A
spokesman for Chancellor AngelaMerkelsays Germany hasn't shifted its
view on Greece leaving the euro, in spite of various press reports.
In a report Saturday, German weekly Der Spiegel had cited unnamed
government officials indicating thatMerkeland her finance minister no
longer believe it would be too risky for the 19-member Eurozone if
Greece dropped the currency, which means the Eurozone would be able to
cope with a Greek exit if necessary.
But deputy government spokesman Georg Streiter told The Associated
Press in an emailed statement Sunday: "There is no change of course."
He also repeated Berlin's position that "the German government
expects that Greece will continue to fulfill its contractual obligations
toward the troika" of the EU, European Central Bank and International
Monetary Fund.
Germany has warned Greece against reneging on the terms of its
bailout program should the left-wing Syriza party win this month's
general election.
Merkel's spokesman Georg Streiter also told Reuters that "Greecehas
fulfilled its obligations in the past. The German government assumes it
will continue to fulfil its contractual obligations to the troika,"
Streiter told Reuters.
"Every new government has to abide by the contractual obligations of the previous government."
The 'troika' overseeing Greece's 240 billion euro bailout comprises
the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International
Monetary Fund.
As the euro zone's paymaster,Germanyinsists thatGreecemust stick
to a course of austerity and not backtrack on its commitments -
especially because it does not want to open the door for other
strugglers to relax their reform efforts.
Greece's woes have also created a political headache for Merkel by
helping to boost support for a new right-wing party, Alternative fuer
Deutschland, which taps into German voters' unease over the costs
ofeuro zonebailouts.
Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that both Merkel and Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble now believe theeuro zonehas implemented
enough reforms since the height of the crisis in 2012 to make a
potential Greek exit, or "Grexit", manageable.
Greek leftwing opposition leader Alexis Tsipras said the European
Central Bank (ECB) could not excludeGreeceif it decides to move to a
full "quantitative easing" program to stimulate the euro zone's
falteringeconomy.
Speaking at a party congress on Saturday, three weeks before a Jan.
25 general election, Tsipras also said his Syriza party would ensure
much of Greece's debt was written off as part of a renegotiation of its
international bailout deal.
The election takes place three days after a Jan. 22 policy meeting at
which the ECB may decide to proceed with a quantitative easing (QE)
program to pump billions of euros into theeuro zone economyby buying
government bonds.
Tsipras said he hoped ECB President Mario Draghi would decide to go
ahead with the program and saidGreececould not be shut out, as some
economists and politicians from countries includingGermanyhave
suggested.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/did-merkel-really-say-grexit-%E2%80%9Cmanageable%E2%80%9D