EUROZONE-GREECE/GERMANY REAX Germans react to Greek political turmoil as shares fall on Greek and China woes

Record ID: 143059

  • Title: EUROZONE-GREECE/GERMANY REAX Germans react to Greek political turmoil as shares fall on Greek and China woes
  • Date: 21st August 2015
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (AUGUST 21, 2015) (REUTERS) BRANDENBURGER TOR IN BERLIN TOURISTS TAKING PICTURES COUPLE SITTING ON BENCH (SOUNDBITE) (German) BERLIN RESIDENT, PETRA HOFF, SAYING: "I think it looks hard for the Greeks because the danger of everything starting all over again is still there. I feel really sorry for the Greeks because there is not real order in their government." (SOUNDBITE) (German) BERLIN RESIDENT, REINAR HOFF, SAYING: "The question is whether it is going to get better. He has tried everything. Maybe he was just unlucky, but maybe it has also been the influence of his finance minister that has led him to this unstable situation." (SOUNDBITE) (German) BERLIN RESIDENT, DIETER WESTERBURG, SAYING: "At this point the situation is so bad that it cannot be fixed. No one will back them anymore. That is my personal view from what I have read in the media. So a new election won't make it better for the Greeks, even if he (Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras) gets more votes." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT BRANDENBURGER TOR FRANKFURT, GERMANY (AUGUST 21, 2015) (REUTERS) TRADING FLOOR AT FRANKFURT STOCK EXCHANGE TRADERS CLOSE UP OF TRADERS CLOSE UP OF BOARD SHOWING HIGH OF 10267.43 POINTS AT 09:10 AM (0710GMT) WIDE OF BOARD CLOSE UP OF BOARD AT STOCK EXCHANGE OPENING (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT FLATEX GMBH, ASCAN IREDI, SAYING: "It is purely internal politically and it is pure election tactics on his (Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras) side so that he can eliminate political opposition in his own party. Her Schoeder tried it here and it failed abysmally. but I am not pessimistic about their reform program because the other parties are in the majority following the same course as Mr Tsipras, so I don't see there being any deviation from the course they have taken." BOARD SHOWING PRICES AND MARKET SHARES (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT FLATEX GMBH, ASCAN IREDI, SAYING: "It went down really quickly by a hundred points in the beginning and that shows worries about the economy, mainly because of China. So maybe some buyers will come in but the situation still remains difficult." CLOSE UP OF BOARD SHOWING LOW OF 10228,70 AT 09:02AM (0702GMT) (SOUNDBITE) (German) CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT FLATEX GMBH, ASCAN IREDI, SAYING: "The bad sales figures in China point to the fact that the seven per cent growth is definitely not the case today anymore. We have some areas where we already see it shrinking, if that goes on we could talk in some months about China sliding into recession. The government must do something urgently and should concentrate on the most important points, that being monetary policy, interest policy, and currency politics. The government should act more in those fields because that is where it has the biggest influence. But until then there will be uncertainties in the markets." VARIOUS OF TRADERS BOARD CLOSE UP OF BOARD AT OPENING TRADING FLOOR
  • Embargoed: 5th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA5KP46C9F16NZIV0IR6TM7LTJK
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Germans expressed their skepticism on Friday (August 21) when asked about new snap elections that are to be held in Greece after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned as prime minister on Thursday (August 20).
    The move follows Tsipras' aim to crush a rebellion in his leftist Syriza party and seal public support for a bailout programme agreed with Greece's creditors after a long negotiation process with its creditors.
    The 41-year old politician fought for a better deal but had to cave in after seven months in power to what will be the country's third since 2010.
    In downtown Berlin, pedestrians were not convinced that the Greek Prime Minister's move would do any good to the crisis-hit country.
    "I think it looks hard for the Greeks because the danger of everything starting all over again is still there. I feel really sorry for the Greeks because there is not real order in their government," Petra Hoff told Reuters.
    "At this point the situation is so bad that it cannot be fixed. No one will back them anymore. That is my personal view from what I have read in the media. So a new election won't make it better for the Greeks, even if he (Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras) gets more votes," Dieter Westerburg stated.
    Chief Investment Officer at Flatex GMBH Ascan Iredi said the move was pure tactics but remained confident that Greece would fulfill its reform program.
    "It is purely internal politically and it is pure election tactics on his (Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras) side so that he can eliminate political opposition in his own party. Her Schoeder tried it here and it failed abysmally. but I am not pessimistic about their reform program because the other parties are in the majority following the same course as Mr Tsipras, so I don't see there being any deviation from the course they have taken," he told Reuters at Frankfurt's Stock exchange.
    European shares fell sharply on Friday, but not so much because of the Greek political turmoil.
    A drop in Asian equity markets and U.S. stock futures after a survey showed Chinese factories contracted at their fastest pace since the global financial crisis in 2009.
    "It went down really quickly by a hundred points in the beginning and that shows worries about the economy, mainly because of China. So maybe some buyers will come in but the situation still remains difficult," Iredi said.
    The Caixin/Markit manufacturing index showed activity in China's factory sector shrank at its fastest pace in almost 6-1/2 years in August as domestic and export demand dwindled.
    Coming on the heels of weaker-than-expected data in July, it stoked fears of a slowdown in the world's second-biggest economy.
    U.S. stock futures fell to a 6 month low after the survey, while Japan's Nikkei stock index fell 3 percent.
    Iradi said the Chinese government had to react to stop the possibility of recession.
    "The bad sales figures in China point to the fact that the seven per cent growth is definitely not the case today anymore. We have some areas where we already see it shrinking, if that goes on we could talk in some months about China sliding into recession," he said.
    "The government must do something urgently and should concentrate on the most important points, that being monetary policy, interest policy, and currency politics. The government should act more in those fields because that is where it has the biggest influence. But until then there will be uncertainties in the markets," he added.
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