'Wise owl' Lagarde launches major ECB review

Yahoo – AFP, Michelle FITZPATRICK, Tom BARFIELD, December 12, 2019

Neither hawk nor dove, but 'wise owl' (AFP Photo/Daniel ROLAND)

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - Christine Lagarde on Thursday announced a major review of the ECB's tools and goals and said the eurozone slowdown was beginning to ease, as she made her debut as president vowing to bring her "own style" to the job.

Speaking at a Frankfurt press conference after chairing her first governing council meeting, Lagarde said the bank would launch its "strategic review" next month and aim to finish by "the end of 2020".

A central focus of the reassessment, the ECB's first since 2003, will be whether the bank's main objective of keeping inflation "close to, but below" two percent remains relevant after years of anaemic price growth.

Lagarde said she also wanted to focus on "major changes" in society since the last review, including the challenges posed by climate change, technological advances and rising inequality.

As expected, Lagarde kept her predecessor Mario Draghi's ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged Thursday, holding interest rates at historic lows and leaving a 20-billion-euro ($22.2 billion) per month bond-buying programme untouched.

The policies are designed to bolster the 19-nation eurozone economy and drive up inflation at a time of weak global growth, weighed down by US-China trade rows and Brexit uncertainty.

Lagarde said the ECB was seeing "some initial signs of stabilisation in the growth slowdown", despite "persistent global uncertainties".

While manufacturing remained weak as trade tensions fester, the services and construction sectors remain "resilient", she said.

Look out for monetary policy tackling the climate crisis (AFP Photo/Daniel ROLAND)

Neither hawk nor dove

Although her maiden press conference was light on monetary policy news, Lagarde showed she was keenly aware that her performance was being closely scrutinised.

The former International Monetary Fund chief who has no prior central banking experience took pains to urge observers not to weigh her every word or compare her to former ECB boss Mario Draghi.

"Don't over-interpret, don't second guess, don't cross reference, I'm going to be myself and therefore probably different," she told journalists.

"Once and for all, I'm neither a dove nor a hawk, and my ambition is to be this owl, that is often associated with a little bit of wisdom," said Lagarde.

"For ECB watchers and financial market participants... learning how to read Christine Lagarde will take some time" said ING bank economist Carsten Brzeski, judging it "not always clear whether Lagarde spoke on behalf of herself" or the ECB council.

The ECB also unveiled its latest growth and inflation forecasts, for the first time running through to 2022.

Risks to the euro area outlook "remain tilted to the downside, but have become somewhat less pronounced", Lagarde said.

The bank trimmed its eurozone growth forecast for 2020 to 1.1 percent from 1.2 percent, but said it saw output strengthening to 1.4 percent in the following two years.

Inflation meanwhile is predicted to climb from 1.1 percent in 2020 to 1.6 percent in 2022 -- bringing the ECB closer to its target.

"Is it satisfactory? It's certainly directionally good, but is it the aim that we pursue? No," Lagarde said.

'Some initial signs of stabilisation in the growth slowdown': Lagarde already 

seems comfortable with central bank speak (AFP Photo/Daniel ROLAND)

Going green

Pressed for details on the planned review, Lagarde said there was "no preconceived landing zone".

But calls are growing for the ECB to loosen its strict inflation goal after years of stubbornly low growth, and change the way it calculates inflation.

Lagarde herself explicitly mentioned possibly including housing costs in the measurements in future.

The ECB's first female president has also repeatedly stressed that monetary policy has a role to play in tackling the climate crisis, even if the real driver for change lies with fiscal policy.

She said the bank would be speaking to lawmakers, academics and civil society representatives to hear their views.

The focus on climate change comes just days after new European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a "Green Deal" for the bloc that aims to build a carbon neutral economy by 2050.

Lagarde praised "the ambition" shown by the initiative and said she hoped it would win widespread backing.

"In our strategic review we will take up climate change, we will take up the fight that is taken up by the European Commission and I hope other European institutions, and see where and how we can participate."

EU leadership takes office touting green ambition

Rfi.fr - AFP, 1 November 2019

Von der Leyen replaced EU veteran Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the 

European Commission AFP

Brussels (AFP) - The EU's new leadership took office on Sunday, one month later then planned, promising a more united Europe that would be ready to face major challenges, including fighting climate change.

