While most economic reports in Europe speak of a Grexit and the minor impact it will have in the Eurozone, German Chancellor Angela Merkel appears to be determined to keep Greece in the common currency bloc. So far, Greece’s creditors have shown a rigid stance in negotiations regarding Greece’s bailout. Talks have stalled and creditors insist that Athens sticks to the measures and reforms it signed on February 20. The Greek government, however, seems adamant that certain reforms and measures required will bring back austerity and therefore it refuses to implement them. According to a Bloomberg report, the leaders of the main Eurozone countries appear to want to avert a Grexit if Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras shows willingness to implement some – not all – of the required reforms. The German Chancellor seems to be the head of this effort and other European leaders are beginning to show more flexibility toward Greece. European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici told the Financial Times that “the Grexit would be bad for the euro area as a whole, bad for the Greeks, bad for the financial system, It would certainly be bad. The financial risk could be dealt with but a Grexit would be bad. Therefore, our motto is: no Grexit.” However, all European leaders expect the SYRIZA-led government to show willingness to implement some reforms. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also along the line of preventing Greece’s exit from the Eurozone. At the same time, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble insists on his hard line toward Greece, underlining that there will be no solution to the Greek problem on the April 24 Eurogroup. He has also remarked, with a tone of sarcasm, that if Greece can get a loan from Russia or China, they can go ahead and get it. He was referring to Tsipras’ recent visit to Moscow and his invitation to Beijing.
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