Greek voters may not get their say until mid-December, if at all
Financial markets in Europe rallied this morning on the news that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou may not be able to jump through all the hoops required for holding a referendum, the Financial Times reports. On Monday evening Papandreou announced Greece would hold a referendum about whether or not to accept the latest installment of the bail-out from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The news sent markets across the world into a tailspin on Tuesday, as investors feared Greek voters would turn down the emergency funds, triggering a disorderly default on Greece’s sovereign debt. Papandreou is due in Cannes, France, on Wednesday evening for emergency talk with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Financial Times also reports that Greece will likely hold the referendum in mid-December, and formulate the question not in terms of accepting or rejecting the conditions of the financial rescue, but rather whether Greece should continue to be part of the European Union and the eurozone.