Germany's Ursula von der Leyen became president of the European Commission and marked the occasion in a short ceremony with her top EU official counterparts, including EU Council President Charles Michel who also started on Sunday.

The team took the reins as the 28-member union is faced with a mountain of difficulties, including the Brexit divorce with Britain and tense ties with superpowers China and the United States.

Von der Leyen said the officials gathered, who also included European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde, must meet a great responsibility as guardians of the EU treaties.

"It is a responsibility towards the European people and towards our founding father and mothers, but it is also a responsibility towards our children," she said.

"It is our responsibility to leave a union that is stronger than the one we inherited: ... a continent in peace with rights and liberties (and) a single market with unprecedented economic opportunities," she said.

Former IMF chief Lagarde, who took office last month, stressed that the union had only recently left the damaging debt crisis and must look to the future.

"It's a formidable challenge that awaits us, but my hope is that... we may leave this age of repairing (the EU) to one of renovation and hope," she said.

Von der Leyen, who replaced EU veteran Jean-Claude Juncker, will lead a 27-strong team of commissioners who also began work on Sunday with a clear ambition to make Europe a global powerhouse on green policy.

European Parliament President David Sassoli said the MEPs would hold an extraordinary session on December 11 -- the eve of an EU leaders summit -- to receive the commission's first climate proposals, dubbed the "Green New Deal".

The Sunday ceremony was officially the 10th anniversary of the latest European treaty that simplified an EU governance, which remains complicated and often criticised as too removed from the continent's 500 million citizens.

Her mandate was due to start November 1 but was delayed after three of her initial nominees to the commission were rejected during the parliamentary confirmation process in an unprecedented snub.

Lagarde urges policymakers to resolve manmade economic threats

MSN – AFP, 20 September 2019

Eric BARADAT Outgoing IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde gives an
exclusive interview to AFP journalists at the IMF headquarters in Washington
on September 19, 2019

Accustomed to being the first woman in influential leadership positions and speaking frankly to men in power, Christine Lagarde says manmade threfinats to the global economy can be "man-fixed."

Lagarde only last week left her post as head of the International Monetary Fund after eight years, the first woman to serve in that role, and she is expected to put another "first" on her resume by the end of the year: first woman to serve as president of the European Central Bank.

Eric BARADAT Christine Lagarde is expected to take over
leadership of the European Central bank and calls for
 policymakers to address manmade threats to global growth

She sees a world economy where growth is "fragile" and "under threat" from trade frictions and Brexit, and perhaps an over-reliance on the efforts of central banks like the ECB.

But while she tried to urge action during her time at the IMF -- she took over in 2011 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis -- she said a central bank should "stick to its mandate," which perhaps is a clue to how she will run the ECB.

Or perhaps not.

She carefully avoided a commitment about how she would use her influence in the new post.

Manmade problems can be 'man-fixed'

In perfect English and always engaging and crisply professional, Lagarde sat down with AFP on Thursday to review her legacy at the Washington-based crisis lender, where she arrived after being the first woman finance minister of France.

In bare numbers, her record is impressive: the IMF helped to avoid a global depression, 90 countries -- nearly half of its members -- benefitted from some form of lending or credit line during the crisis, and the lending capacity was doubled to $1 trillion.

One of her main regrets is that she ran out of time to convince the member governments to increase those resources further, since the IMF, which sits "right at the core, at the center of the global financial safety net," may not have enough cash to address the next inevitable crisis.

Still, the IMF remains influential over economic and financial policy matters.

"I think we have spoken truth to power, not always to the power's pleasure," Lagarde said.

But as she leaves Britain is poised to crash out of the European Union, with no deal to cushion the blow in place as yet, while "America First" President Donald Trump has waged a multi-front trade war primarily targeted at China.

Those threats have undercut confidences and business investment as well as exports, and global growth could by some estimates fall to the slowest pace since 2008 at the start of the financial crisis.

But Brexit and trade frictions "are manmade and can be man-fixed," and Lagarde quipped, "A bit of woman wouldn't hurt."

Where are the roof fixers?

She has often urged governments to "fix the roof while the sun is shining," borrowing from former US President John F Kennedy, pushing for spending while times are good to fix long-term problems and help people left behind by globalization and technological change.

