ATHENS: It's an anniversary few are celebrating. A year ago Saturday, with its faltering economy days away from bankruptcy, Greece ended months of speculation and requested bailout loans. Prime Minister George Papandreou chose the remote island of Kastelorizo, and its tranquil seaside backdrop, to announce the “urgent national need to formally ask our partners to mobilize the support mechanism.” International solidarity, he said in a televised address, would “send a strong signal to markets that the European Union is not to be toyed with, and it will protect our common interests and our common currency.” Twelve months on, there's little indication that that signal has been received. Greek bonds have been axed to junk status by the three major ratings agencies. And sky-high borrowing costs have roughly doubled, along with the price of insuring debt. Greece would currently have to pay out 15-percent interest on a 10-year bond, compared with the German benchmark of 3.27 percent. At least 160,000 more people have lost their jobs since April 23, 2010, with government austerity accelerating layoffs and business failures. And the national debt is forecast to exceed the emergency level of 150 percent of gross domestic product in 2011. “At the moment we have a very, very difficult situation which requires a rapid response and tough measures,” economic analyst Vangelis Agapitos said. “Of course the markets also realize that there is political fatigue and political cowardice to fully take the tough measures that are necessary.” Despite daily government denials, 47 percent of Greeks now believe the country will have to restructure its debt, while just 24 percent think it won't be necessary, according to an opinion poll due to be published Sunday. The survey by the Alco research company for the weekly Proto Thema newspaper used data from 1,000 people interviewed April 15-19. No margin of error was quoted but it would normally be around 3 percentage points for a survey of that size.
