Protests of "OUTRAGED": The EU Reaffirms Adjustments Despite the Growing Social Rejection

The European Union insisted yesterday defending the austerity measures and adjustments as the only path to growth and job creation, but for the first time recognized the "legitimacy" of the movement of the outraged and suggested concrete measures against the irresponsibility of the financial sector.

After the Social Summit held yesterday in Brussels, the presidents of the European Council and European Commission (EC), Herman van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, echoed some of the claims of the movement of indignation and, in particular, criticisms of the role played in the crisis by some financial institutions.

Protesters gather in London's financial district on Wednesday ahead of the G20 summit.

Besides these two Community institutions participated in the social summit representatives of employers and unions in Europe.

During the meeting, community leaders and the European employers stressed the message that austerity will restore confidence in the economy, which in his opinion the basis for growth and job creation.

When asked about the manifestations of "outraged" that took place on Saturday around the world, Barroso and Van Rompuy said they understood their claims and were legitimate.

Meanwhile, social unrest, strikes and announcements of new mobilizations were continued yesterday amid the continent.

Thus in Greece, the ferry service to the islands was yesterday arrested and piles of garbage piled up in the streets of Athens to meet its 16 th day of strikes that paralyzed the country. Meanwhile, the new unions were protesting cuts to start a decisive week for the future not only of Greece but also the 17-nation eurozone.

The tax collectors and customs officers abandoned their jobs and employees occupied the buildings of the ministries of Labour and Finance in the capital. Greece faces a crucial vote on Thursday for new measures of adjustment, while other eurozone countries are racing to find a solution to the debt crisis for the weekend.

Another country with their red bills and gloomy forecasts is Portugal, which looks to 2012 with economic forecasts increasingly pessimistic, pointing to a decline in its economy by 2.8 percent, six percentage points more than expected to now. Meanwhile, the growing social pressure and there is a general strike by trade unions announced yesterday.

Portugal's conservative government released the bleak macroeconomic forecast in recent history, which also reflected a significant increase in the unemployment rate of 12.5 estimated for this year to 13.4 percent for the next.

Finance Minister, Vítor Gaspar, presented these projections, included in the 2012 State Budget, the harder the last few decades.

"Injustice" and "violence" of the plan have caused the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP, communist-oriented) and the General Union of Workers (UGT, socialist) yesterday agreed to call a general strike, which date announced tomorrow. The two plants, which have about a million members in a country of 10.5 million inhabitants, and jointly called for a general strike for the first time in 22 years last November 24, that time was against policy of the socialist government of Jose Socrates.

Europe and America, Sources of Financial Risk

The global financial crisis is going through its fifth year, according to the accounts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The deterioration of public balance sheets in Europe and the United States has become a major risk factor for global financial stability.

The IMF showed a lack of progress in the consolidation of public accounts and estimated that this market decline have taken a bill of 200.000 million euros to banks only in the region. To this we must add an additional credit risk of 100.000 million euros in the peripheral economies, which makes a total of 300.000 million euros.

Introducing the "Report on the Global Financial Stability", José Viñals, Director of Capital Markets Department at the IMF, said that increased risk premiums are demanding markets for two years "has had a direct impact approximately 200.000 billion in banks in the European Union. "

This estimate does not include the capital needs of regional banks, because "to have an estimate of the requirements should apply a deep stress test."

According to the IMF, the authorities in advanced economies have not achieved the political consensus around the medium-term fiscal adjustment, there is no positive expectations about the upcoming return of stability in the markets and the financial system.

ALERT IN LATIN AMERICA

In the report, analysts Fund reported that the sudden interruption of the flow of investment funds and bonds of emerging markets could be a risk factor for banks in Latin America.

"Banks in Latin America are more vulnerable to shocks in terms of trade, while those in Asia are more sensitive to increases in borrowing costs," it reads.

In accordance with Chapter I of the report, banks in emerging economies in the region are in a more stable and healthier than those kept by financial institutions in America and Europe, however, given the link of these institutions with subsidiaries in industrialized countries could be, in an extreme case, a brake on investment flows and holdings of bonds.

After a series of projections to anticipate the impact of economic and financial shocks on banks operating in Latin America and Asia, concluded the relevance of "lay the groundwork for a more robust financial framework" and the further strengthening of balance sheets banks.

OBAMA TO THE UN

"The world economy needs urgent action"

The U.S. president, Barack Obama, said during his presentation to the United Nations that the world must take "urgent and coordinated action" to rescue the economy.

"We are with our European allies as they restructure their institutions and face their own fiscal challenges," Obama said in his speech to the UN General Assembly.

"In other countries, leaders face a different challenge while (...) put their economies and boost domestic demand while moderate inflation," he said.

Later, Obama met with the new prime minister of Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, the end of the meeting, said that his country and Japan need to continue to promote economic growth.

"As the two largest economies in the world, we must promote growth that can help our people to have jobs and improve living standards," he said Obama.

Noda Obama and pledged to work closely to boost the world economy and promote a strong, sustainable and balanced.