Yet even amid a worldwide wave of anger against trade and globalization, officials who control the purse strings of governments have not done enough, Lagarde said.

Instead central banks have done much of the heavy lifting in preventing the financial crisis from becoming a depression.

"I think central bankers have done an awful lot and were for many years regarded as the only game in town," she said.

If confirmed, Lagarde will step into her new post as one of those central bankers in an environment where Trump has maintained a relentless campaign against the US Federal Reserve for not cutting interest rates aggressively to stimulate growth, while others in Europe have criticized outgoing ECB President Mario Draghi for cutting rates further into negative territory to juice a sluggish EU economy.

Experience shows that when politicians meddle with central bank independence it "doesn't pan out very well," she cautioned, but at the same time "a central bank has to do the job that it is assigned to do... they should stick to facts and data so that they could be predictable."

In her new post leading the ECB, she pledged to focus on job creation and stability, but stability alone may not be enough in the lives of real people.

Lagarde signals plan to stick to Draghi's ECB expansionary path

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Philippe LACOUR, 29 August 2019

Early signs are that she will not rock the ECB boat

The ECB's next chief Christine Lagarde signaled Thursday that she would stick with Mario Draghi's controversial expansionary monetary policy that has propped up the eurozone economy amid growing risks to growth.

In a written reply to queries from the European Parliament, Lagarde underlined that inflation has remained stubbornly low in the bloc while growth was stalling.

"It is therefore clear that monetary policy needs to remain highly accommodative for the foreseeable future. The ECB has a broad tool kit at its disposal and must stand ready to act," wrote Lagarde.

"While I do not believe that the ECB has hit the effective lower bound on policy rates, it is clear that low rates have implications for the banking sector and financial stability more generally," she noted.

Over his eight years in office, the ECB's incumbent chief Draghi has brought interest rates to record lows and unleashed billions of euros in quantitative easing to ward off the threat of deflation and drum up growth.

But with the prospects of growth dimming once again, and with Europe's biggest economy Germany on the brink of a recession, Draghi said at the ECB's last monetary policy meeting in July that the bank could fire off a new stimulus package and slash rates further.

Draghi's ultra-expansionary doctrine is however not without its critics.

Too soon to act?

Dutch central banker Klaas Knot told Bloomberg on Thursday that he did not think a new quantitative easing package was necessary at this juncture.

"If deflation risks come back on the agenda then I think the asset-purchase programme is the appropriate instrument to be activated, but there is no need for it in my reading of the inflation outlook right now," he said.

Knot's stance echoes Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann's view, who in an interview published Sunday by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung warned against launching new stimulus measures out of "panic" or simply for the sake of taking action.

Draghi's policy has proved particularly hard to swallow in Germany as the nation of savers has seen its holdings stagnate in banks.

But the Italian central banker has argued that the ECB could not sit back and wait for economic conditions to worsen before acting, setting the stage for new action at central bankers next meeting on September 12.

Surveys have for months pointed to an economic slowdown in the second and third quarters from the 0.4 percent growth booked in January-March.

Slower growth in turn threatens the central bank's target for area-wide inflation which is just below 2.0 percent.

In June the figure came in at 1.3 percent.

Besides growing fears over US-led protectionism, the economic mood in the bloc was also dampened by the looming exit of Britain from the European Union.

The danger of a no-deal Brexit has also intensified, with Boris Johnson as Britain's new prime minister.

Lagarde voiced confidence however that "EU authorities, including the ECB, have prepared for" a hard Brexit.

"Overall, I am confident that the measures taken so far have limited the impact that the UK?s departure from the EU could have on access to financial services in the euro area," she said, adding however that companies should still use the time leading up to the deadline of October 31 to get ready.

Early signs are that she will not rock the ECB boat.

New ‘Basel 4’ capital requirements for banks will impact Dutch mortgages

DutchNews, December 8, 2017

New capital requirements for banks, known as Basel 4, will have a major impact on the Dutch financial services sector, Dutch media said on Friday. 

The European central bank declared on Thursday that agreement had been reached reviewing the post crisis Basel 3 regulations. Basel 3 required the banks to add equity to their balance sheets and Basel 4, as the revisions are know, will further add to the requirements. 

According to the Dutch central bank in the Financieele Dagblad, the Dutch banks are a combined  €14bn short of meeting the new capital requirements. That means banks will be more restricted in what they can do and what risks they are prepared to take. 

