US urges eurozone against Greek exit ahead of presidential elections, say reports
Reports in the UK have referred to British government sources saying that the White House is pressuring the eurozone not to take any steps that could lead to Greece leaving the eurozone before the Presidential election in the US.
Germany and France have said they will wait for the troika to deliver its report on the Greek program ahead of a Eurogroup meeting on October 8 before making any decision about the disbursement to Greece of the next loan tranche, which totals 31 billion euros.
?American officials are understood to be worried that if they decide Greece has not done enough to meet its deficit targets and withhold the money, it would automatically trigger Greece’s exit from the eurozone weeks before the Presidential election on 6 November,? reports The Independent.
?They are urging eurozone governments to hold off from taking any drastic action before then ? fearing that the resulting market destabilization could damage President Obama’s re-election prospects. European leaders are thought to be sympathetic to the lobbying fearing that, under pressure from his party in Congress, Mitt Romney would be a more isolationist president than Mr Obama,? adds the newspaper.
Obama held a phone call with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday to discuss the euro crisis.
