Greek PM faces new battle to secure bailout approval

Greek PM faces new battle to secure bailout approval

Press quote (Voice of America)
14 July 2015

John Springford of the CER said, "It just repeats what was done before. And what happened before was that austerity killed growth and it raised unemployment. And it damaged the legitimacy of the economic reforms which the creditors insisted upon."

Germany ruled out any so-called "haircut" or reduction on the amount Athens owes its creditors.

"The German taxpayer does not want to be on the hook for Greece," said Springford. "And it will be very difficult for [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, with the domestic pressures that she faces, to climb down on that. So I think that a ‘Grexit’ is still very much on the table" — a reference to a Greek exit from the eurozone.