‘It will have a major impact,’ central bank official Paul Hilbers, one of the two Dutch negotiators, told the FD ‘You have to compare it with the average combined annual profits of €6bn posted by all the large banks in the last few years.’ 

Rabobank chief financial officer Bas Brouwers is quoted as describing the new rules as ‘absurd and irrational’ by the Volkskrant. 

Mortgages

In particular, Basel 4 is likely to have an impact on the Dutch mortgage system by reducing the amount people can borrow – the loan to value ratio – because banks will have to further minimise their risks. The ltv Dutch rate, now 100%, is one of the most generous in Europe.

However, as the new rules won’t come into effect until 2020, and will be phased in over five years, the impact is likely to be muted, the Volkskrant said. 

Nevertheless, from January, home buyers will only be able to borrow up to 100% of the value of their home, but the Dutch market regulators – the central bank and AFM – want this to be reduced to 90%, further reducing the risk to banks. 

Such a change, which is politically highly sensitive, would require first time buyers to bring in some €25,000 in cash to buy a home, the paper said.

Related Article:

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Greece's Tsipras resigns, calls snap polls to beat party revolt

Yahoo – AFP, Odile Duperry with Alex Pigman in Brussels, 20 Aug 2015

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras looks on during a press conference at

 the Greek Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks in Athens on

August 12, 2015 (AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki)

Athens (AFP) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced his resignation and called for snap elections on Thursday, as he went on the offensive to defend the country's massive bailout after it triggered a rebellion within his own party.

The election is expected to be held on September 20, the Greek news agency ANA said, citing government sources.

"I will shortly meet with the president of the republic and present my resignation and that of my government," Tsipras said in a live televised address to the nation.

"I want to submit to the Greek people everything I have done (since taking office in January) so that they can decide once more," Tsipras said.

The move leaves Greece in the hands of a caretaker government until the vote.

Tsipras's announcement came after debt-crippled Greece paid a huge debt to the ECB on Thursday, effectively starting its third mammoth bailout, expected to cost as much as 86 billion euros ($96 billion) over the next three years.

It is the latest gamble by the charismatic young premier, who successfully persuaded Greeks to reject tough reforms in a referendum last month, only to adopt them at a eurozone summit a week later.

"This agreement provides perspective for the Greek economy and a basis for 

sustainable growth," said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who

 chairs the so-called Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, pictured on 

August 14, 2015 (AFP Photo/John Thys)

The European Commission, one of the creditor institutions overseeing the new rescue package, earlier welcomed reports of a snap election in Greece, saying it would politically bolster the just launched bailout, the country's third in five years.

"Swift elections in Greece can be a way to broaden support for ESM stability support programme just signed by Prime Minister Tsipras on behalf of Greece," tweeted Martin Selmayr, chief of staff to commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, referring to the EU bailout fund.

The election would be the second in eight months in Greece.

The government on Thursday cleared 3.4 billion euros owed to the European Central Bank, the ECB confirmed, marking an urgently needed truce in a row that saw Greek banks shuttered, the economy battered and nearly saw Greece thrown out of the eurozone.

Tsipras took the decision to call snap polls after meeting with members of his cabinet and as speculation swirled that he was to step down in a bid to regain office with a stronger hand.

Tsipras suffered an unprecedented setback in parliament on Friday, with 43 of 149 MPs in the governing Syriza party choosing to either oppose or abstain from the latest wave of creditor-demanded austerity.

Greek stocks fell on Thursday in the face of the political uncertainty, down 3.5 percent. Frankfurt and Paris were down by 2.0 percent.

'Problems in the coming years'

Greece won the final green light on Wednesday to start repaying its debts and reviving its crippled economy after eurozone finance ministers formally approved the loans-for-reforms package.

The bailout includes more pain in the form of tax hikes, as well as a pensions overhaul and privatisations the government had previously opposed. Many Greeks viewed it as a humiliating climbdown.

The all-clear to unblock a first payment of 23 billion euros came once the bailout was approved by European parliaments, including Germany's Bundestag.

"This agreement provides perspective for the Greek economy and a basis for sustainable growth," said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister who chairs the so-called Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers.

"We are certain to encounter problems in the coming years but I trust we will be able to tackle them," he added.

