ATHENS: Greece's fragile government faced an internal revolt and fierce public protest on Wednesday over the sudden closure of state broadcaster ERT, hours after the humiliation of seeing its bourse downgraded to emerging market status.
The twin setbacks, coupled with the derailing of a troubled privatisation programme, blew a hole in rising investor confidence that had prompted Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to declare the risk of a "Grexit" from the euro was dead and a "Greekovery" was under way.
Yields on Greece's 10-year benchmark bond crept back above 10 percent after Athens failed to sell state gas firm DEPA on Monday, leaving it short of cash to meet its international bailout targets.
The stock market traded at two-month lows after Greece became the first developed nation ever to be lowered to emerging market by equity index provider MSCI.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's government declined comment on the market reclassification as it tried to fend off a growing media backlash against ERT's dramatic closure.
The public broadcaster was yanked off air just hours after the shutdown was announced in what the government said was a temporary measure to staunch an "incredible waste" of taxpayers' money prior to relaunching a slimmed-down station.
Labour unions called a 24-hour national work stoppage for Thursday and journalists went on an open-ended strike, forcing a news blackout on privately owned television and newspapers.
"The strike will only end when the government takes back this coup d'etat which gags information," the journalists' union said.
Some ERT journalists were occupying the broadcaster's building in defiance of police orders and broadcasting over the Internet.Hundreds of employees and protesters gathered outside.
WORRYING MSCI said the Athens bourse did not reflect improved practices in developed markets for securities borrowing, lending facilities, short selling and transferability of shares. It had not met the developed market criteria for size for two years.
Still, brokers said more money may ended up invested in Greek stocks over the medium term due to the country's weighting in emerging market indices, since its exposure in developed markets global indices was marginal.
"The debt crisis in the last three years hit all triggers, prompting developed market funds to reduce their exposure," said Theodore Krintas, head of wealth management at Attica Bank.
"Emerging market funds could not enter since Greece was classified as developed market, now it will be on their radar."
Analysts said the outcry over the state broadcaster posed a more immediate threat to the government, even though ERT's three statewide channels have a combined audience share of barely 13 percent. About 2,000 of its 2,600 employees are non-journalists.
The government promised to relaunch a slimmed-down version of ERT within weeks, saying it only took ERT off air so suddenly due to fears that workers would damage state equipment.
"We didn't shut down ERT, we temporarily suspended its operations to fix it and make it work on a healthy basis," government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou told Reuters.
indiatimes.com
The twin setbacks, coupled with the derailing of a troubled privatisation programme, blew a hole in rising investor confidence that had prompted Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to declare the risk of a "Grexit" from the euro was dead and a "Greekovery" was under way.
Yields on Greece's 10-year benchmark bond crept back above 10 percent after Athens failed to sell state gas firm DEPA on Monday, leaving it short of cash to meet its international bailout targets.
The stock market traded at two-month lows after Greece became the first developed nation ever to be lowered to emerging market by equity index provider MSCI.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's government declined comment on the market reclassification as it tried to fend off a growing media backlash against ERT's dramatic closure.
The public broadcaster was yanked off air just hours after the shutdown was announced in what the government said was a temporary measure to staunch an "incredible waste" of taxpayers' money prior to relaunching a slimmed-down station.
Labour unions called a 24-hour national work stoppage for Thursday and journalists went on an open-ended strike, forcing a news blackout on privately owned television and newspapers.
"The strike will only end when the government takes back this coup d'etat which gags information," the journalists' union said.
Some ERT journalists were occupying the broadcaster's building in defiance of police orders and broadcasting over the Internet.Hundreds of employees and protesters gathered outside.
WORRYING MSCI said the Athens bourse did not reflect improved practices in developed markets for securities borrowing, lending facilities, short selling and transferability of shares. It had not met the developed market criteria for size for two years.
Still, brokers said more money may ended up invested in Greek stocks over the medium term due to the country's weighting in emerging market indices, since its exposure in developed markets global indices was marginal.
"The debt crisis in the last three years hit all triggers, prompting developed market funds to reduce their exposure," said Theodore Krintas, head of wealth management at Attica Bank.
"Emerging market funds could not enter since Greece was classified as developed market, now it will be on their radar."
Analysts said the outcry over the state broadcaster posed a more immediate threat to the government, even though ERT's three statewide channels have a combined audience share of barely 13 percent. About 2,000 of its 2,600 employees are non-journalists.
The government promised to relaunch a slimmed-down version of ERT within weeks, saying it only took ERT off air so suddenly due to fears that workers would damage state equipment.
"We didn't shut down ERT, we temporarily suspended its operations to fix it and make it work on a healthy basis," government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou told Reuters.
indiatimes.com
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