Europeâs leading healthcare companies have complained to Brussels over the non-payment of debts on drugs and other medical products they say total almost â¬7bn by the Greek public health system. The moves come as Greece struggles to raise funds on international markets to finance its swollen budget deficit and public debt in the face of credit rating downgrades. Standard & Poorâs on Wednesday cut its rating on long-term sovereign debt to BBB+ from A-, following Fitch, which downgraded Greece last week. George Papaconstantinou, finance minister, embarked on a roadshow of European capitals this week in an effort to rebuild Greeceâs credibility, before the country launches a â¬55bn borrowing programme in January. âThere is a lot of will to do whatever it takes to bring down the deficit,â Mr Papaconstantinou told the Financial Times on Wednesday. âOur big concern is how we buy some time.â George Papandreou, the prime minister, singled out corruption in public hospital procurement this week as being âin urgent need of rooting outâ as he launched a campaign to eliminate graft in the state sector. The Socialist government said when it took office in October that settling outstanding hospital debts, which it estimated at between â¬2.5bn and â¬3bn, would be a priority. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b0d436c0-ea90-11de-a9f5-00144feab49a.html Ay, ay, ay...Everything just fine. ECB has just announced today end of special liquidity programs...
They are lucky, the US has to wait until Feb 1st 2010 to see some slow down in the liquidity programs.