The decision unlocked 13 billion euros for Athens and set aside another 10 billion euros to recapitalise the country's cash-starved banks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with Volker Kauder, parliamentary group

 leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union during a debate ahead of

 a vote on a third bailout for debt-mired Greece on August 19, 2015 (AFP

Photo/John MacDougall)

Merkel's 'cowardly performance'

Last week, the eurozone's finance ministers approved in principle the bailout to keep Greece in the single currency bloc and pay its bills.

The German parliament voted by an overwhelming majority on Wednesday to back the bailout, with Chancellor Angela Merkel spared her own rebellion of deputies opposing the aid.

But Germany's top-selling Bild newspaper ran an unforgiving headline denouncing "Merkel's cowardly performance" after she remained silent during the parliamentary debate.

But it celebrated the 67 lawmakers in her coalition who voted against the bailout, dubbing them the "righteous ones".

Tsipras, 41, rode to power in January on a wave of popular anger against the tax hikes, spending cuts and reforms demanded by creditors in exchange for the two previous bailouts costing 240 billion euros.

He has said that Greece's creditors -- the European Union, European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund and the European Stability Mechanism -- have agreed to discuss public debt relief measures when a first assessment of reform compliance is completed in November.

Greece's debt currently stands at a towering 312.8 billion euros, the finance ministry said Wednesday, a level the IMF said is unsustainable and requires immediate relief.

Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, July 19, 2015)

Matthew Ward - July 19, 2015

Matthew Ward

With loving greetings from all souls at this station, this is Matthew. Many of your analysts think that the Greek people’s resounding “No” on the recent referendum put their country on the road to irreversible economic ruin. The country will manage. “No” put the Illuminati on the road to irreversible economic ruin.

Going back a long, long ways, bartering worked splendidly in communities, but the expanding borders of commerce required a different means of exchange; and with the introduction of coinage, money became the axis on which your world turned. The forerunners of the Illuminati and later that group itself controlled the turning by devising taxation, banking and lending systems; and, as centuries passed, “numbered” bank accounts, stock markets, Federal Reserve System, International Monetary Fund, regulating agencies and credit cards with usurious interest rates. Everything they established was specifically designed to add to their fortunes, tighten their economic control over the peoples, and increase their influence within national governments.

The Illuminati began as a cohesive group of like-minded individuals whose objective was world domination. As time went by, egos grew and tempers flared, and eventually two competitive factions with that same goal emerged. Later, the Rothschilds and their adherents, who operate out of London and the Vatican, came up with a plan to solidify their control throughout Europe—the European Union, European Central Bank and euro currency. Let us borrow your expression, “How’s that working for you?” There is no bandage large enough to patch the crack the Greek vote made in the Rothschild network. The crack will spread like a spider web around the world and into it will fall the Rockefeller faction headquartered in Washington, DC, and on Wall Street.

As if that isn’t enough for both factions to deal with—and Pope Francis’ goodness and wisdom keeps upsetting their apple cart—now there’s the agreement between negotiators from several major nations and Iran’s leaders that their country will not pursue development of a nuclear weapon. It is no surprise that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, a top-ranking Illuminati, denounced the agreement or that Illuminati in the United States Congress and members whose election campaigns were funded by that group are opposing President Obama’s efforts to get congressional approval. They want to invade Iran and, along with taking over that country’s oil, reap the riches that come from producing the machinery of war.

The vibrations of intensifying light that led to those reversals for the Illuminati will keep increasing as the planet continues on its ascension course. If we could tell you when their total undoing will be, we would do so joyously; but activity in Earth’s energy field of potential indicates that their inevitable demise will come in stages, not one fell swoop. They still have some power, dwindling though it is, in their “black ops” branch of the CIA; other intelligence sources, including Mossad; high-ranking personnel in some military forces; leverage within mainstream media and some governments; and huge caches of monies to initiate or exacerbate uprisings, fund the Islam State, and pay their minions to hack computer systems, oversee the street drug trade, fill your skies with chemtrails, deny pollution’s contribution to climate change, or disseminate false information on the Internet.

While a few within the higher ranks of both Illuminati factions are talking with principals in reform movements, the hardliners are talking about joining forces; some have abandoned their fast-sinking ship, died of natural causes or by their own hand, or been arrested. You would recognize some names, most you would not, and it is unlikely that any of the Illuminati will be identified as such in mainstream news reports.

