The Last Resort

By Alan Fisher in on Thu, 2010-03-25 21:47.
photo from AFP
After weeks of will they/wont they, they finally did.  The 16 Eurozone countries have agreed a deal to help Greece out of it's financial black hole.  But as Angela Merkel, the German chancellor has constantly reminded us, it is a tool only to be used as a 'last resort'.
 
The Germans wanted the involvement of the International Monetary Fund.  The French weren't terribly keen but realising there would only be a deal on the terms dictated by Europe's strongest and largest economy, they put aside their objections.
 
So now the Greeks can approach the world's financial markets to refinance their massive 700 billion dollar debt and if the interest rates quoted are too high they have a plan B.
 
They can ask fellow Eurozone countries for bi-lateral loans and the IMF  will help monitor how Greece are handling their financial affairs.
 
There is a template for a deal like this.  Sweden has helped to bail out Latvia and the IMF are involved there.
 
The safety net is what the Greeks wanted.  They don't believe they'll need it, and they'll use it to drive down the interest rate demands of the markets.
 
There is a loss of pride though for the Eurozone.  The IMF may now be involved in monitoring one of it's members, issuing reports, keeping a watchful eye, reducing the power and authority of the European Cental Bank just a little bit.
 
But it stops Greece looking into the financial abyss, and that is all it wanted fron their European partners.
Topics in this blog
Content on this website is for general information purposes only. Your comments are provided by your own free will and you take sole responsibility for any direct or indirect liability. You hereby provide us with an irrevocable, unlimited, and global license for no consideration to use, reuse, delete or publish comments, in accordance with Community Rules & Guidelines and Terms and Conditions.