Greece: The debt challenge
The new Greek government wants to renegotiate bailout terms, but will eurozone leaders give way to Syriza’s demands?
After parliamentary elections on January 25, Greece has moved to the left – wooed by the promise of an end to austerity.
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| Bill McDermott talks about the challenges facing Greece’s new government and the eurozone |
But the country is still in debt and that does not just disappear because a new government is in place.
The new Syriza-led government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras wants to renegotiate the bailout terms, but there is little appetite among eurozone countries for cutting the debt.
So what is the new government’s plan for Greece’s economy? Can Greece convince other European countries to forgive a large part of Greece’s debt? And can the Syriza-led government restore the faith of the Greek people in their politicians?
Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Phillips reports from Athens. And Philip Ammerman, an investment advisor and strategist at Navigator Consulting and Bill McDermott, the CEO of German software giant SAP, join Counting the Cost.
ISIL’s annual budget
The armed group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) makes money from oil sales, taxes, abductions and extortion.
An ISIL budget, like an ISIL video or statement, is hard to verify. But according to Al Araby Al Jadeed, the group’s budget stands at $2bn with a surplus of $250m. And on top of that ISIL has been demanding $200m for the release of a Japanese hostage.
So how does an organisation like ISIL handle such vast amounts of money?
Shwan Zulal, an oil expert with Cardushi Consulting Company, joins the programme.