Upheavals will keep popping up as the ages-old light vs dark battle for Earth’s civilization at last is nearing its end. You have waited a long time to see the light triumph as predestined, and you can welcome the bumpy ride through the last phases. However, most of the populace don’t know about that long conflict or that everything transpiring and what is ahead is about planetary and personal ascension out of millennia of dark bondage.

Many people are fearful or angry, and with each new bump, others will have the same reactions. Your calmness, yet excitement, and explaining to the extent individuals are receptive can encourage them to have an optimistic outlook. But please do not be disheartened if family and friends don’t respond positively—they will waken in their own times of readiness.

And, we ask that you keep foremost in your thoughts that every person in your world is a part of God, by whatever name the Supreme Being in this universe is called. Every person is inextricably connected at soul level with all others, and God’s love for each and every one is unconditional. Seeing “offenders” through God’s eyes doesn’t mean wanting them to forego justice by your world’s standards—already this has come to some and shall befall others. What it does mean is, you will uplift yourselves and your world by envisioning those individuals within the light rather than focusing on their punishment. The impartial, nonjudgmental and unavoidable laws of the universe will serve them justice in a spirit world according to their lifetime deeds.

This is an appropriate place to answer a reader’s questions: “What will happen to Nirvana after Earth reaches 5th density? Can there still be reunions with our loved ones?” Nirvana will accompany Earth to her destination in fifth density and continue to be her spirit realm, but with grand differences. The tiny dense orb that houses the basest individuals and is the only part of the realm separate from the rest will be transported to some third density civilization and incorporated into their spirit world, or it will be dematerialized after its inhabitants are moved to a spirit world of equal density. Nirvana’s lower layers—learning centers for people who want to outgrow their negative tendencies such as bigotry, anger, apathy, envy, miserliness, bitterness, disloyalty, dishonesty, manipulativeness, closed minds and desire to control others—also will disappear. Those traits served well when they were aspects of karmic lessons souls chose to attain balanced experiencing, but your society will have advanced consciously and spiritually and no longer need to experience negative characteristics.

Indeed, reunions of loved ones can take place in Nirvana when that realm and Earth are in fifth density, but then just as now, meetings can be in any placement in this universe where energies are compatible. Actually, these visits have been happening all along during your sleep time, but your bodies’ density can’t retain memories of those visits—when you waken and have fragments of memories of being with a loved one, you attribute them to dreams. As your consciousness expands with light absorption, you will start to clearly remember your joyful reunions.

With reference to our stating that “everything in your world is purposeful,” a reader asked, “What purpose is served by rats, roaches, fleas, mosquitoes, etc.” It started eons past in linear time, when the darkness manipulated the DNA of some weaker civilizations and programmed their bodies for aging and disease. A civilization at third density conscious and spiritual level, which Earth’s peoples and other life forms have been for many millennia, has bodies that are susceptible to the diseases that some insects and rats can cause or spread; and, given the flexibility in soul contracts, physical death by that means can satisfy contracts’ cause and longevity provisions.

Insects also serve the purpose of souls whose lifetime energy consigned them to the basest part of third density spirit realms. When they are willing to receive sufficient light to embody, they do so in a short-lived form without cellular memory patterning that could influence behavior as they start back up the ladder of evolution. You will welcome knowing that insects cannot survive in the higher vibratory levels where Earth is heading, and their place in the food chain no longer will be needed.

Rats are intelligent, emotional rodents, and those that are well-treated pets respond in kind; the hordes that run wild simply are trying to survive in a world where they are detested. As a civilization grows in consciousness, so do all other life forms in that world. With that advancement comes humankind’s respect for all animal life, and “wild” rats, like other species now considered obnoxious, will be elevated in behavior and popular acceptance. Have no concerns that your world may be overrun with rats or rabbits or any other animals that produce litters quickly! They will reproduce less often and in smaller numbers as long as they decide to embody on the planet—these species, like all others, evolve and at some point incarnate as higher-order beings.

