Greece will not get a bailout, warns the ECB
GREECE, struggling under escalating debt levels, will not be bailed out by its fellow Eurozone countries, the European Central Bank (ECB) indicated yesterday.
ECB executive board member Juergen Stark was quoted as saying that markets were “deluding themselves” if they thought member states would “put their hands in their wallets to save Greece.”
Greece’s deficit is running at 12.7 per cent of gross domestic product, over four times the EU’s three per cent limit. But Stark said the country’s debt problems were of its own making and not due to the global financial crisis.
However, Greek finance minister George Papaconstantinou, said Stark’s warning was unnecessary, insisting Greece won’t require a bail-out.
“It is perfectly clear we’re doing what needs to be done to bring the deficit down and control public debt,” he said.
The euro fell sharply on the report, touching a low of $1.4285 against the dollar.