see it either, scuse me the plughole beckons…………..
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You might as well peg the Jersey pound to the Chinese Renibi. Its time to batten down the hatches and watch Europe fall apart. I know, maybe hope that the Chinese decide they need to get the French addicted to opium so they can trade for French wine and take over from Ozouf! The new Hong Kong appears and its a positive future for the island, instead of a bad one.
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How on earth can Adrian and Pip actually believe their comments? You must be the same person to come up with such stupidity when everything in relation to this put Jersey in such an ideal position.
Jersey has been buffered from the position faced by the UK and the EU to the specific decision making of the Treasury and Treasurer.
In three years time, Jersey will have weathered the storm, and you left-wing moaners still with a personal grudge against Ozouf will be annoyed with his success.
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If Marc Jones isn’t Real Truthseeker then they each have a solitary ally in each other.
There is a common theme of targetted criticism towards Truthseeker, Pip and Adrian.
Not a bad idea for any aspiring politician to have a real name, eh?
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It is good news for us in the short term. The 50% is a volunterry cut. Funds are already being set up to buy the short term debt for more than the 50% the banks will get. The bank jumps at taking 55%, the fund then refuses the cut but greece is able to pay it has received its next trance of cash. Funds employees get to work on those funds who make its private investors and in some cases the banks a killing.
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26 – I am far from left wing, but I think you are rather hopeful about the future. I read the Business Section of the Sunday Times last weekend and that left me far from hopeful.
The banks are cutting back on staff and this will affect Jersey. The banks will also have to cut back on lending to build up their ratios. We already have a almost total death of the property market in Jersey, and if people cannot get mortgages this will not be revived. The buy to letters can only prop up the market so much.
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I’m pretty sure that Geeky Blogger (“give it five years and Jersey’s finance industry will be annihilated”) said the same thing five years ago. And that Paul, Pip and Adrian agreed with him then too. How our continuing prosperity must irk them.
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Mr Ozouf could put a good spin on a dose of the plague! The current economic crisis is pretty simple: phenomenal quantities of money recklessly borrowed and recklessly lent,
with no realistic prospect of it all ever being paid back. There is no ‘solution’ from EU leaders, just multi million sticking plasters of more borrowed money to tide things over a month or so, till the problem rears up again. At some point the Greek government will probably collapse under the weight of mass protest from their own people. And a full blown ‘disorderly’ default will have a massive impact on the entire banking system. It would be a brave, or possibly an entirely stupid politician who would publicly claim that such a scenario would be “good” for Jersey.
Meanwhile it is acknowledged that part of the Greek financial crisis stems from rampant tax evasion by Greece’s wealthiest individuals and companies. The issue of those who deliberately refuse to pay their taxes, leaving the bill to be picked up by the poorest, is a debate that is moving ever more to the centre stage. I suspect even Mr Ozouf would struggle to claim that that sort of international debate would be “good news” for Jersey.
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Marc Jones (26) How on earth can Adrian and Pip actually believe their comments?
Marc listen to the news, today 1 Nov 11, maybe Adrian and Pip were correct after all.
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Did the Greeks ever get back their £95 billon in todays value of their gold that was stolen by the Germans during the second world war??
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