Citing numerous ways that Earth’s animals are being treated inhumanely, a reader asked, “Can the galactics not help with ending this horrendous treatment of animals?” Your universal family is helping by beaming light in abundance to Earth, but they cannot interfere with the free will of individuals who cause suffering and merciless death to your animals. It is up to your society to stop abhorrent practices, and thanks to the dedicated efforts of many souls, this is happening. Countries are setting standards for treatment of animals and repercussions for violators; there are boycotts of food, other products and entertainment derived from animal exploitation; poachers of wild animals are being taught other livelihoods; education is expanding about the importance of preserving wildlife and their habitats on land and in the seas; the numbers of wildlife reserves and no-kill shelters of pet species continue growing and so do the numbers of homeless pets who are adopted.

Participating in or financially supporting these encouraging activities is vital, to be sure, but an invaluable contribution that everyone can make to improve animal life is to not agonize about their plight, but instead send love-light to all of Earth. The law of attraction brings back the very same energy sent forth in thoughts and feelings, thus agonizing about any situation brings back still more circumstances to evoke that feeling.

A reader in New Zealand asked why teen suicides in her country and elsewhere are becoming more frequent. Perhaps because of religious teachings, dying by one’s own hand at such a young age—at any age—is viewed as more tragic than death by disease or fatal injury. So first we say, there is no judgment or penalty and no such place as limbo or hell for people who end their lives.

Their reasons differ just as the individuals themselves do; however, according to our colleagues in Nirvana, most teenagers who commit suicide are gay or lesbian or they know that their body and gender are mismatched, and they enter spirit life with tormented psyches that need customized care for healing. They were emotionally drained from struggling to conform to familial expectations, societal standards and religious orientation, or they had been cast out after declaring their true selves—either way, they saw death as the only escape from hopelessness and despair. As your society continues growing consciously and spiritually, honoring the divinity and genuineness of all soul-selves will replace discrimination and rejection.

“I have noticed a lot of fear-based information on the Internet surrounding ingesting monatomic gold. Can you please elaborate on how it actually works within our bodies?” The intention of that information—and it is a good example of DISinformation on the Internet—is to steer you away from one of the most valuable substances you can ingest. In addition to fortifying immune systems, monatomic gold contributes to health by rapidly regenerating cells; raising bodies’ frequencies; improving organs’ functioning;accelerating the transformation of carbon-based cells into crystalline; and helping to increase DNA strands. All of those physical benefits enhance brain power and that leads to expanded consciousness, spiritual clarity and overall balance. Individuals who are influenced by darkness don’t want you to have any of those advantages so they disseminate blatantly false, fear-based information about monatomic gold.

To readers who asked if signing petitions really does any good: Yes. You may or may not see prompt effects in the specific areas the petitions cover, but the energy you put forth to support endeavors you deem worthy contributes to the overall light on the planet.

“Please ask Matthew to speak about people suffering from depression. I am fearful I may not be following my soul contract and more so failing to do my part to promote positive loving thoughts to myself and others so as to assist Earth's transition.” Our understanding and compassion go out to this dear soul and to all others who are dealing with depression, an emotionally painful condition that has become almost commonplace in your world, and we hasten to say that none of you is failing self or others! You are not lacking light, but light-heartedness. Even if depression is a karmic choice for balance, it needn’t be long-lasting, and discovering and alleviating the cause is possible.

The cause may be physical. Consult a trusted healthcare practitioner about testing for hormonal imbalance, which is treatable without pharmaceutical drugs that don’t eliminate the cause and do lead to other maladies. We have mentioned the benefits of monatomic gold, and suggest as well that you eat nutritious food, drink a great deal of pure water, get sufficient sleep, listen to melodic music, and spend as much time as possible with Nature. Especially during these times when body, mind and spirits are adjusting to ever-heightening vibrations, those are wise suggestions for everyone.

In many cases, depression is circumstantial, due to one’s own or loved ones’ situation or perhaps the state of your world. When you start thinking about something sad or worrisome, change to a positive thought about that situation and visualize it dissolving into beams of light—here again the law of attraction plays a crucial role. Take one step at a time to overcome feeling depressed—this can be as simple as the satisfaction of completing a small task or as uplifting as knowing that you are contributing light to the world via compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, generosity and kindness.

Dear ones, apply those light-filled feelings to yourself, too, and ask for help! Angels, spirit guides, souls in Nirvana and other spirit worlds—all are God’s emissaries—are ever-ready and eager to help lift you out of depression’s heavy-heartedness.

