Governmental programming [opinion]
The Greek government’s plans – after the review is completed – seem very interesting. The first thing the government should do is to fulfill its financial obligations towards the public and private sector, a move which is expected to increase liquidity in the market.
We should also mention the liquidity injection into the banking system, with the “Quantitative Easing” program, a development the Greek government did not expected but received with relief. European Central Bank president Mario Draghi once more provided us with an example of how the Eurozone should work.
The question the arises now is this: Why did the government of Alexis Tsipras decided to delay the review process? What did it hope to achieve? And there is also another aspect: Was the delay caused by the government or by Greece’s quartet of lenders? There isn’t a specific answer, apart from the possibility that both parts were responsible for the delay.
Greece’s debt crisis is indeed included in the European Union’s darkest pages. This because when a member state – especially within the Eurozone – is confronted with bankruptcy, the issue gets personal and should be dealt within the family. The International Monetary Fund has nothing to do with it. IMF’ job is to deal mostly with bankrupt countries of the Third World, and we all now that it is dealing with such cases in a certain way. Its members don’t know otherwise.
If EU member states cannot enjoy said advantage, why bother enter the EU and give away a significant part of their sovereignty?
Lets now focus on the upcoming governmental programing. We shouldn’t expect a “sudden” electoral process. There is not a single party in Greece that is in favor of national elections at the moment. Neither the business world, nor the majority of the citizens is in favor of that. Elections may occur in case Greece’s lenders insist on additional, 3 bn euros contingency measures, that would bring severe austerity to 8 out of 10 Greeks. Alexis Tsipras would then state his unwillingness to support the measure, he would quit and Greece would proceed with national elections.
However the Germans and the French do not wish for Greece to enter into a period of unrest as they are confronted with their own elections. Some people – in and out of the country – still wish for the worst scenario. Once more… they may be disappointed!
* Konstantinos M. Pantzios is a journalist and a political analyst.
PHOTO: The European Union [Mr Euclid TSAKALOTOS, Greek Minister for Finance was in Amsterdam on April 22nd, 2016 to attend the Eurozone Ministers meeting on the next steps and the timeline for the completion of the first review of Greece’s economic adjustment programme]
