Debt restructuring in Greece or any other eurozone country would have negative consequences and the eurozone does not want it to happen, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Wednesday.
“Restructuring of Greek debt, or of debt of any other euro area member state, would have such serious negative consequences through the contagion effect that … we do not want to go (down) that route and we will not have to go (down) that route,” Rehn told an economic conference.
Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Philippos Sahinidis on Wednesday expressed his optimism that the Greek economy will exit a recession this year and return to growth in 2012. And he rejected speculation that the country would be forced into a debt restructuring.
In a radio interview, Sahinidis offered an official answer to repeated comments made by Nobel laureate professor Nuriel Roubini that Greece would have to proceed with a restructuring of its debt, saying that Mr Roubini was not infallible and his forecasts would be dismissed, while he added that citizens should be very cautious when hearing economists expressing views over state debt.
Sahinidis reiterated that the government’s main goal was to restart the economy through a different growth model and noted that the government had a vision, a plan with hope and prospect.
Source: Reuters, ANA