The Eurozone will collapse without Greece – Tsipras
The Eurozone will fall apart if Greece leaves, according to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Tsipras said a Grexit would be “the beginning of the end” for the Eurozone, saying markets would be spooked and would begin looking for a new weakest link. His comments come a day after Angela Merkel warned Greece was running out of time to reach a deal to save it.
Athens must agree a programme of reforms if it is to receive €7.2bn (£5.3bn) in bailout funds – cash essential to stave off a possible default.
Speaking to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Tsipras said he was willing to climb down on budget surplus targets in exchange for a relaxing in creditors’ demands for Greece to cut pensions and raise VAT.
Tsipras is due to meet Angela Merkel of Germany and France’s Francois Hollande tomorrow in crunch negotiations.
He said:
I think we’re very close to an agreement on the primary surplus for the next few years. There just needs to be a positive attitude on alternative proposals to cuts to pensions or the imposition of recessionary measures.
Greece made tabled an offer to creditors this morning, and is currently pledging to run a budget surplus of 0.6 per cent – 0.4 percentage points below the EU target. Next year it has offered to run a surplus of 1.5 per cent, close to Greece’s creditors’ preferred target of two per cent.