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Tuesday, March 24, 2015

George Soros: Greece is a Problem Mishandled from the Beginning, Grexit 50-50 Now

Greece was mishandled from the beginning and now the chances of leaving the Eurozone are 50-50, said billionaire investor George Soros. In an interview to Bloomberg Television due to be aired on Tuesday, Soros said that after recent developments, the Greek issue is a “lose-lose game.” In 2012, before Greece’s second bailout, he had said that the odds were that the country would leave the Eurozone. The 84-year-old investor has often commented on the Greek debt. “Greece is a long-festering problem that was mishandled from the beginning by all parties.” Recently, negotiations between Tsipras’ SYRIZA-led government and the institutions helping finance the Greek economy — the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund — have stalled. Greece has to implement required reforms before it gets further financial aid from creditors. Furthermore, the country is in danger of running out of cash by the end of April. Soros is not optimistic about the new deal Greece is seeking. Monday’s meeting between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel created an air of optimism for Greece. Tsipras pledged that in the next few days Greece will come forth with a list of reforms that will be implemented. In addition, European Parliament President Martin Schulz said on Tuesday that he expects Greece to reach a new financing agreement with its creditors within a week. “You can keep on pushing it back indefinitely,” making interest payments without writing down debt, Soros said. “But in the meantime, there will be no primary surplus because Greece is going down the drain.”


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com