In the aftermath of the Eurogroup meeting which agreed to release part of the bailout funds to Greece, sections of conservative German press revived the Schäuble plan for an assisted Grexit, linking it to the possible withdrawal of the IMF from the quadriga of creditors.
Most vocal among them the national broadsheet Die Welt with the headline “A haircut for Athens – and then adieu!”
The fact that the IMF sets out debt relief as a condition for its continuing participation in the Greek bailout opens the way for an honest discussion of the continuing membership of Greece in the Eurozone Die Welt writes, favouring a generous haircut in return for Greece’s orderly exit from the euro.
German parliament had placed IMF participation as a condition of the third bailout package, since according to Die Welt “there is a strong distrust of the European Commission which maintains a more lenient attitude [towards Greece]”.
If the IMF will not contribute financially, it would be almost impossible for the grand coalition to convince the German public in the election leading to the national election, that the Greek economy “is not a bottomless pit” the article continues.
Which it probably is. Largely thanks to the efforts of the lenders to ‘reform’ the Greek economy through imposing an austerity policy that has not worked.
“Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble makes no secret of his skepticism about the chances of success of the Greek programme” the paper continues, adding that many economists have also long doubted that the Greek economy can heal itself within the euro area.
The reason why Greece is still part of the eurozone, Die Weld explains, is because the politicians – in the creditor countries as well as in Greece – do not want to rock the boat and stick firmly to the “loans for austerity” formula “knowing that they will pay every time no matter how badly Athens fails” to implement the required reforms.
If the IMF leaves the federal coalition government will be in trouble, the paper concludes.
Only time will tell if the German finance ministry is just trying to put some pressure on the IMF through this resurgence of the Grexit spectre, assuming that the IMF cares.But maybe Athens should consider looking seriously at the Schäuble plan and stop trying to gain acceptance in a club Greece is not wanted
