Market chaos, euro tumbles on Greek bailout referendum call

Financial markets around Europe have crashed, and the euro tumbled this morning, as investors showed panic on Greek debt default, after last night’s shock announcement by Athens to call a referendum on the multi-billion rescue deal.

1 November 2011, 12:00am

1 min read

Embattled Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou shocked the EU last night in announcing a confidence vote and a referendum over the deal reached last week by EU leaders, aimed at slashing his country's debt mountain and stopping the eurozone crisis.

After Asian markets slumped, major European markets spanning from Frankfurt, to Madrid, Milan, London, Paris and Athens slumped to record lows this morning.

In morning deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index slumped 2.11 percent to 5,428.51 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 dived 3.22 percent to 5,945.11 points and in Paris the CAC 40 plunged 2.92 percent to 3,148.28 as bank shares nosedived. Milan tumbled 3.77 percent and Madrid 2.81 percent.

The euro fell sharply to US$1.3724 from U$1.3851 late in New York yesterday.

Papandreou is facing increasing dissent within his Socialist party over the tougher austerity policy monitored by the EU and the International Monetary Fund, that has sparked general strikes and widespread protests, many of them violent across the country.

The confidence vote is expected to be held on Friday while the referendum is slated for early next year.

An adverse result in either process would demolish the EU deal, which is designed to cut Greece's debt load of over €350 billion by around €100 billion.

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We are in for big trouble this time! It is clear that the EU and eurozone is heading for a total collapse in the near future! This is the result of the totalitarian control that the EU is imposing on all its member states. If we had to see in real terms what the EU has done for us obviously we have had results but Malta seems to be worse off than it was 10 years ago. We have become slaves to the EU policies and ideologies. This is not good! The average person pertaining to the working class actually seems to be worse off! Instead of bargaining with the EU our goverment seems to obey whatever is blindly ordered of them!

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Let them go back to the Drachma and solve their own problems and maybe then we will start addressing ours.

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The sooner the euro and the eu collapse the better for everyone.

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Still trusting Greeks with or without gifts?. The EU caught again.