NEWS

Austria FinMin: Grexident not more likely, could talk about planned exit

Austria’s finance minister does not believe an unplanned Greek exit – or Grexident – from the eurozone has become more likely in the past month, though he added that an orderly withdrawal could be discussed.

“All have realized, also Greece, that an accident represents the biggest possible problem. If there was a kind of orderly withdrawal, then one could discuss how to do that,” Hans Joerg Schelling said on ORF radio on Wednesday. “Of course I see the problem that time is running out, that the amount of money needed is really very considerable.”

Schelling said he saw the implementation of privatizations as a likely reform path that Greece could take, adding he did not expect “dramatic cuts” in the budget.

Schelling said he only had limited concerns about Greece’s moves towards Russia as Athens had committed itself to the European Union and the euro.

The Russian government may consider removing Greece from its ban on most Western food imports and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. [Reuters]

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