Yes, planetary cleansing will continue a while longer because Earth needs to rid herself of negativity as it is produced. But we say to readers who asked about earthquakes that will devastate entire major cities, tsunamis of epic proportions, dramatic changes in land masses, and temperatures that will continue rising until they snuff out all life: Not only are those concerns needless, but they emit low vibrations that add to the negativity Earth has to deal with.

Many who requested our comments about the Trans Pacific Partnership feel this is an Illuminati-made bill that will benefit only the wealthiest. Several also questioned much the same as the reader who wrote: “If President Obama really is a light being, why is he pushing Congress to get this bill passed?” and others wrote that his efforts prove he is either Illuminati or their willing puppet or is being mind-controlled by them.

Indeed, TPP provisions have the potential to favor only the wealthy—whatever can be used beneficially also can be twisted into malevolent directions—and we shall tell you what we have been told about President Obama’s position. He is acting upon the advice of our “space” family members living among you to not make waves at this stage of behind-the-scenes talks with individuals in the Rockefeller faction. They are not defectors per se, they are pragmatists who know their aim of world control is doomed, and because their interests are better served by economic stability than global collapse, they are amenable to discussing reforms that will have far-reaching effects.

These individuals, whose cooperation can expedite the reforms, wield considerable influence in the corporate world; and their bargaining point is that by acting in good faith on TPP’s provisions, workers in the off-shore countries will reap benefits that currently are nonexistent and would not adversely affect workers in the United States. Our perspective is, as vibrations continue increasing, improvements will come in every aspect of life in your world, so with or without TPP, beneficial changes are ahead for people everywhere.

We honor you, our beloved family, for your perseverance as lightworkers. You are adding immeasurably to the light that is propelling ongoing and forthcoming changes throughout your world.

LOVE and PEACE

Suzanne Ward

suzy@matthewbooks.com

LOVE and PEACE

Suzanne Ward

Website: The Matthew Books

Email: suzy@matthewbooks.com

Related Article:

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

Greek voters reject austerity demands in referendum

With results in from nearly all of Greece's polling stations, more than 61 percent of voters have said "no" to more austerity demands from international creditors. Eurozone leaders are planning an emergency summit.

Deutsche Welle, 6 July 2015

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras went on television on Sunday night and said "Together we have written a bright page in modern European history." His government had called for a "No" vote in the snap referendum to reject terms of the latest offer from international creditors which imposed more pension cuts and tax increases, without any debt relief.

"This is not a mandate of rupture with Europe, but a mandate that bolsters our negotiating strength to achieve a viable deal," he remarked. Tsipras said he was willing to resume negotiations with creditors immediately.

Today we celebrate the victory of #democracy. Tomorrow, we will all continue our national effort to reach an agreement. #Greece

— Alexis Tsipras (@tsipras_eu) July 5, 2015

Thousands of people gathered in central Syntagma Square to celebrate the result on Sunday night. Results showed 61 percent voted "no," compared with 38 percent for "yes."

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Sunday: "The Greek people said 'no more' to five years of austerity."

"In 24h we COULD have an agreement", I said. But our toxic media rushed to report that I predicted an agreement within 24h. Go figure!

— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) July 5, 2015

The "no" votes carried through virtually every district in the country

#Greece referendum results with 95.49% votes reported: no (61.3%), yes (38.7%) http://t.co/DGer5xmo5Z #Grefenderum pic.twitter.com/cBnyrkbv5i

— The Guardian (@guardian) July 5, 2015

Next step

Tsipras said he would call a meeting of ministers on Monday to discuss next steps. As the last offer from the country's creditors is no longer on the table, there remains the possibility that they could walk away from negotiations and leave Greece to face default, financial collapse and expulsion from the eurozone - and, in the worst case, from the European Union.

Greece failed to meet its debt repayment date with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last Tuesday, the same day its bailout program with the EU expired. Athens faces more debt repayments in the coming weeks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday she would travel to Paris on Monday to meet with the French president, Francois Hollande, for a "joint assessment of the situation after the Greek referendum."

The two leaders later called for a summit of eurozone leaders on Tuesday - a request rapidly granted by EU Council President Donald Tusk.

I have called a #EuroSummit Tuesday evening at 18h to discuss situation after referendum in #Greece

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) July 5, 2015

jm/jr (Reuters, AFP)