Regling: Greek exit would be disorderly
A Greek exit from the euro would be a disorderly process and a costly solution, the head of the European Stability Mechanism said on Wednesday, days before Athens is due to make the first of four payments to the International Monetary Fund.
Speaking at Beijing’s elite Tsinghua University, Klaus Regling said the eurozone would make every effort to keep Greece in, but limited resources meant there had to be conditions for financial aid to Greece.
Shut out of bond markets and with bailout aid locked off, Greece is running out of cash to pay its bills.
It must repay four loans totaling 1.6 billion euros to the IMF this month, starting with a payment of 300 million euros due on Friday that is seen as the next crunch point for state coffers.
If Greece misses a payment to the IMF it would have a grace period of 30 days or more to make good on its debt.
But the country’s future, at that stage, would be bleak.
Greece has to repay more than 6.5 billion euros in July and August, as bonds held by the European Central Bank and other central banks mature.
[Reuters}
