The U.S. media is talking about Chrysler’s announcement that it plans to pay off the U.S. and Canadian government loans. It is not a sign of a good economy, because the loans are not being paid off with profits.
Chrysler’s pay off is coming as a result of more loans. The Auto maker has decided that it does not want to keep paying the high interest rate of the government bailout loans, so it has refinanced through private banks. In other words Chrysler is still in trouble.
Standard & Poor’s cut Greece’s credit rating, downward 2 points, after Greek officials announced they needed more bailout money.
The S & P’s rating now puts Greece below investment grade. S & P’s also says that Greece will need a waiver on repaying most of its current loans (that means they don’t think Greece can pay).
Greek officials announced that the 110 billion Euro (U.S. $160 billion) bailout money they got from the European Union is not enough.
Officials say they need another two to four years of bailout funding. They are willing to cut even more from social programs to satisfy lenders.